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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1602.PDF
fUCHT International, 28 May 1964 881 operating weight of 13,7081b, so that only two passengers could be carried. In the light of the helicopters' recent inability to carry eager sightseers the likelihood that high temperatures and big public attendances at the Fair will coincide is causing New York Airways grave concern. The FAA's approach to the safety regulation of roof-top oper- ations by big twin-engined helicopters like the S-61N has been to work from existing operational standards. For instance, the Agency insists that in the event of engine failure the helicopter must be able to maintain take-off speed and clear the edge of the heliport by 35ft. Operators, however, feel that such restrictions are unrealistic, particularly for roof-top operations—where, they point out, immediately adjacent obstacles of such height rarely exist. But until more experience has been achieved the FAA is sticking to its philosophy that such performance requirements at least ensure the aircraft has some kind of positive single-engined performance. PITCH-CORRECTION IN THE CARAVELLE ON page 701 in the April 30 issue we reproduced an article entitled "Stick-pusher Philosophy," by Capt L. Taylor, chairman of BALPA's Technical Committee. Capt Taylor wrote "at least one mark of Caravelle (the 10R) is to have a pusher . . ."; a remark which has drawn the following comments from M Pierre Satre, technical director of Sud-Aviation and chief designer of the Caravelle:— "No version of the Caravelle, including the latest ones, has a stick-pusher nor even a stick-shaker, and moreover we foresee no need for the use of these devices on any one of them. "There is on the Caravelle a pitch-corrector device which goes into action when stall configuration is approached. This device is not a stick-pusher as meant by the term used in Capt Taylor's article. It is installed to make piloting more pleasant at low speeds and goes into action at just a few knots before the maximum lift angle of attack is attained. Its purpose is only to maintain, in compliance with regulations, a suitable stick force between the speed at which the aircraft should be trimmed and that corresponding to maximum lift. In fact, it is but a refinement of the artificial-feel system on the Caravelle, the flight controls of which are all actuated by irrever- sible Servodynes. "We absolutely do not depend upon this device for keeping the aircraft from attaining excessive angles of attack during prolonged stalls, as it provides but very little load variation (not reaching 101b as compared to the 601b mentioned in Capt Taylor's article). "We have carried out with the Caravelle an extensive programme of flight and wind-tunnel testing to study the aircraft's behaviour during prolonged stalls. The wind-tunnel tests have involved, in particular, measuring of the pitching moment and of control-surface efficiency up to angles of attack of 90°, as well as spin tests. The flight tests have been performed for all e.g. locations, all flap deflec- tions and all speed-brake and landing-gear positions authorized in operation, with various stall-vane configurations. "These tests have been carried on until we could obtain during prolonged stalls, despite a very important stick force from the pilot, that the attitude and the angle of attack decrease of their own accord without any uneasily controllable roll motions occurring. In fact, we construe regulations very strictly, and some configura- tions recognized as certifiable are not accepted by us. "Such features can always be obtained with an aircraft of the Caravelle formula, well designed as regards the wings, location of the engine nacelles and positioning of the horizontal stabilizers, with a suitable arrangement of the stall vanes on the wings. "The most difficult problem consists in obtaining similar beha- viour without notably decreasing the maximum lift that can be obtained by a clean wing. It is obvious that this problem is all the more difficult to solve, since the maximum lift coefficient of the clean wing is higher. Therefore it is necessary to be very cautious over the assessment of take-off and landing performance as long as this adjustment has not been completed." KIND WORDS FROM THE CAB THE Civil Aeronautics Board has taken the unusual step of commending an airline—the local service carrier Lake Central— for "the initiative it has shown in seeking a solution to the difficult equipment problem it faces." The commendation follows Lake Central's decision to re-equip with the French Nord 262. In a letter to Lake Central's president, Mr Lloyd W. Hartman, the CAB has said that although it could not commit itself to the amount of subsidy it will be able to award for Nord 262 operations, there is no reason to believe that the acquisition of Nord 262s is other than an act of sound management discretion. BARDOCK v KEEGAN JUDGMENT was delivered on May 13 on one of the several legal disputes in progress between the Panshanger aircraft dealers Keegan Aviation and the inoperative Swansea charter company Bardock Aviation. In the Queen's Bench Division, Master Diamond awarded Keegan £450 damages plus costs against Bardock Avia- tion who, the plaintiffs alleged, had retained for over four months the log-books of a Cessna 180 sold by Bardock to Keegan in January, thereby preventing further use or sale of the aircraft. The log-books were supplied to Keegan on May 7. Carrying on a tradition started in 1933 with the DC-/ (/eft), Cora Pearson has posed for photo- graphs in every DC series commercial airliner developed by Douglas. Latest photograph (right) shows her in the interior mock-up of the DC-9
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