FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1954
1954 - 3043.PDF
FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Royal Visit to English Electric "DRITAIN'S first supersonic fighter, the English Electric P.1A " prototype, gave its first display of exhibition flying on November 3rd, when the Duke of Edinburgh visited the English Electric Company's airfield at Warton, Lanes. Flown by the firm's chief test pilot, Mr. R. P. Beamont, the P.l showed that it can do a very great deal besides travel quickly; in fact, it looks as if "Bea" has a superb mount for displaying his renowned aerobatic prowess. The Duke watched the display—mostly along the Fylde coast— from the edge of the runway, where he stayed ten minutes. The Canberra B.8 was also demonstrated. The Royal party toured many other factories of the English Electric Group, including the Napier factory at Netherton, Liver pool, from which many Avons are flowing, and where various gas turbines, including the Eland and Oryx, are going into produc tion. His Royal Highness went on to the Napier high-altitude gas-turbine test station at East Lancashire Road before returning to London in a Viking of the Queen's Flight. On the previous day the Duke had visited the Fulmer Research Institute near Slough, where he inspected the new engineering wing. The Institute, which undertakes research—primarily metallurgical—for industry, was established eight years ago by the late Col. W. C. Devereux. S. of S. Returns fXN November 3rd Lord De L'lsle^mtfTJudley, V.C., secre- ** tary of State for Air, arrived batffc in London after spending 17 days in North America. The chief reason for his visit was stated to be an inspection of Canadian training schools at which NATO students are instructed, and he visited seven of these bases. Discussions we're also held with representatives of the Canadian and Arnmcan Governments and aircraft industries. The Comets' Future TVTEWSPAPER speculation as to the future of the Comet has J-^ already begun, though at the time of writing the official inquiry had yet to run its full course. Some of the reports seem to be based on shrewd reasoning, though all are believed to be unofficial. One source suggests that a number of Comet 2s may be taken over by the R.A.F.—for use perhaps as transports, pos sibly for training, and for simulating jet bombers in defence exer cises. If flown in non-pressurized, or lighdy pressurized, form, there seems to be no reasoivwhy existing Comets should not be so employed for several thousands of hours. High-altitude researches another role in which the remaining Comet Is and the Comet 2s, in their present form, might find useful employment., "We believe that the Avro Ashtons now used for this purpose are being worked very hard indeed. For acceptance on commercial operations Comet 2s will require some stiffening, including re-skinning. As "re-offered" to the airlines/a new Comet 2 could undoubtedly embody many other improvements in the light of experience since the design was virtually frozen some three years ago. Thus, the weight penalty of* strengthening the pressure cabin and making other desirable" modifications could be more than offset by improved specific fuel consumption and increased thrust from the Rolls- Royce Avons. With these and other developments a new Comet 2 might well offer better all-round performance. Clearly, de Havillands must now be faced with the need to decide on the future of the Comet 2s already built or lying partially completed at Hatfield, Belfast and Chester. Several factors will influence this decision: B.O.A.C.'s policy on Comet 2 operations; the possibility of a number of aircraft being adopted by the Ministry of Suypply or R.A.F.; and the cost, in time and money, of embodyjjag all the improvements required as a result of the Elba-Naplei inquiry. • The Comet 3^"is in a different category since only the proto type has beerf built, and the cost of incorporating modifica tions and injprovements in production aircraft should not be prohibitive. * Anglo-American Boeing ? TMMEDIATELY upon returning from a sales-prospecting tour -•- of Europe and other areas, Mr. Ralph P. Bell, the Boeing sales director, announced that a sizeable market existed for production versions of the Boeing 707 Jet Stratoliner powered with British engines. Design studies are known to have been prepared for the 707 with Rolls-Royce Conway and Bristol Olympus engines, both of which are fully equal in power and efficiency to the Pratt and Whitney JT3L turbojets specified for American 707s. By choosing British engines, the company consider, a large number of Boeings might be sold to operators who would not otherwise consider such a purchase, either owing to the lack of dollars or on account of the undesirability of operating relatively new, and complex, engines many thousands of miles from the manufacturer's factory. RB-57 Canberras in Europe 'T'HE first of the Martin-built RB-57 Canberras to reach •*• Europe was recently flown via Labrador and Iceland to Wies baden in Germany. Shortly afterwards it made its first public appearance at Bitburg A.F.B. during the A.A.F.C.E. recon naissance conference (described on page 700). The RB-57 is the first of two completely Americanized ver sions of the Canberra and can be used for either P.R. or bombing work. With an all-up weight of about 50,000 lb, it is powered by two Wright J65 Sapphires and incorporates Martin's own revolving bomb door. The internal bomb load can be supple mented by four napalm tanks and eight 5in rockets carried on pylons under the wings; jettisonable tip-tanks can also be accommodated. -•* Among the performance figures released by Martins are: sea-level speed in excess of 500 kt, the ability to turn within an average airfield boundary, a range of over 2,000 miles, and an operating altitude of over 45,000ft. The RB-57 carries a crew of two in a tandem cockpit. Two Tactical Reconnaissance Wings, the 10th at Spangdahlem and the 88th at Sembach, are to convert to RB-57s in the near future. They form part of the 12th U.S.A.F., which is itself part of NATO's 4th A.T.A.F. Migs Destroy RB-29 ANOTHER air shooting incident off Northern Japan occurred • last Sunday, November 7th. This time the American air craft involved was an RB-29 of the 9-1 st Strategic Reconnais sance Squadron, based on Yekata, Hokkaido. Said by the State Department to have been on a routine photographic reconnais sance flight (the majority of the remaining B-29s, some hundreds in all, are now assigBea to such duties), the aircraft was attacked at 11,000ft by two Migs. The crew of 12 baled out over the sea, and ten of them were rescued. The RB-29, on fire, glided to Nenruro, a port in north-east Japan, where it struck LEV IT AT ION—TRANSLATION: On November 5th, Convair test-pilot J. F. "Skeets" Coleman made the first transition from vertical to horizontal flight—and, as shown, back again—with the XFY-1 "pogo-stick" prototype, at Brown Naval Auxiliary Air Station, San Diego.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
