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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1901.PDF
1046 FUGHT International, 25 June 1964 W O R L NEWS Fan-Wing XV-5A Hies The first flight of the US Army's XV-5A V/STOL aircraft took place at Edwards AFB on May 25. The aircraft flew con- ventionally, but will shortly undergo VTOL testing. The second XV-5A is still in the NASA 40ft x 80ft tunnel at Moffett Field, but ultimately will also fly at Edwards. The company responsible for the twin J85 engines, diverter valves, ducting and tip-driven lift fans inside the wings (plus a control fan in the nose) is General Electric. The XV-5A aircraft were built under contract to GE by Ryan Aeronautical Co, and flight-test support is being provided by Republic Aviation. Pilot on the first flight was V. H. Schaeffef Jr, of Republic, who explored conventional handling during the 19min mission. Programme Ecap Currently a major design programme in France is the so-called Ecap aeroplane— Ecole Appuy—intended as a two-seat trainer with supersonic level performance up to about Mach 1.5, but also intended for Mach 0.95 cruise at low level with a considerable conventional armament load. First mention of this programme, which may become a joint Anglo-French venture, was in Flight International for May 7. Most, if not all, the major French air- craft companies are energetically tendering, and the competition is intense. Dassault have publicly taken the plunge and cut metal on the so-called Cavalier, about which nothing more is known than that it will have two small turbojets and use as much as possible of the design established by the Etendard IV naval strike-fighter. The Cavalier might fly by the next Paris Show. Undaunted by Dassault's powerful initiative, Breguet are submitting a complete spectrum of design ideas. Nord say they have cut metal on a prototype. Commercial competitive security makes on-the-record information virtually impossible to obtain. Both Rolls-Royce and Bristol Siddeley are very interested in the possibility of supplying engines for the eventual Ecap winner, but Dassault seem to be committed to American engines—initially either the actual P&W JT-12s now removed from the Mystere 20 prototype or the GE.l/JO-1 engine whose 5,2501b meets the total thrust requirement. American engine manufacturers are making a concerted attempt to oust British manufacturers from the European market, and a GE team has been in Germany with this express intention relative to lift engines in the VJ-101 and VAK-191, as recorded in our June 11 issue. An inducement would be the purchase by GE of four VJ-lOls for fitment with the new GE jet. New Fuel from NCB? Very indirectly, coal may provide the fuel for the Concord SST. Experimental quantities of a new liquid fuel derived from coal have been produced by the R & D laboratories of the National Coal Board at Stoke Orchard, near Cheltenham, Glos. Starting from anthracine-oil fractions of coal tar, the fuel is made by catalytic hydrogenation and is a clear liquid with a heat content of approximately 172,000 BTU/Imp gal. This compares with about 140,000 BTU/gal for JP-6; in other words, the new fuel contains over 20 per cent more energy for a given tank volume. Pressed to say whether the fuel had been supplied in experimental quantities for test in an aero- engine combustion-chamber rig, the NCB's reply was, effectively, "no comment." Aircraft as Icebreakers Ice on Arctic rivers has been successfully combated by the use of aircraft, Soviet sources reported recently. The estuary of the River Dvina, on which the port of Archangel lies, and also the rivers Amur, Yenisei and Ob in Siberia, were opened to traffic earlier in the season than would otherwise occur. Aircraft dropped trails of ash, dividing the ice in a regular grid pattern and within 18 or 20 days the spring sun cut through the ice along the ash lines "like a knife going through butter," said Tass. Apart from lengthening the navigation season the method is said to avoid the risk of floods and to be only one-thirtieth as costly as the use of icebreakers. When ice blocks form, threatening floods, aircraft drop salt instead of ash to melt the ice. Similar techniques have been applied to free pastureland from snow early in the season to stimulate the growth of grass, which is very important in the northern regions. Two Up to Maison Popovich First Lieutenant Marina Popovich, wife of the Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, set a new FAI closed-circuit class record, subject to confirmation, in a Czech L-29 Delfin jet trainer on June 10, it is reported. Flying over a trangular circuit from an airfield near Moscow, Mme Popovich recorded an average speed of approximately 600km/hr at an altitude of 5,000m. Scientist for MoD Appointed Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser in the MpD is Sir William Cook, CB, FRS, who will take up the post in August and who will principally assist the Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Solly Zuckerman, in the field of weapons development. Sir William joins the MoD from the Atomic Energy Authority, where he is at present Member for Reactors. Supersonic LFC Northrop Corporation has been awarded a contract to study the application of laminar-flow control to supersonic aircraft. The programme will last two years and is being supported jointly by the USAF, NASA and FAA. It will include investiga- Tilting and Windmills Roll-out of the XC-I42A took place at the Ling-Temco-Vought plant at Dallas, Texas, on Junt 17. This US tri-Service VjSTOL transport has been produced by Vought in partnership *'*" Hiller and Ryan, the 3,000 h.p. T64 engines being supplied by GE and the special propellers by HamStan. In Ms picture the wing is seen in the 'Tut position •at «M#-
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