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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0680.PDF
656 WORLD NEWS ... proved not to be such a fool as he appeared,Pritchard gave him his full confidence. He came to the RAeS, first as editor ofthe Journal and then as secretary, when its finances were at their lowest ebb and forsome time he ploughed his salary back into the Society, supporting his wife and son byjournalism. (He wrote, among other things, what was at the time the definitive work oncapital punishment.) This sacrifice of salary was to be typical of his devotion to theSociety. This devotion was shared by Wynne, his wife—shared in every sense ofthe word, since for 25 years of his life the Society came first as far as time was con-cerned. Yet Laurence and Wynne were so much a team that wherever he went so didshe; and if he was occasionally alone, the host's opening remark was almost invariably"How's Wynne?" Since his retirement Pritchard had beenworking quietly on a history of the Society, but one fears that his passion for detail musthave militated against its being finished. But there is doubtless a detailed list of referencesand collection of paper work somewhere, since he always insisted that he wouldensure that his successor would be able to carry on. The difficulty will be to find thissuccessor: a Pritchard occurs only once in a lifetime—if one is lucky enough to meethim. J.L.P. already has a memorial. It consists of the many classic papers thatappeared in the Journal during his secretary- ship. F.H.S. MORE ABOUT HANOVER The third special Hanover Show issue of Flight, appearing next Thursday, May 9, will be the Show Review Num- ber, enlarging on the report in the present issue and including a review of the new equipment displayed. Also in this issue will be a guide to the Biggin Hill Air Fair. Peru Buys Mirages Peru has definitely decided to buy 14 Mirages from France, according to Premier Rebagliatti. So ends the year-old competition for the Peruvian order, for which America has fought long and hard. It is expected that the order will comprise two Mirage 3Bs (the two-seat trainer) and 12 Mirage 5s, the export version of the Mirage 3 first exhibited in the form of a model last year at the Paris Show. Marcus Manton People who knew Marcus Dyce Manton during his long career in avia- tion will be sorry to learn of his death, which occurred recently at the age of 68. He was undoubtedly a pioneer. He FLIGHT International, 2 Moy |,6S learned to fly in 1912 in a Grahams White "box-kite" at Hendon and hi Aviator's Certificate was No 231 Q H Grahame-White soon took him on as\n instructor though he was still in hi teens. Early in 1914 Manton joined B. C. Hucks to give a series of aero batic displays with Bleriot XI mono' planes. The two pilots may be said to" have been the originators of the art of combined aerobatics, for in their shows they would loop in unison and then continue to manoeuvre when fully inverted. On the outbreak of war in 1914 ^ was rejected on medical grounds when he tried to join the RFC, but he con- tinued to instruct at Hendon where he taught many RFC and RNAS officers to fly. Subsequently he became test pilot with Samuel White Ltd, then in 1919 he took on test work with Airco, in con- nection with the first London-Paris i service. This was followed by his joining • English Electric when he tested a variety i of prototype aircraft including the little Wren. In the Second World War Marcus Manton worked for Armstrong Whit- worth Aircraft as Service liaison officer and his last appointment before he went into retirement was with Hawker Siddeley in London. A skilled glider pilot, he was a founder-member of the BGA. Parliament Many MPs would like to debate space activities, but haven't even suc- ceeded yet in getting a debate on last year's Estimates Committee report on space research and development. Now that the Government has brought the European Launcher Development Organisation to Parliament's attention, however, by announcing that Britain will not participate after 1971 Flight last week and page 687 of this issue) there is a new incentive for a space debate; and Mr Neil Marten (Con; Banbury), who is chairman of the Conservative space sub-committee, asked for one when the business of the House was discussed last Thursday. The new Leader, Mr Fred Peart, was not entirely discouraging. While saying that there could not be one next week, he at least admitted: "This is a very important subject, and it may well be that we can discuss it at a later stage." There was virtually a mini-debate, however, when the Minister of Tech- nology made his ELDO announcement on the previous day, April 23, because after Mr Frederick Corfield had asked his question (as recorded on page 687) nine more members asked theirs. Broadly speaking, the questions ranged from downright hostility to ELDO to curiosity as to the implications of the Government's decision for the British space industry. Mr Woodrow Wyatt (Lab; Bosworth) volubly wanted to know whether the Minister was aware that "the wrapping-up of a thoroughly un- satisfactory decision in all the pseudo- commercial mumbo-jumbo does not conceal the fact that £135 million will have been spent by us on Blue Streak and in other ways by 1971 and that we are now to make a payment of £10 mil- lion a year from now on to keep a project on which money will have been wasted?" To which breathtaking query Mr Benn replied that when it became apparent that a programme could not be economic even if R&D was written off, it "makes a lot more sense to do what we are doing and put money into an airbus engine, shipbuilding, com- puters, machine tools, or any technology which leads to a return on our balance of payments." His other questioners, with two excep- tions, Mr Neil Marten and Mr Eldon Griffiths (Con; Bury St Edmunds), who asked whether the Government's decision did not mean that France would be the only space Power in Europe, were all Committee on Science and Technology members. Appropriately the chairman, Mr Arthur Palmer (Lab; Bristol, Central), led off by asking whether the engineering departments of the Post Office and BBC had been consulted on the Government's decision, and whether they were happy about it. All Govern- ment interests concerned were brought into the discussions, said Mr Benn, but the application of a TV satellite in Europe was considered against the likely needs of Eurovision and would not have justified the expenditure involved. Mr Eric Lubbock (Lib; Orpington) agreed that it was the worst disservice Britain could do to European technology to embark on projects which had no economic justification, but did the Minister take into account the long-term application for launching systems beyond those proposed by GETS and could be say whether, if ELDO continued, Britain would be able to sell it Blue StreaK launchers? The latter, said Mr Benn, was a matter for the ELDO Council. Mr Eric Moonman (Lab; BiUenca) wanted to know whether the Mmis« would consider setting-up some pnono" in European space and science teen nology; Sir Harry Legge-Bourkei(U». Isle of Ely) wondered if he wouldIB* available a White Paper on the Uj» Report; Mr Robert Howartb I"J • Bolton, East) asked if the Minister wo»J confirm that limited resources woiw iconfir that limitedbetter spent on developing aT Dalyel i better spent on aevciuyi'-s - T u. aircraft; and Mr Tarn Dalyel U- ( West Lothian) asked him to what e» he envisaged supporting ESR0- Beni, "Broadly speaking," said Mr »> "we have agreed that withini a g ceiling of 6 per cent for the'.«& programme—that is, up to '0 current three-year programme ^ be prepared to see an inc ?s a expenditure. The Causse ^Pf of whole recommended an mcre 10 per cent for European space, believe that this is a realistic w
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