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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 2053.PDF
FLIGHT International, 28 November 1963 853 Edwards AFB, Calif, Maj Smith reached 118,860ft, 4,970ft above the official Soviet record established on April 28, 1961. Three NF-104As are being used by the US Aerospace Research Pilot School for practice in flight control during atmospheric re-entry. The modified fighters have a 6,0001b rocket engine, extended wings and HTP jet reaction controls. Tenders Invited for Princesses The sad story of the long-laid-up Saunders-Roe Princess flying-boats took another turn last week. The War Office, disposing of the aircraft on behalf of the Ministry of Aviation, invited tenders from operators, aircraft and marine firms which have shown interest in them. Tenders are due for return on December 12. In America Aero Spacclines Inc are reported to be discussing with NASA plans to convert the Princesses to ferry the 138ft by 33ft first stage of the Saturn 5 space vehicle between factory and launching site. B-47s Demonstrate in Australia Hard on the heels of Australia's decision to buy the TFX bomber three B-47s landed at RAAF Amberley on November 15 from Guam. They later made a tour of the main RAAF bases. The United States is reported to have offered to lend Australia two squad rons offB-47s until the 24TFXs are delivered. Mr Athol Townley, Defence Minister, recently denied reported suggestions by US Defense Department officials that the TFX purchase might cost more than the £44,800,000 he had quoted. He said that there was more chance of their costing less: his figure was based on the present pro duction run. U-2 Lost in Sea A US Strategic Air Command U-2 crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Novem ber 21. It was returning from "a routine reconnaissance mission"—reportedly over Cuba. Hostile action was ruled out. The Pilot was lost. USAF Global Freighter During the past year (since the Cuban "'sis) the US Department of Defense has been striving to determine the best way to increase the ability of the Military Air Transp0rt Service to fly complete Army divisions to distant parts of the world. Exercise Big Lift (Flight International, November 14) demonstrated MATS' ability to carry troops, but not their vehicles and neavy equipment. Until November 1 the US Air Force had Ba sed its Specific Operational Requirement on the CX-4, carrying 135,0001b over a f*& of 4,600 miles (or 160,0001b as over bad fr °m a good runway), or 75,0001b over r . — — e^vu mimu;;, ui / ^,W\JIU u»vi ' 00 miles. Douglas Aircraft Division have conducted extensive research with a full- ^ mock-up of their proposal (see '"ustratic-n), which would have six 30,0001b ^engines and a cargo floor 110ft by 17.8ft. Now the Air Force considers that a more t. vanced aircraft can be produced within would same time-scale. Designated CX-X, it ^eigh less than the CX-4 (375,0001b/ 500,0001b, compared with 600,0001b), but would carry up to 180,0001b cargo over a 5,000-miles stage and be able to fly 12,000 miles without refuelling. Full laminari- zation and boundary-layer control would be incorporated, and propulsion would be provided by turbofans with a bypass ratio of from 3 to 10. Cruising speed would be some 400kt, and on most missions the load would be discharged without a landing. Hummingbird Flies Lockheed-Georgia's XV-4A Humming bird ejector-jet VTOL research aircraft of the US Army (Flight International, April 5, 1962) made its first complete transition on November 21. Operating from Fort Benning, Ga, it reachedl 0,000ft in 58sec. BS Board Appointment The business manager (aero) of Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd, Mr B. D. Blackwell, MA, BSc(Eng), MiiuechE, AFRAes, has been elected to the board of directors. From January 1 he will be technical sales director, with overall responsibility for the sales activities of the company's aero and power divisions. Mr A. D. Cawse, MA, the general commercial manager, will succeed him as business manager (aero). Educated at Leeds Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, Mr Black- well worked in the Admiralty Directorate of Scientific Research and with Rolls-Royce before joining the engine division of the Bristol Aeroplane Co in 1949. He was a member of the team which developed the Proteus, Orpheus and Olympus 200 engines. Maj T. P. Searight We regret to record the death, on Nov ember 7, of Maj T. P. Searight, a former director of H. M. Hobson Ltd. A resume of his career will appear next week. Military Crash Recorder Having devoted £100,000 of their own money to development, Redifon's Flight Simulator Division has received an MoA order to produce evaluation models of an ejectable military crash recorder to record 280 parameters on a 15min continuous tape system, in accordance with OR.8003. Installation studies are being prepared for the Hawker Siddeley 748MF, Belfast, HS. 125 and, particularly, the TSR.2, in later examples of which the recorder is to be fitted. TSR.2 prototypes will have a Royston Midas maintenance and crash recording system fitted by BAC. The Redifon system includes three fATR cases, respectively for power supply- recording unit and multiplexer, the record being taken on 37Jft of lin Mylar tape continually passed backwards and forwards through a recording head of RAE design and made initially by Colnbrook Instrument Development Ltd. The recorder is in a cylindrical case ejected through a 6in cut out in the aircraft skin by an explosive system developed by M.L. Aviation Ltd. The container is ejected at 60ft/sec following a variety of stimuli, including excessive g, temperature, rate of increase of temperature, actuation of the pilot's ejection seat, or water pressure. It is fitted with a flotation bag, beacon, alternative battery power supply and dye marker. The eight-channel tape covers the 280 parameters once per second with a form of FM, and also has a voice recorder channel and time-base actuated by undercarriage retraction. A high-precision play-back sys tem is also ready, the RAF being in course of deciding where to position play-back centres. The installation, including trans ducers, but not cables, weighs 701b. High-temperature Fuel Flow A new fuel-flow test laboratory—the most advanced in Europe, if not in the world—was opened at Elliott-Automation's Rochester factory on November 20 by Mr Neil Marten, Parliamentary Secretary to the MoA. Enclosed in a blast-absorbing concrete emplacement, the flow rig provides for testing fuel flow through three different bores of pipe at rates of flow up to 120,000 lb/hr and at temperatures from —55°C to 180°C. Mass-flow test measurement is effected by weighing the fuel as it accumu lates in a tank mounted on a weighing balance, the whole unit being housed in a sealed container filled with nitrogen. All controls and observers are in a sepa rate building and several closed-circuit TV cameras give a view of critical parts of the system. Hot water and freon are used respectively as heating and cooling media. The laboratory is suitable for developing flow-measurement systems for supersonic airliners or VTOL aircraft. Arresters for the RAAF The Australian Government have ordered Safeland arrester barriers for airfields in Australia from which Dassault Mirage IIICs ordered for the RAAF will be operated. The barriers are manufactured by Borgs Fabriks Aktiebolag, Norrkoping, Sweden. Safeland (England) Ltd, of Fairfield, Shiplake, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, also announce that an order has been received from the South African Air Force. Douglas Proposal for the USAF CX-4 study for a large logistics cargo transport (see "USAF Global Freighter," column I)
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