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Aviation History
1966
1966 - 1559.PDF
884 FLIGHT International, 26 May This Hawker Siddeley P. 1127, although not a new airframe, has several of the modifications necessary to bring it up to the standard of the P.I 127 (RAF), including the extended wing-tips VTOL AIRCRAFT 1966 . . . Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd 18 St James's Square, London SW1 Kestrel FGA Mk 1/P.1127 (RAF) As a result of the trials carried out by the Tripartite evaluation squadron between April and November 1965, the problems of operating VTOL aircraft in general and the Kestrel in particular are now much better understood. The squadron, comprising three teams of British, German and US pilots, was charged with the evaluation of the VTOL concept from an operational aspect. The three US aircraft, together with the three German aircraft, were shipped to the US at the conclusion of the trials and are now undergoing service trials by the USAF, Army and USN under the designation XV-6A. Meanwhile, work on the production air- craft is proceeding under MoA author- isation. The total number involved for the Royal Air Force is believed to be 110. It is understood that the P.I 127 (RAF) will have the Bristol Siddeley Pegasus 6 of 19,0001b static thrust, al- though this has not been confirmed; it would provide a substantially improved payload/acceleration performance over the Pegasus 5 (15,0001b) of the develop- ment and evaluation aircraft, although it is not expected to increase the speed over its present maximum of about Mach 0.9 in level flight. It is worth noting that the endurance of the clean P.I 127 over the flight envelope is greater than that of the chase Hunter, carrying 2 x lOOgal tanks. No mention has been made of the armament of the P. 1127 (RAF) in its role of ground support/strike fighter, it will be compatible with most commonly used air/surface missiles of US, UK and NATO origin such as Bullpup and Martel. The wing contains two hard points, each capable of mounting at least 1,0001b stores. The following history of the develop- ment of the P.I 127 is reprinted from Hawker Siddeley News. 1957 Project design (private ven- ture)May 1959 Construction (private ven- ture)Sept 1959 First Bristol Siddeley Pegasus runOct 20, 1959 Government design study contractJune 27,1960 Government prototype con- tract (two aircraft)Oct 21, I960 First tethered flight Nov 2, 1960 Four development aircraft ordered Nov 19,1960 First VTOL flightMar 13,1961 First conventional flight Sept 12,1961 First transition (from for-ward flight to hover and vertical landing) Dec 1961 First supersonic flight Feb 8,1963 First aircraft carrier vertical landing and take-offOct 1964 Formation Kestrel tripartite squadron Feb 1,1965 First VTOL night flightFeb 8,1965 First Kestrel to West Rayn- ham. Nov 1965 Complete squadron flying Span, 25ft'3in; height, lift 3in; length, 46ft Win. R. and W. A. C. McCandless (Aviation) Ltd The Airport, Portaferry Road, Newtownards, Co Down Gyroplane Rex McCandless has been developing an autogyro since 1961, in conjunction with Frank Robertson of Shorts, and the aircraft made its first flight that year. Considerable develop- ment has resulted in a number of modi- fications, including the substitution of the 36 h.p. Triumph engine by a 1,500 c.c. Volkswagen power unit in 1965, and it is hoped to market the autogyro in its present form for £1,000, custom-built Gyroplanes being made to order. Rotor dia, 22ft; all up weight. 5201b; unstick distance at sea level in still air, 65yd; landing roll at sea level in still air,"\Syd; max speed, 90kt; cruise 60-75kt. Rotorcraft Ltd 265 Finchley Road, London NW3 Grasshopper This is a twin-engined four-seater helicopter being developed by Servotec Ltd. A first prototype with 65 h.p. Walter Mikron engines flew in March 1962 and a more elaborate cabin machine with 105 h.p. Walter Minor engines followed in November. These aircraft were intended to prove the aerodynamics and mechanics of the co-axial contra-rotating rotor system. This type of rotor has the advantage that all the engine power goes into the lifting system and the weight and cost of tail rotor drive are also eliminated. The use of two engines coupled in- dividually by freewheels to the contra- rotating drive ensures independent opera- tion in case of engine failure and level flight can be maintained on one. The two-bladed rotors are semi-rigid and are suspended on see-saw hinges, pitch being changed by rotation about a torsion hinge. To obtain rotational control the collective pitch of the two rotors is altered in the opposite sense, thereby unbalancing the torque and causing the aircraft to turn by reaction. In the prototype Grasshoppers the cabin was aft and the engines forward of the rotor under a bonnet. The defi- nitive model has a more conventional glazed cabin, which can carry up to four, with the two engines mounted horizon- tally aft and coupled to the rotor by right-angled bevel drives. Rotor blades are of compressed wood and plastic. Butterfly tail surfaces in the downwash are used for yaw and pitch stability and trim. The landing gear consists of fixed skids, with energy absorption in the sup- porting legs, and retractable ground handling caster wheels. The 145 h.p. Rolls-Royce Continental O-300 is the engine now specified for production. Under the present programme, produc- tion models are scheduled for early 1969. Rotor dia, 28ft Oin; fuselage length, 22ft Oin; height, 8ft Win; max weight, 3,050lb-3,24Olb; empty might, 1,6301b; max speed, IIBkt; cruise, IWkt; max climb, l,230ftlmin; service ceiling, 16,500ft; typical rangt, full load, 217 n.m.; ferry 970 n.m. Short Brothers and Harland Ltd Quern's Island, Belfast, Northern Ireland SC.l The first SC.l VTOL research aircraft to fly (April 2, 1957), which has been at Bedford since 1961, is being used for flight experiments in the control of VTOL aircraft. The second SC.l, which crashed at Belfast on October 2, 1963 has been rebuilt and is expected to begin flying in May. This aircraft has the original systems fitted, together with new equip- ment including heading and sideslip control system, a director horizon and navigation display. Several other systems are scheduled to be fitted, including a deceleration control system, speed raflge display, ground data link and head-up display (HUD), and the aircraft wiD go on trials at BLEU Bedford at the end of the year. The ultimate object of this test programme is to provide in- formation which should eventually enable VTOL aircraft to be equipped with automatic landing systems compar- able with those on conventional aircraft Span, 23ft 6in; length 29ft Win; height, Wft 8in; gn« wing area, 211.S sq ft; fuel capacity, 220 Imp sfiZZL. take-off weight, VTO, 7,800/b; conventional, 8,ww»; max landing weight, normal 6,8001b, emergency •'""•j max level speed, 200kt; max dive speed, 300ki; aum !90kt.
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