FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1962
1962 - 2309.PDF
- o — FLIGHT International 11 October 1962 WORLD NEWS NBMR-3 Postponement There are strong grounds for believing unofficial reports that the NATO standing group charged with selecting a design to meet the BMR-3 tactical strike and re connaissance requirement has given up the attempt. For six months it has been clear that national considerations will make it virtually impossible for any one design to be accepted; and even if it were, no govern ment need adopt it. On the other hand, this bowing to the inevitable will probably ha\e little effect on the existing active NBMR-3 programmes, which are:— Hawker P.1154 Bristol Siddeley BS. 100/9 engine. This has been announced as a firm British Government programme for the RAF (Hunter replacement) and possibly RN (Sea Vixen replacement). Dassault Mirage fflV SNECMATF-106 plus eight R-R RB.162. This is a firm French Government programme, and the first example is to fly next summer. VJ-101D This West German project, powered by RB.153s and with RB.162 lift units, has not been officially adopted for trie Luftwaffe but is being actively promoted by the Bonn Government. Tethered trials with a research rig are already in hand. There is a chance that Italy may be able to finance the Fiat G.95/6 (RB.153s and RB.162s), but this appears increasingly improbable. Other contenders are even more doubtful starters. Clearly, human nature being what it is, it is idealistic to expect representatives of 15 nations to agree on a single aeroplane, and the obvious course of action for those governments in a position to do so is to press ahead with their own designs. Hawker Siddeley Aviation are linked in an NBMR-3 consortium with Republic (USA), Breguet (France), Fokker (Holland), Fairey and SABCA (Belgium) and Focke Wulf (Germany). Two-seat F-105 The US Air Force has placed an $8m (£2.25m) contract with Republic Aviation for a tandem-seat, all-weather mission- training version of the F-105 Thunderchief, designated F-105E. It will be 31 in longer and have a taller fin. The same project was originally cancelled in 1959. BOAC VC10 Subsidy ? BOAC are to ask the Government for a grant to cover the cost of introducing the VC10 into service. Sir Basil Smallpeice said last Monday that this cost might run to more than £3m. Laminarized Wing Testing On Tuesday of last week the model of a swept laminarized wing, as intended for the Handley Page H.P.I 17, had its first air test mounted on Lancaster PA474 (a photograph of which was published in our World News pages last week). The Lan caster was airborne for lhr lOmin, piloted by Mr Bert Russell, test pilot at the College of Aeronautics, which is collaborating with Handley Page in testing the new wing. Dr G. V. Lachmann, Handley Page research director, was quoted as saying: "'These flight tests will give us invaluable information on boundary layer control. This may be the only means of making supersonic flight commercially possible." The test aerofoil was fully described in our July 12 issue. BeUD-2127 One of the strangest-looking aircraft yet devised is now under development by Bell Aerosystems for the US Navy. As the accompanying illustration shows, the D- 2127, the Navy-managed counterpart of the Vought-Hiller-Ryan XC-142 in the Tri-ServiceVTOL transport programme, will be powered by four turboshaft engines all geared to four ducted fans which can be rotated through about 100c to provide vertical lift or forward thrust. Such a scheme was first proved with the Doak VZ-4 sponsored by the US Army, but the VZ-4 was of conventional shape and had only two fans, control in yaw and pitch being effected by a normal tail unit supple mented by deflectors on the turboshaft exhaust. In contrast, the D-2127 will be controlled entirely by differential fan pitch plus aileron like surfaces in the slipstream from each fan. The fans themselves are four-blade propellers of approximately 12ft diameter, and it is noteworthy that in full forward flight about a quarter of the slipstream from the front units passes through the rear ducts. The flight crew of two will have excellent all-round visibility, and six pas sengers or 1,2001b cargo may be taken on board through an aft ramp and door. The present prototype contract is valued at more than $16m (£5.7m) and the first flight is expected in about 18 months. BELL D-2127 (X-224) Powerptants Four General Electric T58 free-tur bine engines, each rated at 1.250 s.h.p. Dimensions Span, over rear wing, 39ft 2^in; length, 36ft 3?in; height, (6ft 4in; fan diameter, ap proximately 12ft; distance of fan axes from aircraft centreline, front, 12ft 6in, rear 21ft 6in. Weights Empty weight, approximately 9,5001b: useful load, 1,2001b; gross weight, approximately 15.0001b. Performance Estimated max. speed, 350 m.p.h. Sir Frank Revisits Cranwtll Air Cdre Sir Frank Whittle, the jet engine pioneer, on Thursday of last week returned to the RAF College at Cranwell—where as a cadet (1926-28) he wrote his thesis on jet propulsion—to open a new academic building, where all studies will now take place. The college commandant, Air Cdre E. D. MacK. Nelson, said at the opening cere mony that for 42 years academic instruction at Cranviell had been carried out in "holes and corners"; now at last they had some thing worthy of the college. The new build ing would be known as the Tutorial Wing and the assembly hall as the Whittle Hall. Sir Frank said that the Cranwell training he had received as a cadet was an important factor in the development of the jet engine; and he subsequently commented on the Rings and Wings As noted above. Bell Aerosystems are developing for the US Retrospective Glance by Air Cdre Sir Frank Whittle at the Navy a VTOL research transport powered by four turbines geared to tilting ducted Whittle W.I type of gas turbine, Britain's first jet, during his visit fans. It is here depicted in the cruising configuration to Cranwell (see news-item)
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
