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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1018.PDF
164 FLIGHT, 27 July 1956 The Screamer was in- stalled for flight test- ing beneath a Meteor 8 at Bitteswell. In this photograph the motor is uncowled, revealing the bulkheads and tire- walls; the jettisonable liquid-oxygen tank is immediately ahead. ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY SCREAMER... Flight clearance involved about 90 minutes operation—withoutaid or servicing—consisting of 92 firings in the course of which such eventualities as running the tanks dry and simulating failureof various pneumatic and electrical circuits were investigated. The flight-clearance rating was ASSc.2-1 and a Screamer (Serial 103)was prepared for flight development in a Meteor 8 airframe (VZ 517). The motor was mounted under the belly, the chamber beingangled downwards through 10 deg and the underside of the rear fuselage skinned with stainless steel separated from the originalventral surface by a 0.5in air-gap. Considerable redesign was necessary to accommodate the fuel and water tanks in the fuselage,and the liquid oxygen was accommodated in a complex design of double-bubble tank mounted immediately forward of die motoritself and neady faired in to form a long streamlined nacelle. To guard against the possibility of having to make a wheels-up landingon the liquid-oxygen tank, the latter was arranged to be jettison- able in emergency. Where possible Armstrong Siddeley designed the Screamer tohave a very long life, and the overhaul life, including such replace- able items as seals, would probably have been tentatively fixed at25 hr. Up to the point of flight-clearance last December develop- ment Screamers had completed over 1,350 firings, totalling some 36 hours' actual running time. Altogether this unit can be saidto be representative of modern and efficient practice in the development of liquid-oxygen rockets for permanent installationin piloted aircraft. It is one of very few such units ever to have been developed to so advanced a degree. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SCREAMER Automotive Products Co., Ltd.: Purolator paper filters for gas-generator fuel and water; British Piston Ring Co., Ltd. (Brico): small piston rings; Bristol Aircraft, Ltd.: 3,000 lb/sq in nitrogen botdes(development taken over from Messier); Dowty: oil filters (and Vardel hydraulic pumps); Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd.: many items of pneu-matic equipment; Flexo-Plywood Industries, Ltd. (Cork Manufacturing Co., Ltd.): Durestos laminations for liquid-oxygen pump; Glacier MetalCo., Ltd.: governor-servo and alternate flow-control unit; Hoffman Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: bearings; A. Kershaw and Sons: opticallyflat surfaces (e.g., on Hecla-washer face); K.L.G. Sparking Plugs, Ltd.: igniter plugs; J. W. Lawrence, Ltd.: fuel/oil heat-exchanger; LodgePlugs, Ltd.: igniter plugs; Morgan Crucible Co., Ltd.: carbon seals; Plessey Co., Ltd.: high-frequency spark generator and ignition unit;Precision Rubbers, Ltd.: rubber diaphragms and seals; R.E. Compo- nents, Ltd.: rubber components, including gaskets for resisting E.E.L.3oil; Ransome and Maries Bearing Co., Ltd.: bearings; Self-priming Pump and Engineering Co., Ltd.: finished starting tanks; Smiths Group:tachometer generator; Teddington Aircraft Controls, Ltd.: solenoid valves and pressure switches; Wellworthy, Ltd.: Duaflex rings. LOSING GROUND A U.S. Senate Armed Services sub-committee has been tryingto determine if the U.S.A.F. has lost air superiority to the Russians. Testifying before the committee, General Weyland,Commander of U.S.A.F. Tactical Air Command, is reported to have stated that a shortage of skilled personnel had become soserious that even if the Command received more of the latest fighters it would not be able to maintain them. One-third ofT.A.C.'s new fighters were already grounded and pilots could fly only about half of the necessary training time because of main-tenance deficiencies. General Weyland also claimed that if the United States had had an adequate tactical air force in 1950, theKorean War might not have started. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted a further$l,160m (about £414,285,000) for U.S.A.F. expansion. Of this sum about $800m (about £285,700,000) would be devoted tospeeding up production of such aircraft as the Boeing B-52. This production build-up is expected to take about a year to complete. On the other hand, General Curtis Lemay, Commander ofU.S.A.F. Strategic Air Command, is reported to have recom- mended a reduction in air force strength to a level which couldbe supported without Government emergency measures. The present budget allocated for 1957 was, however, inadequate, andhe recommended that a specific number of B-52s should be built. DATA ON NON-FERROUS METALS "Metal Industry Handbook and Directory." Published for"Metal Industry" by Iliffe and Sons, Ltd., Dorset House, Stam- ford Street, London, S.E.L Price 15s (by post, 16s 3d). NOW in its 45 th year of publication, this is a comprehensivereference work for all engaged in or connected with the non- ferrous metal industries. It contains up-to-date information onthe properties of newer as well as the more familiar materials, and an extensive section is devoted to summaries of aircraft,D.T.D. and Admiralty specifications. The handbook also includes a section on the chief metal-finish-ing processes and data on rod, bar, sheet and strip products. A new feature in this year's edition is a tabular section on theweight of titanium alloys in sheet, rod and tube. AUTOMATIC LIFE-JACKET INFLATION A DEVICE which will automatically trigger the CO2 containeron an aircrew life-jacket within 15 seconds of immersion has been developed by North American Aviation, Inc., InternationalAirport, Los Angeles 45 3 California. The device, which weighsonly 5 oz, consists of a cap, a piston, a spring-loaded plunger, a soft rubber flapper valve and an effervescent pill about the size ofan Alka-Seltzer tablet and compounded of 60 per cent tartaric acid and 40 per cent sodium bicarbonate. -,.._•:. --_ The North American automatic inflation device attached to a standard American life-jacket cylinder. When the device is immersed, water enters through the metalcap and opens the rubber valve. It then reaches the tablet, dis- solving it and evolving gas. The gas pressure closes the valve againand forces down a piston at the other end of the chamber. This in turn releases the spring-loaded plunger, which strikes the normalbottle-operating lever, resulting in inflation of the life-jacket. Rainfall, heavy dew or accumulated moisture such as might beencountered in normal operating conditions will not trigger the device, since it will only operate under the pressure of a bulk ofwater. The North American company has applied for a patent. Development was begun after the company's test pilot,, GeorgeSmith, had landed in the water unconscious after ejecting at super- sonic speed last year. By chance he was picked up, his lifejacket not inflated, only 50 seconds after entering the water.
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