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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0088.PDF
88 FLIGHT International, 19 January /967 INDUSTRY International Products Company News Smiths Safety Device Orders worth more than £400,000 have been received by the Aviation Division of Smiths Industries from the Small Engine Division of Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd for a quantity of electronic over- speed trip units for the Gnome free- turbine engine which powers the West- land Wessex helicopter. This trip unit replaces a centrifugal type of mechanical governor and can, state the manufac- turers, be easily fitted on either existing or new engines. It is obvious that if the transmission shaft between a helicopter engine and its rotor fails, serious damage to the engine is likely, owing to excessive speed and resulting vibration. The overspeed trip unit prevents this condition by shutting off the engine fuel supply within 35 milliseconds of a predetermined speed datum being exceeded. This has been successfully demonstrated on the test bed. Praise for Flight Recorder The recently published report of the inquiry into the Vanguard crash in October 1965 (see Flight, December 29, 1966, page 1085) gives high praise to the Davall recorder recovered from the wreckage. After briefly describing the uses of a flight data recorder, the report goes on to say: "The impact and fire which resulted from 'Double Echo' striking the runway were both extremely severe, and it is a tribute to the designers that the recording was proof against both." Summing up the information provided by the flight data recorder, Part 7 of the report concludes with these words: "In general the information provided by the recorder was of the greatest assistance. There can be few occasions when the instrument can of itself explain the cause of an accident. What we were given here was a detailed account of the sequence of events leading up to the final moment, details which would have been unobtainable without the FDR. In this case the instrument also revealed the existence of problems hitherto unrecog- nised. It is clear that the FDR provides a valuable contribution to flight safety." Since the Vanguard accident, Davall flight data wire recorders have been recovered with their data intact from two other crashes. Hepworth and Grandage Expansion In response to a substantial increase in demand for gas turbine blades from Rolls-Royce and Bristol Siddeley, the Turbine Components Division of Hep- worth & Grandage Ltd (Associated Engineering Group) is to increase blade production by 50 per cent during the next year. A modern factory of 26,000 sq ft has been purchased in Shipley, Yorks and, at the same time, £250,000 is being spent on plant and extensions at the existing factory at Yeadon, near Bradford. In addition, six acres of land are being purchased at Yeadon for future development. New plant installed at Yeadon will considerably increase the capacity for blade production, using newly developed techniques of electro-chemical machining. These involve the intricate shaping of tough Nimonic alloys by means of electrolysis, the special machines required having been designed by Hepworth & Grandage after extensive research and development. The additional blade production will be mainly for Rolls-Royce Spey and Bristol Siddeley Olympus 593 and Pegasus engines. A space simulation chamber and ancillary equipment, designed and constructed by International Research & Development Co Ltd, Fossway, Newcastle upon Tyne, for Cryosystems Ltd, being loaded for dispatch to the European Space Technology Centre at Noorwijk, Holland. The chamber will produce conditions of vacuum, heating and sunlight similar to those experienced in space so that small satellites and their components can be tested environmentally A "Pegasus" valve supplied by Telehoist Ltd, of Cheltenham, which has just achieved the remarkable service life of 70 million opera- tions. It has been installed in a test apparatus developed by Palmer Aero Products Ltd—a BTR Industries subsidiary—for testing high- pressure hose assemblies IN BRIEF Rotax Ltd has made an arrangement with Lear Siegler Inc, Cleveland, Ohio, whereby both companies will work together in the development of variable- speed constant-frequency electrical sys- tems for aircraft and military vehicles. The George Kent Group has pur- chased from Hawker Siddeley the Pottermeter business of Gloster Saro Ltd. The division, which will be known as the Pottermeter Division of Kent Industrial Instruments Ltd, will continue to operate from its works at Hucclecote, Gloucester. PEOPLE AND POSTS Dr Nicol Gross and Mr L. E. Smith have been made joint managing directors of the British Oxygen Co Ltd. Mr Ralph Bonafede has been named corporate director of operations by the Fairchild Hiller Corporation. Gp Capt Thomas E. Burgess has joined the board of Burndept Electronics Ltd as sales director. Mr Richard H. Linnell, assistant to the director of manufacture, AEI Elec- tronics, retired at the end of 1966 after 40 years' service with AEI in Rugby and Leicester. Honeywell Controls Ltd announce the appointment of Mr John Shearsmith as sales manager, military products division, based at Hemel Hempstead. He will be responsible for marketing in the UK and Commonwealth countries the company's range of military products.
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