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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0488.PDF
fLIGHT International, 20 February 1964 299 put the advent of such a supersonic aeroplane at about 1970. I say this to show that long before I had any reason to think I would bear any responsibility for an SST, I was predicting the inevitability of it—and the time-scale. So it is as an "old believer" and not a "special pleader" that I speak. I am not ashamed of those pro- phesies. I think they are still the answer to those who say that we don't really want more speed. 1 am sure that when the New York journey time is down to 3hr, and the Sydney time down to 12 or Ohr, the traffic and trade figures will have—as historically, they always have had—a very sharp upward curve. They will be as sharp perhaps as those which followed the Industrial Revolution when the 12hr journey circle suddenly expanded from the 75 miles it had been for centuries to over 500 miles. The second criticism or suggestion—the one which says that Concord should be scrapped for a cheap fare vehicle—is a red herring. It is demonstrably untrue that the "old and slow" is more economic to run than the "new and fast"—with the high level of development cost, "new and slow" may be worse. As for designing brand new aircraft devoted entirely to achieving the lowest possible seat-mile cost, that is a completely separate subject from Concord and should not be presented as a preferable alternative to it—and as an alternative which is ruled out if Concord is built. It is not. The two aircraft are in no way related and one does not exclude the other. There will always be built the types of aircraft for which there is a market, be they supersonic or subsonic. This emphasis on cheap fares in face of the Vanguard experience is saddening, but the real demand is still there, and will, one day undoubtedly be met. There are problems. We have to design a safe and certificatable structure, we have to see that the noise is kept within socially acceptable limits, we have to see that the economics remain com- parable with subsonic jets—but I believe we can do these things. We are not easily beaten and we are not afraid of winning. The American SST programme and policy is not yet formulated. We, however, are selling a definite aeroplane to definite guarantees and have got customers—four of them American—who have put down real money which they cannot withdraw unless we fail in our task. They need these aeroplanes—that's why they have ordered them. The continual development which has gone on since the job started, especially in engine performance, makes me confident that they will not see their money back for that reason. I have said many times before that when we tackle a job within our limitations we are as good as any and in some ways better. Our industry has been regrouped—my own corporation now em- ploys over 40,000 people. My French friend and colleague, General Puget, commands in Sud-Aviation a further force of 23,000. This is a formidable joint effort by any standards. When one adds the efforts of the engine companies and the equipment suppliers I think we can say we are meeting any requirement of doing something within our limitations in Concord. I had always hoped that the Supersonic Transport, when it came, would be a timely, international project, not to be the victim of the ruthless pressures of the now well established rat race. The differ- ence in philosophy between the Anglo-French Mach 2.2 aircraft and the American Mach 3 made this unlikely. If the Americans go on with their aeroplane, let us hope that the two aircraft can be regarded as complementary in size, time and performance, rather than competitive. But in any case let us not be dismayed by the sight of the Americans advancing towards their own project. Instead let us remember the long list of aircraft which we have had well under way before they got round to the same general idea. Let us not be worried by the fact that we are out in front—let us be more concerned about keeping there. INDUSTRY International Great Britain RAF Orders AR-1 Decca's new AR-1 multi-purpose ATC radar has been ordered for the RAF. Twelve installations will be delivered, at the rate of one a month, begin- ning in June. RAF Signals Command has evaluated the 75-mile-radius radar at the prototype installation in the Isle of Wight. Since its introduction at the end of last year the AR-1 has already been ordered by the RNZAF and some civil authorities. Negotiations are taking place with a num- ber of other authorities and production of the high-definition unit is expected to keep a substantial part of Decca's new factory in the Isle of Wight busy for some years. The RAF units will have dual trans- mitters operating in frequency diversity, to provide instantaneous stand-by in the event of failure, and three display units. Mdas Achievement A Midas type MIR-7 missile recorder was recently fired in a Skylark rocket from Woomera, Australia, on a high-altitude test. The rocket reacheda height of 104 miles and subsequently 'mpacted 50 miles down-range on a rock surface. No parachute or other recoveryaids w ere employed. It is stated that not o% was the tape record undamaged but the recorder itself was still operative picked up, an event considered to be unique in the history of missile develop- ment. The MIR-7, designed and manufactured by Royston Instruments of Byfleet, Surrey, has been specially developed to withstand high-velocity shock impact and its elasticity in design permits its ready conversion for use as an aircraft accident investigation or car crash recorder. It has a capacity of 500ft of tape. Lost-wax Casting Benvenuto Cellini, the 16th-century Florentine goldsmith and silversmith, employed a casting technique—• already well established in his time—which is extensively used today in engineering production. The accompanying photograph, taken at Bristol Siddeley's precision foundry at Patchway, shows the lost-wax process, as it is termed, in its application to the casting of jet-engine components. Essentially, the process consists of making an accurate wax model of the finished part in a metal mould and then covering it with a series of layers of fine sand. When dry, the wax is melted out to leave a thin shell mould into which the molten metal is poured. Breaking the mould reveals a casting of extreme accuracy—certain components can be cast to within limits of ±0.005in. Not only does the casting require the minimum of finishing, but the technique lends itself to production of parts in heat resistant alloys, which usually prove difficult to cast by other methods. Production of jet-engine components in Bristol Siddeley's Patchway works by the lost-wax process. This casting technique, which gives results of high accuracy, is the subject of an accompanying news item
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