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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1929.PDF
Air-Cu.hion Vehicles FLIGHT International supplement, 25 June 1964 INTERNATIONAL NEWS . . . 500-passenger/cargo craft in the 200-ton range. "Cannon, a native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., is widely-known throughout the aerospace industry for his activities in flight research and marketing for Bell Aerosystems. He joined Bell in 1942 as a test pilot after civilian flight training at Niagara University and service with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a flight instructor. During his 22 years service with Bell Cannon has flown more than 50 different types of aircraft, including the Bell X-l rocket research airplane. He is a Fellow in the Society of Experi- Mr Joseph A.Cannon mental Test Pilots. In addition to his service as a test pilot, Cannon has held several supervisory posts at Bell includ- ing manager of flight operations at the Bell B-29 plant in Marietta, Ga, from 1943 to 1945, chief of flight test for the company from 1953 until 1957 and manager of aerospace marketing from 1960 until his recent appointment as manager of the expanded air-cushion vehicles marketing group." The CAB has a Problem The following announcement was issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board in Washington on June 8:— "The Board invited representatives of the Federal Aviation Agency, Interstate Commerce Commission, the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard, Bureau of Customs, and the Federal Maritime Commission to discuss the role of hover- craft in the country's transportation network. "San Francisco and Oakland Heli- copter Airlines, Inc, has filed an appli- cation for CAB approval to operate a hovercraft on an experimental basis to serve routes for which the Board had previously granted the carrier a certifi- cate of public convenience and necessity. "Chairman Alan S. Boyd, who invited the various representatives to meet at 10 a.m. Friday at the CAB to discuss the The Second University of Texas air-cushion vehicle, recently completed by staff and students,is seen here. Twin Aerovent axial-flow fans deliver air into the inflated plastic-covered body- chamber which ducts it to the nozzles for combined lift and propulsion problem, said: 'The application (before the Board) raises the question of whether a hovercraft is an air or surface vehicle and as to which government agency or agencies have regulatory jurisdiction over such craft.' "In his letter to the other government agencies, the CAB chairman said: 'It is our understanding that in the United Kingdom such a machine has been defined as an aircraft, although a different view may have been taken at least tentatively by some United States Government agencies concerned.' "Boyd's message continues: 'There is also pending before the Housing and Home Finance Agency an application seeking financial sponsorship of an experiment with such equipment, and it appears that favorable processing of such application by that agency may be impeded by the lack of a clear deline- ation of which, if any, of the federal government agencies can or should regulate its use. There would, therefore, seem to be a considerable interest in a resolution of this problem among the affected government agencies. " 'Subsequent to the President's mes- sage on transportation in April, 1962, the three transportation regulatory agencies (CAB, FMC and ICC) have effectively dealt with similar problems of mutual concern on an interagency committee basis. The present problem seems to be the type of matter which should be referred to such an inter- agency committee. In addition, it would appear that the Federal Aviation Agency and the Bureau of Customs and Coast Guard should be invited to send representatives to meet with the staffs of the three transportation regulatory agencies to consider this matter.' " For San Francisco? An Aviation Week report from Washington states that San Francisco & Oakland Helicopter Airlines intends to become the first scheduled operator of air-cushion vehicles in the USA, under the terms of a petition filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board. Our con- temporary continues: "As part of a 20-month demonstration of the capa- bility of the air cushion in the Bay area, the airline and the Port of Oakland plan to operate two Westland Aircraft Ltd SR.N5 hovercraft beginning next Janu- ary. CAB approval of the experiment will allow the Port of Oakland to serve as sponsoring agency of the program under financing terms set out by the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency. Company and port officials indicate that about $1.5m will be required for the total experiment, with the government supplying two-thirds of the cost." It is presumed that the SR.N5s involved would be built in, or imported into, the USA by Bell Aerosystems. Research Symposium Particulars have now been received of the Research Symposium on Air-Cush- ion Craft to be held in the Department of Engineering, University College of Swansea, from July 21-23. The main object of the symposium is to provide an opportunity for discussion of some recent research programmes during a series of five seminars. Papers will be circulated in advance and be summar- ized by the authors during the seminars. It is hoped that this will stimulate dis- cussion on the current work and produce proposals for future studies. The provisional list of authors and topics (in order of the papers presented) is: Mr William R. Bertelsen (Bertelsen Manufacturing Co, Illinois) initial lecture; Seminar A: Dr A. J. Alexander (University of Liverpool), The Effect of Forward Speed on Hovercraft Perform- ance with Particular Reference to Cushion Breakdown; Mr A. West (University of Wales), Effect of Forward Speed on a Two-dimensional Ground Effect Machine; Mr H. Thurnholm (Proxy, Royal Institution of Tech- nology, Stockholm), Effects of Moving Ground Surface on the Characteristics of Annular Jets as found in Wind Tunnel 78
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