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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0398.PDF
_____ 378 FLIGHT International, 14 March 1963 Letters The Editor of" Flight International" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Brief letters will have a better chance of early publication. Vostok Techniques SIR,—In the light of Kenneth Owen"s reasoned analysis of the new Russian space film (Flight International, January 24), I would like to put forward some further speculations concerning the Vostok configuration and launch technique. First, if the Astronautics sketches borrowed by Mr Owen are intended to show the ejector seat as rotatable through 180' on radial or thwart-like pivots, 1 am in agreement with that view. What 1 find hard to believe is that the extra weight and complication of a pivoting seat would be incor porated if the craft is designed to reverse its axis for a Mercury-type re-entry. The Mercury capsule, of course, has a fixed seat, although the Boeing Company did publish a photograph of a pivoting type in connection with the Dyna- Soar—a nose-first re-entry vehicle. In brief, I suggest that the Vostoks are designed to re-enter nose-first but without the wing surfaces of the sketches, hence the bomb-like tail, the streamlined nose, and the pivoting seat. Secondly, I think it would be very surprising if the Rus sians had omitted to provide for some method of saving the space vehicle in the event of a launch sequence emergency "on the pad," as distinct from the astronaut simply ejecting himself at a slight upward angle, as I believe was implied. The difficulty is that the Russian revelations, such as they are, show no apparatus like a Mercury launch-escape rocket pylon. This omission would in my view have a logical explanation if the Vostoks were not launched from a pad in the vertical at all, but air-launched from a huge flying cradle like the highly effective North American X-15 or the ill- fated Skybolt. In that case, it would only be necessary to free-fall the separated spacecraft if the booster failed, far enough to deploy the normal recovery parachutes. Finally, 1 should have thought that the only place to stow the main recovery parachute would be in the tail, not the side of the Vostok shell that must become heated. A tail parachute and nose-first landing would help to explain why the Russian astronauts prefer to eject themselves in the final stages of their flights, partly to lighten the vehicle but mainly to avoid the discomfort of turning and probably rolling after striking the ground. Cirencester, Glos G. B. BATHURST Flexible Wing Aerodynamics SIR,—Can any of your aerodynamicist readers tell us about the airflow round a Ryan "Flex-Wing" (or Paraglider) air craft ? 1 made a glider model recently [a drawing of which is reproduced herewith—Ed] length 48in, span 33in, sweep- back 66°, covered with very light fabric, which under load takes up (on each cone-shaped wing) a curve which, viewed from the back, is slightly less than a hemisphere. This aircraft is extraordinarily stable in all three axes and has the remarkable ability of gliding steadily at any angle from about 1 in 5 to very near vertical. The odd thing is that in all these regimes of flight the chord line, which I take for simplicity to be the top line of the cones, seems substantially horizontal. Another odd thing is that, due to the very deep arching of the fabric, the leading edge (which is presented to the line of flight at 24°) appears to present itself to the airflow in such a way that it should be blown inwards, yet it falls perfectly. As a result of this the two leading-edges must provide a forward component helping to reduce the other wise considerable drag. Obviously the thing flies on some WIRE SKID General arrangement of the flexible- wing model made by Maj-Gen Parham and described in his letter below fore and aft vortex system, but what is it? One must launch it in a very nose-up attitude (judged by the three booms). If launched at too fine an angle of attack, severe fluttering occurs and it dives straight in. The e.g. is about midway from nose to tail, and this shows that the front quarter of the wing area carries half the load. It does not appear to lift much weight per square foot— a large area is easily obtainable on such a wing—but its simplicity, docility and absence of stall seem to make it a good conveyance on which a rather "muzzy" spaceman could complete his voyage to Earth after the hazards of re-entry. This, I gather, is what the craft is being developed for [this is so—Ed]. Ipswich H. j. PARHAM, Maj-Gen, Retd The New CAS SIR,—As hon secretary, No 488(NZ) Sqn Association, I am naturally delighted at Sir Charles Elworthy's appointment as CAS. There is yet another reason for many readers to be pleased, for Sir Charles is surely the only ex-Auxiliary Air Force officer to reach this high position ? His first squad ron in 1935 was No 600 (City of London) and I know that members of this live squadron's association will hope to see the CAS at some of their gatherings in the next three years— as will the 488(NZ) Association. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex LESLIE HUNT FORTHCOMING EVENTS Radar and Electronics Association: "Role of the Computer in Radar Systems," by D. Hunter. RAeS, Gloucester and Cheltenham: "Role of In strumentation in Aircraft Development," by L. G. May. RAeS, Isle of Wight: Branch Prize Lectures. RAeS, London Airport: Film Show and Annual Dinner. Institute of Navigation: Discussion, "Inertial Navi gation Systems in Air Transport." International Aeronautics and Space Fair, Sao Paulo, Brazil. RAeS, Cambridge: "Test Flying—Its Origin and Growth," by J. Lankester Parker. Kronfeld Club: "Glider Instrumentation," by Frank Irving. Photogrammetric Society: Lecture by J. Cruset. RAeS and Institution of Electrical Engineers: Discussion, "Semiconductors and their Applications to Airborne Equipment," opened by C. S. Hudson. RAeS: "Fuel Systems Problems in High-speed Air craft," by W. G. Lydiard. RAeS, Coventry: "Rolls-Royce Conway," by L. G. Dawson. RAeS, Glasgow: "Executive Aircraft," by P. Brooks. RAeS, Gloucester and Cheltenham: "Development of the Supersonic Ship," by D. J. Hardy. RAeS, Hatfield: "BLEU Blind Landing System," by J. E. Nethaway. RAeS, Prestwick: "Airfield Construction and Layout." Mar Mar III Mar April Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar 14 14 14 15 15 15- 28 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20
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