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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0186.PDF
176 FLIGHT International, 31 January 1963 P.I 127 intake with inflatable lip (see first news- item below) Products Inflatable Intake Lips For optimum efficiency in high-speed flight the engine air intakes of jet aircraft need to be as sharp- edged as possible, in order to control shock-wave formation and boundary-layer turbulence. In the case of VTOL aircraft, however, this desideratum raises a problem, because a sharp-lipped intake has low efficiency during hovering, and actually tends to induce turbulence. In the Hawker P. 1127 these conflicting requirements have been reconciled by FPT Industries Ltd, of Portsmouth Airport, Hants; working to Hawker's design requirements, this company manufactured nitrile-rubber lips that can be inflated or deflated in flight to give optimum contour at any time. The material used—Breon nitrile rubber, made by British Geon Ltd (a company of the Distillers Plastics Group) —is stated to combine the required flex ibility with strength and high resistance to abrasion, fuels and lubricants. Dunlop System ARB-approved Air Regis tration Board approval has been given to the Dunlop de-icing system on the tail- plane of the Whitworth Gloster Argosy. This is a thermal system based on the Dunlop type fitted to the air intakes of Rolls-Royce Darts. Another application of the system is in propeller blade de-icing, as on the de Havilland propellers of the Bristol Britannia and Transall. The system consists basically of Dunlop "sheared foil" heating elements sand- INDUSTRY International Products Company News wiched between layers of neoprene rein forced with glass-fibre cloth, the whole assembly being vulcanized to the leading- edge of the airframe member. This form of construction, say the manufacturers, can be readily applied to compound curva tures and allows the heater mat to accom modate itself to any flexing, expansion or contraction in the structure. Company News Hawker de Havilland Australia Pty Ltd A change of name to Hawker de Havilland Australia Pty Ltd has been announced by de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd. Following the 1959 merger of the de Havilland Air craft Co Ltd with the Hawker Siddeley Group, the Australian company has extended its associations with the Canadian and English companies of the Hawker Siddeley Group. In October last year Hawker de Havilland Australia Pty Ltd further expanded its activities by acquiring the Bristol Aeroplane Co (Australia) Pty Ltd and Bristol Aviation Services Pty Ltd. Organization, management and activities of the company remain unchanged and the principal divisions—de Havilland Engineer ing at Lidcombe, NSW, the Aviation Division at Bankstown, NSW, and the Hawker Siddeley Trials Support Unit at Salisbury, South Australia—will continue to operate under their existing names. Specto Development A new company is to take over the operations of the Aircraft Equipment Division of Specto Ltd, Windsor, Berks—a subsidiary in the CSI group—and will concentrate on design, development and manufacture of sophisticated navigational and allied equipment. Considerable pro gress has been made during the past two years in the design of head-up displays for navigation and fire control, in addition to airborne tape recorders and central warning systems. Orders have been received both New Normalair appointments (see col 3): left to right, Messrs J. H. Gault, P. W. Fitt, W. R. Shapey and R. J. Stephens from the British and American Govern ments. An agreement on distribution rights has been entered into with Computing Devices of Canada, Ottawa, and a joint development programme is being undertaken by the two companies. The new company—a wholly owned sub sidiary of Clarke & Smith Indstries Ltd, who are associated with E.M.I.—is to be known as Specto Avionics Ltd. Its head office will be at Fenwick House, High Holborn, London WC1 and its laboratories and factory at Hanworth Air Park, Feltham, Middx. The board of Specto Avionics consists of Maj J. F. E. Clarke (chairman), Mr F. H. Taylor, MP, FCA, and Mr W. A. Boggia. Executive directors are Messrs E. M. Eldred, AMIEE, MBritiRE, J. J. Ward and B. McCarthy. Normalair Technical Posts Four new appointments in technical departments of Normalair Ltd have been announced. Mr J. H. Gault has been made assistant chief engineer, air conditioning; Mr P. W. Fitt becomes assistant chief engineer, oxygen; Mr W. R. Shapey is made chief technician, air conditioning; and Mr R. J, Stephens becomes chief performance and project engineer. Mr Gault joined Normalair in 1953 as a project engineer, having previously been with Armstrong-Siddeley Motors; Mr Fitt is a former Westland apprentice who after taking a first-class honours aeronautical engineering degree joined Normalair as assistant to the oxygen development engin eer and has for several years been a project engineer; Mr Shapey was systems design engineer with Handley Page before joining Normalair in 1962; and Mr Stephens, also a former Westland apprentice, transferred from Westland Aircraft to Normalair as performance engineer in 1948. Gen Smith Joins Republic General Fred eric H. Smith, Jr, who retired last June as Vice-Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, has joined Republic Aviation Corporation as vice-president and executive assistant to the president, for advance planning. Republic's president, Mr Mundy I. Peale, said that Gen Smith would have responsibility for the exploration of potential new programmes and projects in the aero space field. BAC Sales Post Mr Roger White-Smith has been appointed deputy civil aircraft sales manager of British Aircraft Corpor ation. He has recently been primarily concerned with VC10 sales.
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