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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0069.PDF
8 January 1954 31 The Atomic Change-over IN accordance with the recent Order in Council, Ministerial A responsibility for atomic energy passed, on January 1st, from the Minister of Supply to the Lord President of the Council. On the change taking place, Mr. Duncan Sandys, die Minister of Supply, issued the following message to all members of the staff of the Atomic Energy Organization: — "I wish warmly to thank you for the contribution which all of you have made, individually and collectively, to the development of atomic power for both military and civil purposes. "Together with your colleagues in America, many of you took part in the design of the first atomic bomb during the war. Since then, working on your own, you have developed, proved and brought into production, British atomic weapons of more advanced types. At the same time you have made remarkable progress in applying the forces of nuclear fission to peaceful ends, thus open ing up to this and future generations an ever-expanding prospect of material betterment. "In the whole history of mankind through the ages, there have been comparatively few discoveries of a really fundamental character. Among these will certainly rank the discovery of how to release and exploit the unbounded energy which, since the dawn of time, has remained hidden in the nucleus of the atom. "You have a right to feel very proud of having played some part, whether great or small, in these momentous achievements." THE British aircraft industry was often maligned in regard to matters of production, contended Sir Thomas Sopwith, C.B.E., chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group, in his address to shareholders at the eighteenth annual general meeting on January 6th. "People tell us," he said, "that we know how to build prototypes—the finest in the world—but they say that when it comes to producing aeroplanes in quantity we fall behind the standard set in America." This, he maintained, was not true. The Ministry of Supply, and leading American constructors themselves, agreed that the time-lag between the conception of an aeroplane and the day when it was in squadron service was about the same here as it was in the United States. In rate of production the United States had a lead, because their orders were larger and more extensive jig and tool equipment could be installed. This was a mixed blessing, as it led to a loss of flexibility for incorporating improvements and modifications. In some cases the Americans ignored modifications during construction and delivered the finished aircraft to a centre, where they could be taken apart and rebuilt. Such a procedure, which inflated the apparent rate of delivery as compared with that in the United Kingdom, would not be acceptable in this country, where modifications were built into the aircraft while they were still on the production lines. Sir Thomas went on to plead that the production side should receive more consideration on the part of young men. "The best brains and the best apprentices," he said, "so often seem to be attracted by the glamour of research and design." Pro duction was equally interesting, and the rewards just as attractive. Production arrangements for the Avro Vulcan were well estab lished, said Sir Thomas, and a considerable number of flying hours had been recorded by the two prototypes. The "new Avro dual-control delta" [Type 707C—Ed.] was now in the hands of the R.A.F. for extensive flight tests. Referring to S/L. Neville Duke's air speed record in the Hawker Hunter, Sir Thomas said that the Group did not intend to make another attempt at the moment as all resources were being concentrated on the production drive. It was a high tribute, he said, that by far the greatest number of "off-shore" machines ordered were Hunters and Sea Hawks. Flight development of the Mk 2 Hunter was proceeding satis factorily, and all production of this mark would be handled by Armstrong Whitworth. The building-up of Hawker Aircraft (Blackpool) Ltd., who were sharing in Hunter production, was progressing well. At Armstrong Whitworth the transonic wind tunnel was now in full working condition, and that company's larger supersonic tunnel would be completed in a few months. At Gloster Aircraft, Meteor production—now in its eleventh year—would fade out during the coming twelve months, when upwards of 3,000 would have been produced. Development of the Javelin prototypes continued and production was "well in hand." Avro Canada had completed its Mk 3 CF-100 contract, and production of the rocket-firing Mk 4, described by Sir Thomas as "the most heavily armed aircraft in the world," followed immediately. Avro Canada had under development "new and advanced aircraft of quite unusual characteristics and revolutionary performance." Having referred to the aircraft division of Air Service Training as "a most valuable production unit," and to the orders for PANHANDLER: The curious little Hiller HJ-1 (U.S. Army designation, YH-32) is now flying. Two Hiller blade-tip ramjets, each of 32-lb thrust, supply the power; rotor diameter is 23ft, all-up weight 1,200 lb and maximum speed 76 m.p.h. A small tail-rotor supplants the rotor- downwash rudder used on the tip-jet Hiller Hornet. Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, Mamba, Double Mamba, Python and Viper, Sir Thomas went on to refer to Sapphire production by the Brockworth Engineering Co., Ltd. This, he said, had assisted Armstrong Siddeley in their production programme and had helped them in concentrating their effort on general research and development. At Avro Canada, Orenda production had been maintained on schedule and very large numbers had been produced. Design was under way on "a more advanced and powerful engine." Discussing guided weapon activities at Armstrong Whit worth, Sir Thomas said that during the year under review satis factory results had been obtained with advanced types of weapons equipped with "electric and electronic apparatus." "As you will realize," he said, "the flight-testing of these missiles is not the easiest of tasks, and, in order to take advantage of the excellent development facilities in Australia, an organization is being established at the Woomera Rocket Range. The advance party of key personnel is already in Australia." Sir Thomas went on to forecast "with every confidence" that the company would have a major share in the design, development and pro duction of missiles. To those who prophesied that the day of the piloted aircraft was drawing to a close he pointed out that many of the missiles now under development were designed to be fired from piloted aeroplanes. Although aircraft and rearmament contracts had been cur tailed, High Duty Alloys had already gone a long way to restab- lishing themselves in civil and export markets, and the com pany had made an outstanding contribution to the production of axial-compressor engines by the development and production of close-to-form compressor blades. * Air Service Training continued to train considerable numbers of overseas students, and the courses in marine radio and radar were attracting increasing numbers of British youth. Unfor tunately a change in Air Ministry policy had led to the can cellation of all ab initio Service training contracts. "I view this change in Air Ministry policy," said Sir Thomas, "with grave misgivings, as it will affect the supply of pilots from our civil Corporations and airline companies. From now on only National Servicemen who are selected and sign on for regular or short- service commissions will be given the kind of flying training that is required. When they are ready to turn to civil flying they will be too old. The position is serious. It demands action, prompt and decisive, on the part of the Government." Although work was already in progress on machines which would replace the "rising generation" of aircraft, it was essential. Sir Thomas went on, that the Government should follow a bold policy in ordering adequate quantities of types available now. Reviewing the Group's trading results, the chairman reported that profits for the year ended July 31st, 1953, after deducting reserve for increased replacement cost of fixed assets, amounted to £5,033,744, as compared with £5,184,552 for the previous year. Turning to the consolidated balance-sheet he pointed out that, after the provision of £1,775,551 for depreciation, fixed assets showed an increase of nearly £8 million. The board was recommending a final dividend of 9 per cent, less tax, making, with the interim dividend already paid, a total dividend for the year of 15 per cent, less tax. This compared with a total dis tribution last year of 10 per cent, less tax. SIR THOMAS SOPWITH ON "THE GROUP'S" YEAR
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