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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1645.PDF
23 November 1956 807 EL GAMIL airfield, Port Said, in use by Whirlwinds of a joint R.A.F./ Army helicopter unit. Air- craft of this type figured prominently in the assault. New London Airport Commandant A S reported in last week's Flight (page 793) Sir John D'Albiac,*•*• K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., commandant of London Airport, is due to retire at the beginning of next year. As we go to press anofficial announcement is expected—according to The Times— naming his successor as Mr. G. J. H. Jeffs, who has beencommandant of Prestwick Airport since 1950. "Jimmy" Jeffs, who is 56 years of age, has been closely con-nected with British civil aviation since his demobilization from the R.N.A.S. after the First World War. He was in charge ofair traffic control at Croydon from 1922 until 1934, and at Heston from 1934 until 1937. Both during and after the Second WorldWar—in which he attained the rank of group captain—he was mainly concerned with Atlantic air traffic control. We hope to publish further notes about Sir John D'Albiac andhis successor next week. Derby Successes "CIRM orders are now held by Rolls-Royce, Ltd., for 2,500*- gas-turbine aero-engines for civil use. This figure, representing more than half the world market, is made up chiefly by ordersfor 2,000 Darts. The next largest orders are for Conways and Avons (over 100 units of each); and contracts have been placed formore than 80 Tynes. A spokesman for the company said that the contracts at presentin hand meant that the Rolls-Royce Derby and Scottish factories would be working to full capacity, and extensive use would bemade of sub-contractors. Lt-Cdr. F. W. Merriam, A.F.C., F.R.Ae.S. WITH the passing of Frederick Warren Merriam—who died atChristchurch, Hants, on November 12 at the age of 76— an interesting and distinguished link with the earliest days of British aviation has been severed.He was the first pilot in this country to fly through cloud (ina Bristol Box-kite, early in 1912); later, as manager and chiefinstructor of the Bristol Flying School at Brooklands, he hadmany pupils who subsequently became famous, including AirChief Marshal Sir Philip Jou- bert de la Ferte, A. Cdre. P. F.M. Fellowes (who led the aerial Houston Everest Expedition),and Sub-Lt. R. A. J. .Warneford, V.C., the first pilot to shoota Zeppelin down; and it was only the toss of a coin at theRoyal Aero Club which decided that Alcock, rather thanMerriam, should accompany Whitten-Brown on the firstdirect transatlantic flight. At the outbreak of the 1914-18 war Merriam was the seniorflying instructor in Britain, with an outstanding reputation for skill and patience, and he became chief instructor to the R.N.A.S.at Hendon and later at Chingford. Subsequently he flew on anti- submarine operations from Cattewater and Padstow, and afterthe war did some pleasure-flying and tested the Saunders Kitti- wake flying-boat. In 1922 he founded Britain's first glidingschool, near Shanklin, Isle of Wight. OUT OF THE PAST: Pleased with the Royal Aero Club's latest acquisi- tion—a poster advertising the first aviation meeting in England (Doncaster, October 1909)—are Col. R. L. Preston (left), the Club's Secretary-General, and his assistant, G/C. J. F. H. du Boulay. The poster was presented to the Club by "Flight" reader Mr. Robert Henderson, ex-R.F.C, and is being compared here with "a pictorial souvenir*' of the same meeting already in the Club's possession. Lt-Cdr. Merriam. EXTREME SOUTH: Bearing the title of a current song hit was this U.S. Navy R4D of Air Development Squadron 6, seen at the South Pole on October 31. The seven members of its crew were the first men to tread the polar snows since Capt. Scott's expedition of 1912. During the last war Lt-Cdr. Merriam served with the FleetAir Arm, his considerable experience of practical psychology proving useful on selection boards. Two years ago he published afascinating autobiography, First Through The Clouds (Batsford), and just before his death he had completed another book on earlyflying called Echoes from Dawn Skies. More SeaStars LAST week the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation announced a' further £25m order for the T2V-1 SeaStar, the new standard jet trainer of the U.S. Navy. Developed from the T-33 (alsowidely used by the Navy as the TV-1) the T2V is the first pro- duction machine to have boundary-layer control. The new orderwill extend production into 1958, and the first machines will join the Fleet in January next year. "Flight" phctcgraph
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