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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1214.PDF
40 FLIGHT International, 11 July 196i\ AIR COMMERCE .. Lord Brabazon, chairman of the Airjlegistration Board THE ARB YEAR "ALTHOUGH the safety level of airlines belonging to 1CAO member states has improved five-fold in the last 18 years or so, closer examination of the record shows that most of the improve ment occurred prior to 1953. Even though to achieve a similar improvement in the future will be a far harder task, improvements must be made for the healthy growth of civil aviation. No single solution is likely to be found, steady improvement in all fields, although often costly in the short term, will almost certainly pro vide the answer." Writing in the twenty-sixth annual report of the Air Registration Board, for the year ending March 31, 1963, Lord Brabazon, the chairman, followed these remarks by saying: "It would be unwise to take refuge in the fact that a period of ten or twenty years is a long time. Aircraft now on the drawing board will, if successful, be operational at these future dates so action to bring about improvements is needed now." In the year under review the most notable feature of the Board's work was a big expansion of effort on three new, challenging and radically different transport projects, namely supersonics, air-cushion vehicles, and powered lift. On the Concorde, Lord Brabazon writes: "In the preparation of airworthiness requirements for the aircraft, the Board was able to undertake this work with the least possible disturbance because of the setting up five years ago of the Supersonic Aeroplane Air worthiness Committee (SAAC) comprising representatives of the Ministry of Aviation, potential constructors, operators, and re search establishments. The SAAC, together with its six working groups, have outlined many of the problems and in many cases presented tentative proposals for the preparation of requirements." On the subject of Anglo/French co-operation, Lord Brabazon writes: "It is a great pleasure for me to be able to report that rela tions between the Board's staff and their French colleagues could hardly be better, and many useful agreements on methods of pro cedure and on preliminary requirements have already been reached." Lord Brabazon also paid tribute to the experience of the French authorities on advanced supersonic aircraft because of their res ponsibility for certification on military aircraft as well as civil. The Board's work on air-cushion vehicles continues to expand. For the large passenger-carrying vehicles, an interesting blend of aeronautical and marine techniques seems likely to develop; for the small sporting or experimental vehicles, the situation is reminis cent of the early days of motoring when all sorts of design solutions were being tried. The Board has continued during the year to operate the Air Cushion Vehicle Co-ordinating Committee. Lord Brabazon comments: "there is tendency to regard these vehicles as 'easy,' but due to the lack of directly applicable background and regulation, considerable judgment is needed if a due sense of res ponsibility is to be exercised without imposing unnecessary burdens on an infant and very promising industry." The Board has established the Powered Lift Working Group which is intended to fulfil roughly the same functions as the larger Supersonic Aeroplane Airworthiness Committee. It is intended to serve as a forum for discussion with those in industry with the object of defining areas where research is a priority. For this reason, and a number of fundamental problems on the aircraft itself, the group is being kept small for the time being. No completely new transport type received full certification during the year under review. Investigations have been proceeding with the VC10, One-Eleven, Trident, D.H.I25, Belfast and Skyvan, Of these the Trident has been certificated in the Special Category and has already undertaken some overseas trials and demonstra tions. Four new marks of Handley Page Herald were cleared during the year, namely the 201, 204, 206 and 207. In addition the experimental Beagle-Wallis WA116 single-seater autogiro was certificated in the Special Category. The report had some very encouraging things to say about the reliability of British piston and gas turbines, where the number of hours between overhauls, shut-downs and removals continue to grow and bear more than favourable comparison with foreign competitors. One entirely new gas turbine, the Bristol Siddeley Gnome, was certified during the year. This engine is intended specifically for helicopters and comes under the relatively new requirements for engines of this category. The Rolls-Royce O-200A 100 h.p. piston engine was given type certification and put into pro duction during the year. The problem of bird ingestion in turbine engines is still causing the Board some concern. Specific tests are now required to demon strate that blades and other internal parts of the engine damaged by a large bird are contained within the casing. However, no tests have yet been prescribed to cover the multiple ingestion of small birds which could seriously affect performance or result in a flame- out or mechanical failure. Investigations are now being made into this problem by two engine manufacturers and their conclusions are expected shortly. A new problem has arisen due to incidents of fire involving titanium in civil engines; similar fires have also been experienced in military aircraft. The Board is investigating this serious problem in conjunction with the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Agency. At about the time of the Board's report last year, the MoA an nounced that older transport aircraft were to operate under stiffer performance requirements. This work has proceeded steadily and arrangements have been made to flight-test a number of the aircraft concerned preparatory to drafting the new requirements. Wooden aircraft with glued box type of construction became the subject of new rules during the year as a result of long-term tests on the deterioration of glued joints. From the end of 1963 no wooden aircraft with this type of construction built before 1950 This model of the proposed terminal-building developments at London Gatwick (see last week's issue) clearly shows the trident-like prongs of the pier system, and the enlarged passenger building
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