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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0238.PDF
232 FLIGHT International, 15 February Ijj. INDUSTRY International Products Company News Short's Future "The forward work programme is now clear and a financial reconstruction of the company is being worked out." This statement on Short Brothers' position was made by the Minister of Technology, Mr Wedgwood Benn, in a written Parliamentary answer on February 6. He did not refer to the still-vacant chairmanship. Mr E. S. Bishop had asked the Minister if he was aware of concern among Short's workers about the com- pany's future and what the Government's policy was about its holding. Mr Benn in his reply went on to say that when the reconstruction had been worked out, Shorts could look forward to a soundly based future, adding: "The Rohr Cor- poration has expressed an interest in acquiring a holding in Shorts. If a firm proposal materialises, the Government will consider its implications carefully, having regard to the long-term interests of the company." Mintech Microelectronic Share The Ministry of Technology has placed a contract with Elliott-Automation Micro- electronics to cover 50 per cent (£40,000) of the cost of an advanced microcircuit development programme. It will involve the design of production equipment for a new interconnection system for the tiny, but very complex MOST (metal oxide silicon transistor) microcircuit arrays which are now being developed. This new process, known as the beam lead technique, will greatly speed the laborious process of connecting leads to these circuits, and is claimed to provide a considerable increase in reliability. Work on this new technique is to start immediately at the company's research establishment at Glenrothes, in Scotland, and it is expected that the company will be producing beam lead, single chip, large array MOSTs by 1969. Mintech has also placed a contract with the Electronics Department of Fer- ranti Ltd whereby it will contribute half the cost of £175,000 for a two-year pro- gramme of advanced production engin- eering techniques for integrated circuits. The work which will be undertaken in- cludes the automation of slice handling in the photo-etch and diffusion processes for slices of up to 3in diameter involv- ing the development of metallisation techniques, and automation of assembly and inter-connection methods. The suc- cessful completion of this work, says Ferranti, will make equipment available to allow the present ranges of integrated circuits to be manufactured at higher yields and lower prices. These are the first contracts which the Ministry of Technology has placed with industry under the "Microelectronics Production Technology" programme, which is aimed at providing support on a multi-million pound scale for the vital British microelectronics industry. Raytheon Computer A new, general- purpose digital computer for aerospace applications has been developed by Raytheon Co, Lexington, Mass 02173, USA. The RAC-230, weighing 201b, is a parallel two-address machine with flexi- bility which allows adaptation of the design for use in ballistic missiles, re- entry vehicles, space satellites or manned vehicles. The power supply and oscillator, and the logic, memory, and input-output modules, are all of the plug-in type and are mounted in an interconnection chassis that is wire wrapped to provide reliable inter-module connections. The memory and input-output sections can accommodate one or two memory modules—braid, core, or alterable plated wire—and interface with a variety of peripheral equipment. The RAC-230 has a two-microsecond main memory cycle time with 4,096 words in the basic non-destructive read- out programme memory and 2,048 words in a "scratch-pad" data memory using coincident current core devices. New Export Guide Following discus- sions between the British National Export Council and Kompass Register Ltd, the Council have decided to co- operate with Kompass Register in publishing an entirely new export marketing guide, British Exports '69, which has been designed exclusively for use by overseas buyers. The first edition is planned for publication this autumn The guide will classify in considerable detail the vast range of products exported from Britain each year. Jn 1967 these totalled over £14 million per day. Products will be itemised and listed alphabetically for easy reference. The exporting company's name and address will be shown under product headings and a numerical code will indicate the areas overseas to which they export. Manufacturing companies and members of the Confederation of British Industry will be individually identified. In addition* the guide will list the name and address of overseas agents of exporting com- panies. Further information from: British Exports '69, RAC House, Lansdowne Road, Croydon, Surrey. IN BRIEF Ekco Electronics of Southend-on-Sea recently started delivery of weather radar for installation in BEA's Viscount 800 fleet. The contract covers 22 E190 systems, including spares, and is valued at approximately £96,000. General Precision Systems (ATM) Ltd have been awarded a contract from Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd, for the provision of consultancy services in the development of an ATC radar system for the Bangkok Flight Informa- tion Region. Litton Precision Products, Hayes, Mid- dlesex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Litton Industries Inc, has been appointed UK sales and services representatives by the following American electronics com- panies: Cohu Electronics Inc; Curry McLaughlin & Len Inc; Digital Devices j Inc; Astrosystems Inc. An order for solenoid valves for the wing-tip fuel tank pressurisation system of the Soko Galeb aircraft, built at Mostar in Yugoslavia, has been won by Dunlop Aviation Division, C«ventr]; The order is for valves for over 1 production aircraft. Dunlop tyres are also supplied for this aircraft. Two engine noise suppressors for <>«• field ground-runs of the Concor*'" being built by Copper-Neil/ tW-«Bld S Hl L "*'«!*S Bold, St Helens, Lanes, to Industrial Acoustics Co Ltd, Road, Staines, Middx. sor comprises two 200 assemblies constructed m thick high-tensile steel . suppressors will be installed « . Filter, and RAF Fairford \<f f year, preparatory to Concorce i > testing » .
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