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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0629.PDF
372 FLIGHT International, 5 March I9t- INDUSTRY International Products Company News Great Britain New Look for Fairey Surveys Having outgrown the premises at White Waltham, which they had occupied since 1947, Fairey Surveys Ltd (the "Air" has been dropped from the company name to reflect an entry into ground surveying too) moved to newly built premises (shown on this page) in Reform Road, Maidenhead, late in 1963 and are now in full operation there. With a floor area of over 30,000 sq ft, the new building houses all the company's departments and most of its 200-member staff, of whom between 20 and 40 are normally overseas in one field party or another. The flying and photographic division of the company is at present engaged on a survey of that part of Saudi-Arabia known as the Western Shield, involving photo- graphy of an area 315,000 sq miles in extent; in surveys in various parts around the Persian Gulf, in East Africa and, near at home, surveying distribution routes for the CEGB. The entire county of Berkshire is also being mapped by Fairey at present. The intricacies of photogrammetry are such that even a relatively small fleet of three survey DC-3s, a Dove and a Rapide serve to keep many specialist cartographers busy at Maidenhead and certainly call for very heavy investment in high precision Swiss, German and US-made optical plot- ting machines—some of which cost £16,000 —and expensive printing plant, for the company does this side of map production as well. But probably of more interest to the air- craft industry in general are the engineering activities of Fairey Surveys, which began about 12 years ago and have been steadily increasing since. As is so often the case, the company began developing its own equipment because much of that bought outside was far from ideal. In Fairey Surveys' case, it was vibration isolators the company had to develop; commercially obtainable shock absorbers did not hold the camera sufficiently steady for the sharp exposures on which aerial mapping de- pends. Now the company markets a large range of highly developed vibration isola- tors, some for high-g conditions, and there is not a reconnaissance camera in the RAF which does not fly on a Fairey camera mounting incorporating Fairey isolators. In addition, they are frequently employed for mounting sensitive electronics and instruments. To develop the isolators Fairey needed vibration test equipments, developed its own and subsequently entered the market with a number of hydraulic vibrators about two years ago. There is a small production workshop at Maidenhead, but some aspects of Fairey Surveys' engineering work is the responsibility of other companies in the group. New Tugmaster As announced in these pages on January 16, when we published a photograph, an addition to the Tugmaster range of aircraft handling tractors, manu- factured by F. L. Douglas (Equipment) Ltd, Cheltenham, Glos, is the Type NS4, designed to handle light aircraft but suitable for various industrial uses. Available with either a 60 h.p. Perkins 4.203 diesel engine or Ford 592E of 65 h.p., the NS4 has a gross weight of three tons, a maximum draw- bar pull of 6,0001b and a maximum speed of 18 m.p.h. A lighter version, the NS4/99 with the 35 h.p. Perkins 499 engine, is also available, for a maximum drawbar pull of 4,0001b, with a gross weight of two tons and a maximum speed of 19 m.p.h. The N24 is fitted with full highway light- ing and a red obstruction light and has front and rearing towing attachments. Normal transmission is a four-speed and reverse gearbox with single dry-plate clutch, with torque convenor and automatic trans- mission as optional features. Texas Instruments Appointment Until last December managing director of Texas Instruments' semiconductor factory at Bedford, Mr A. N. Provost, the group manager for semiconductor activities in Europe, Middle East and Africa, has been appointed vice-president of the American parent company, Texas Instruments Inc. He will continue his present responsibilities and be based in Geneva. Desoutter Group Integration Lang Pneu- matic Ltd, of Wolverhampton, associated with the Desoutter Group since 1957. changed its title on March 1 to Desoutter Lang Pneumatic Ltd. The constitution of the board remains unchanged. Brantly Agent for Ireland British Execu- tive Air Services have appointed Aircraft Sales Ltd of 62 Merrion Square, Dublin, as their Brantly agent for Ireland, with effect from March 1. Aircraft Sales have been sole Piper dealers for Ireland for Camera installation in a Fairey Survey's DC-3 and (right) the company's new headquarters at Maidenhead, Berks If nil 111
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