American representatives arrived in Sydney last week to buy derelict U.S aircraft from the R.A.A.F. It is stated that they are particularly interested in the armament, which they will send back to the States - presumably for use in training.
Past and Future
"For close defence the guided missile is the thing, but if you have to go into enemy territory I think you will always have piloted aircraft," said Air Chief Marshal Sir Phillip Joubert in a speech in London last week. He foresaw the night and day fighter of the future as a large aircraft equipped with a battery of guided missiles which it would discharge at the enemy after sighting it on a radar screen.
New De-icer
Rubber leading edge de-icers, almost universally employed on American aircraft, may be superseded by an electric resistance de-icing boot developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. This metal shoe can absorb a current density of up to 75 watts/sq in.
Chez Turboméca
Some highly uncomplimentary things have been said about France's aircraft industry; yet there is much about it that is admirable, and nothing more so than the way in which the little Turboméca units have been brought to fruition. In this instance, surely, the familiar assertion that the French are good at producing fancy-looking prototypes, but hopeless at building them in quantity and exploiting them, is uncalled for, as witness the eagerness with which the Turbomécas are being sought by aircraft designers of many nationalities. When the Germans took over the works, the staff, en bloc, declined to co-operate; so the plant was dismantled and the machines were sent to Germany. Ironically, the company got under way once again after the war with the aid of a team of German scientists who had been employed at Bordes on rocket research.
Source: Flight International