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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1475.PDF
FLIGHT International, 22 August 1963 Vysotzka named their farm after him. Some monuments were erected; in Gorki Museum the Nesterov Department was founded. Nesterov was also an aircraft constructor. In 1914 he designed a Bleriot type two-seater monoplane, which was in production at the Dux factories at Moscow. This monoplane was fitted with an air-brake on its tail. He also designed an aviette. In September 1913 he shortened the fuselage of an old Nicuport 4 and designed and built a new tailplane. In this dock-tailed "coffin on wheels" he made some test flights over Syretzk aerodrome. Nesterov's eldest brother is a General of the Soviet Army; his younger brother, a military pilot, was killed in 1914. Tartu, USSR E. MEOS 291 line of sight range 120,000- 125,000ft, and the size of the object about 56ft. Next morning I rang the Air Ministry. They told me it was a radio-sonde launched from France for the study of cosmic rays; a group in this country was involved in the research and telemetered information was being received. It was the second such object seen in the last few days (i.e. at August 2). Intended height was 110,000ft and size about 70ft. I could not help observing that if I had got the height out to 110,000ft 1 should have had the size as 70ft. This might reflect the fact that my simple calculation left out a number of refinements, and that the object possibly con- .*<* Deterring the Birds SIR,—I read in Flight International for August 8 that both the RAF and Royal Navy are concerned about the damage done to aircraft by birds, and in accordance with your plea for suggestions from readers I put the following one forward. According to one of the BBC news bulletins on August 8 a Canadian firm has developed a chemical that limits the growth of grass. Unfortunately—though fortunately for those concerned, I think—the chemical turns the grass purple, and birds dislike this colour. The main objection to this is obviously the cost of the chemical. However, if the chemical were used, the cost would probably be lower than that required to pay a civilian com pany to mow the grass over a 12-month period; although I appreciate that the grass would probably have to be resprayed. Wolverhampton, Staffs PETER J. ARNOLD ["The Financial Times" reported on August 12 that Ontario Agricultural College had developed a chemical which would stop lawns growing, adding "There is, the boffins concede, a side effect; the grass turns purple." In "The Navy and the Sandpiper" "Flight International" August 8) it was suggested that grass on airfields should be dyed purple or violet as birds apparently avoid these colours.—Ed] Herts UFO: Essex Identification SIR,—I was among many others who observed the object which Mr Ogilvy described in his letter in Flight International last week. The following data may interest you. Bearings and elevations relate to Theydon Bois—or more accurately, to a point 0.4 miles on a true bearing of 226° from Theydon Bois station. I noticed and sketched the object between 2103 and 2104hr BST on August 1. It was very bright. Bearing was 295°M, elevation 43°. I estimated one dimension as l/40th of the apparent field of a high-power binocular—a 40 X 70 instru ment with a field about 1% making the actual angle subtended by the object about l^min of arc. I made a number of later sketches, as the object changed its appearance, and at 2112 recorded the bearing as 302° M and elevation as 42°. As the intense initial brightness diminished, the main area had a greyish-white, rather translucent texture. It looked like a partly opened roll of tracing paper, the edges still rolling back and looking whiter. At 2117 it did not seem visible to the naked eye, but at 2122 was faintly visible to the naked eye. I later obtained an approximation of the height of the object as follows. I assumed that it ceased to be illuminated by the sun's rays at or shortly after 2122. This was 33min later than local sunset time at ground level, 2049hr. It corresponds to sunset at a point some 350 miles West. The horizon for the object was therefore at a distance of about 350 miles, and the height was correspondingly about 83,000ft. Ground range would therefore be about 17-18 miles, AS OCA These sketches illustrate Mr Devereux' observations at 2103/04 ("very bright"), 2110 ("now V-shaped"), 2112, 2117 ("no longer visible to the naked eye") and 2222hr ("looking much as at first observed; fairly visible to naked eye") tinued to glow faintly for a few minutes after 2122—it would be difficult at best to pinpoint the precise time at which the sun set on it. On the other hand the object may well have fallen from its intended altitude, and the dimension apparent to me would probably have been less than the full 70ft. If Mr Ogilvy can recollect the approximate bearing of the object at any time, it should enable us to obtain a reasonably accurate "fix." At about 2100hr I should have thought it would be about 40° from true north to him; but quite a large variation would be possible. I did not see it in the configuration shown in his first drawing, but I recognized the second one the moment I turned over the page. Theydon Bois, Essex TONY DEVEREUX IN BRIEF The address of Mr John E. Underhill, who in a letter published on August 8 appealed for World War Two aircraft for static display at Bucknell Field, Reading, is Reading Aviation Service, 11-12 Gun Street, Reading, Berks (Reading 51430 or 51225). FORTHCOMING EVENTS Aug 24-31 Aviation Union of Yugoslavia: International parachut ing competition, Portoroz. Aug 25 Waveney Flying Group: All-day fly-in, Seething, Norfolk. Aug 28 Kronfeld Club: "History of the Glider Pilot Regiment," by Philip Cooper. Sept 4 American Embassy: Films on Space Research. Sept 7-15 Aeronautical Exhibition, Cristoforo Colombo Airport, Genoa. Sept 8 Private Flying Association and Tiger Club: Rally, Rochester. Sept 9-15 FAI: Aeronautical and Space film festival, Deauville. Sept 14 Royal Air Force: Battle of Britain "At home" day. Sept 19 British Interplanetary Society: Symposium on "Satellite Meteorology." Sept 20 Aeronautical Inspection Directorate: 50th anniversary dinner. Sept 23- MoA with Electronic Engineering Assn: Electronics Oct 1 symposium, at RRE Malvern, Sept 23-25; RAE Farnborough, Sept 26-30; London, Oct 1. Sept 29 Tiger Club: Air display, Fair Oaks.
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