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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0103.PDF
LIGHT International. 17 January 1963 93 INDUSTRY International Flight Systems Products Company News Flight Systems More VOR for UK The Mo A has or dered from S.T.C. 12 more VOR beacons, eight of the 50W BQ2 type and four of the 200W BQ3 type, for location as airfield reporting points and on airways. The initial installation of S.T.C. VOR at Biggin Hill proved successful, and another has been in operational service for some months at Leavesden. A third is being installed •at Brecon, serving airway Amber 25, and a fourth is already on order. None of these initial four is included in the new order for 12. VOR is now plentiful in south-east England, but sparse in the north, particu larly in the Manchester area. It is to be hoped that Mo A installation of the 12 new beacons will not take too long. Ground-testing Glide-slopes The RAF has just ordered 15 glide-slope testing masts of the type first exhibited by Southern In struments Ltd at the SBAC Show last year. Using the A. N. Clark (Engineers) Ltd 70ft pneumatic mast mounted on a small trailer, a standard ILS aerial can be raised into the glide-slope beam with an accuracy of one inch, the signal strength from a test receiving set then being measured on a microammeter. No aircraft or theodolite is needed and the observations may be made in poor weather or at night. The whole mast can be collapsed in one minute if necessary, and one man can collapse the mast and prepare the trailer for towing in three minutes. Angle of elevation of the glide-slope can be easily calculated to better than 0.01 . Pneumatic and either 12V or 24V elec trical supplies are generated on the trailer itself by a small petrol engine driving genera tor and compressor. Without the aerial, lead and receiver, the equipment costs about £1.650 ex-works, and a single mea surement can be made for £10, compared with between £200 and £800 when using an aircraft. The time taken is also 30min instead of between two and eight hours. The equipment was developed in con junction with RAF Signals Command. A. N. Clark (Engineers) Ltd recently- moved from London to a new factory at Binstead. near Ryde, Isle of Wight. Texas Instruments Expansion Under a new product diversification programme forming part of their long-range planning. Texas Instruments Ltd, of Bedford, are now going to market a new range of switches, thermostats and related materials. This will be in addition to the range of semi conductors and integrated circuits already in production here. The new line of products was exhibited at a separate show in London during the Physical Society Exhibition. Test Sale Aero Electronics Ltd have sold type FT.13C VOR/ILS ramp test sets worth £24,000 to the German govern ment, with the co-operation of Deutsche Avitron GmbH, their German agents. The sets are to be used all over Germany, .and particularly for checking the airborne nav receivers in Luftwaffe Noratlas trans ports. Narco Mk 12 Latest in Narco's long line of light aircraft radio, and already being delivered from the production line, is the Mk 12 com/nav package and the VOA-6 self-contained VOR converter indicator. The Mk 12 is in a standard "mark-sized" rectangular case and has a separate communications unit, for either 360 channels or 90 channels convertible to 360, and a 100 channel navigation band receiver. The latter requires the VOA-6 indicator, but can also be used with the earlier VOA-5 or VOA-4 indicators. Pro vision is made for glide-slope frequency pairing. The Mk 12 weighs 91b and costs only S935 (about £334) in 360-channel form or S775 (about £276) with 90 com channels. The VOA-6 costs 220 (about £79). Computer Workshop Elliott-Automation Ltd have started a computer workshop ser vice allowing companies to operate Elliott 803 computers themselves at rates varying between £4 and £8 per hour. The computer centres, at present located at Boreham- wood, near London, and in Newcastle, remain open 24hr a day and seven days a week, and rates vary according to time and day of use. The workshop system is in addition to the existing operating msthods. The 803 computer has also proved highly successful and no less than 18 have been delivered or ordered for educational es tablishments including universities and technical colleges in the UK and abroad. Products Argentine Contract Heenan & Froude Ltd of Worcester, a member of the Heenan Group, recently installed a Rolls-Royce Avon test plant for Aerolineas Argentinas which is described as "one of the most comprehensive engine test installations in use by any airline in the world." Contained in a fully soundproofed test house, the plant has been so constructed that it has a large margin of extra capacity, for engines deve loping up to 30,0001b thrust. The engine under test is mounted on an overhead thrust-measuring stand, allowing unob structed access to all parts of it. Installa tion was carried out by Heenan engineers. The new Narco Mk 12 with either 90 or 360 com channels and 100 nav chan nels in the same case. Pro duction is already under way Lockheed Refractory Coating Co-oper ative research by Lockheed Aircraft Corp and the Georgia Technical College has led to what is described as an improved pro tective coating for hypersonic re-entry. It is produced by the application of heated liquid refractory materials—aluminium oxide and "exotic" additives—by means of a spray gun. Test coatings have success fully resisted 3,500°F for more than 3hr, while displaying adequate resistance to impact, erosion and thermal shock.
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