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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0438.PDF
Official Organ el tin Royal Atro Club First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded in 1909 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2 O, 1964 Number 2867 Volume 85 Editor-in-Chief MAURICE A. SMITH DFC Editor H. F. Kl NO MBE Technical Editor W.T.OUN8TON Air Transport Editor J. M. RAM8DEN Production Editor ROY CA8EY Managing Director H. N.PRIAULX MBE In this issue World News 266 Air Commerce 268 Expensive Noise 276 Fact-finding: Mission 278 Sport and Business 280 Flight Systems Survey: Strictly for the Record 281 One Man and his Systems 284 Digital Computers for Aircraft 288 Hard Hats for High Places 292 Straight and Level 294 Letters 295 Service Aviation 301 Missiles and Space-night 302 Iliffe Transport Publications Ltd, DorsetHouse, Stamford Street, London, SE1; telephone Waterloo 3333 (Telex 25137).Telegrams Fllghtpres London Telex. Annual subscriptions: Home £4 15s.Overseas £5 5s. Canada and USA S15.00. Second Class Mail privileges authorizedat New York, NY. Branch Offices: Coventry, 8-10 Corpora*tion Street; telephone Coventry 25210. Birmingham, King Edward House, NewStreet, Birmingham 2; telephone Mid- land 7191. Manchester, 260 Deansgate,Manchester 3; telephone Blackfriars 4412 or Deansgate 3595. Glasgow, 123Hope Street, Glasgow C2; telephone Central 1265-6. Bristol, 11 Marsh Street,Bristol 1; telephone Bristol 21491/2. New York, NY: Thomas Skinner & Co(Publishers) Ltd, 111 Broadway 6; telephone Digby 9-1197.© Iliffe Transport Publications Ltd# 1964. Permission to reproduce Illustra-tions and letterpress can be granted only Tinder written agreement. Brief extracts°r comments may be made with due acknowledgement. Snipes, Choughs . . . 3, ^ ON this page last week we remarked that it would take more than acoat of camouflage to turn a Himalayan chough into a skimming snipe. Thus we expressed a doubt concerning some aspects of the claim that Britain's V-force can now be regarded as a low-level strike arm, able, without prejudicing its high-altitude capabilities, to penetrate inner defences at heights of 2OO-3OOft and to fire modified Blue Steel missiles. This doubt was expressed not merely intuitively but in the awareness of the USAF's recurrent experience of structural problems, involving high- altitude bombers employed in the low-level role. There is no denying that such transmogrification (literally imposed from above, for except against relatively primitive enemies, high-level penetration is no longer feasible) severely penalizes airframe life and operational range. We are nevertheless bound to take account of newly available infor- mation concerning the V-force. The feasibility of conversion to low-level operation was first considered years ago. With Canberras the study began in 1955, and a fact-finding programme was instituted to determine what happens to an airframe on high-speed low-level sorties. Since that time virtually every RAF aircraft, and certainly every bomber, has been equipped with a fatigue meter, mounted on the e.g. and giving a series of window-presentations in which can be read the cumulative totals of all occasions on which the aircraft has exceeded given accelerations in the vertical plane. This has enabled the factored fatigue life of a Canberra at low level to be extended to about 20,000 hours, so that after a scatter factor of 40 is applied a safe figure of 500 hours remains. This is a ten- fold improvement on the 50 hours which we quoted last week and which represented an early "ofT the cuff" official estimate. .. .. and Golden Eagles Coupled with simulator work this experience now enables a crew to be kept proficient in their new role by flying of the order of 50 low-level sorties per year. Training missions are held to a reduced indicated airspeed, though on an actual strike, of course, all remaining g-life might be expended by flying at maximum speed. We recorded last week that the Secretary of State for Air described as "miniscule" the cost of modifications to give the V-bombers their low- level capabilities. It must be explained, however, that modifications now in progress on Vulcan and Victor B.2s are by no means miniscule and are improvements which would have been made in any case. The aircraft are on the ground for some months having Blue Steel equipment added and weapon bays modified, and while this work is being done it is possible to install more powerful engines and stiffen structures for increased gross weight. The low-level requirement acts as a spur and involves one or two small extras. V-force squadrons are now armed exclusively with B.2 aircraft, most of which are only a year or two old and are constantly being improved. Some aircraft have yet to be built. Alluding to our simile of snipes and choughs the Secretary of State for Air has declared: "I prefer to think of the V-bombers as golden eagles able to soar high and swoop low." We applaud him for his wit, his imagery, his turn of phrase, and, not least, for his staunch convictions. As we reported last week, a staff member, flying at 3,000ft in our Airedale, has already spotted a Victor 2,500ft below him skimming along the Tweed valley. We hope that the day is not far distant when we shall be able to swoop with the V-force eagles and report first-hand.
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