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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 2361.PDF
254 FLIGHT, 18 September 1959 Round the Stands . . . most of these now being production units. They included designsby Rotol and by Plessey, whose 15 kW TRA 170/27 is now being produced in quantity. Dowty were showing their Transmaticdrive hydrostatic transmissions—not a new development, but dis- played for the first time driving an aircraft undercarriage wheel.Finally, an important and interesting new unit appeared on the English Electric stand. This was a brushless 9 kW direct-currentgenerator producing 300A 30V supply at 5,000 to 8,000 r.p.m. and operating at up to 65,000ft. The exciter of this unit producesa three-phase alternating voltage which is fed by silicon rectifiers mounted in the rotor shaft to the generator field windings. Thealternating voltage produced by the static output windings of the generator is rectified by silicon rectifiers mounted in the frame. stage toggle frame acting on a plastic skeleton providing a closefit for pressure breathing and protection against air-blast. Also shown was a 3J litre stainless-steel liquid oxygen container andautomatic pressure-demand regulator equivalent in capacity to 2,600 litres of gaseous oxygen. The container is entering FleetAir Arm service where it is used with a standard regulator. Considerable strides are being made in improving dinghies andlife vests. R.F.D. showed, for dinghy aprons, the new nylon closure, of Swiss origin, based on tiny nylon hooks and loops onfabric strips which instantly engage to form a continuous closure, but can easily be broken apart. For civil use the company is pro-ducing dual-chamber life vests, conforming to American require- ments, but designed so that a single chamber will fully support anunconscious person. A brand new device is the Inject air inflation system in which compressed air is blown into a venturi to entrainatmospheric air to assist in dinghy inflation. Frankenstein exhibited the new Beaufort 26-seat reversiblelife raft permitting all-round entry and having a canopy centrally stowed so that it could be extracted from either side of the floorand would automatically position itself on inflation. This greatly simplifies erection of the shelter in bad weather.A jet air-inflation system engineered by Walter Kidde and Normalair was shown. The former company had also engineeredan automatic inflation initiator using synthetic sponges which (Lett) Martin-Baker Mk 4BS automatic ejection seat for Lightning. It has ground-level and high- speed devices, leg-re- straint garters, personal equipment connector and electric seat - height adjustment (Right) Baxter, Wood- house and Taylor partial- pressure helmet. More than 200 have been produced PERSONAL EQUIPMENT THE general trend in the personal equipment exhibited this yearwas one of steady improvement rather than startling innova- tion. On the military side both Martin-Baker and Follandautomatic ejection seats were on view, the former used in almost every military aircraft from basic trainer to supersonic fighterand the latter installed in its latest version in the Folland Gnat Trainer. Martin-Baker production is now concentrated on themany versions of the Mk 4 lightweight seat, to which the latest "star" modifications are being added. Mk 5 versions are alsobeing produced in quantity for the U.S. Navy and are being retrospectively fitted to many NATO aircraft of American manu-facture and to the F-104G. Mk 5 versions are also destined for the NA.39 and the Hawker P.I 127. The company is con-fident that Mk 4 and 5 seats will provide adequate protection up to the highest indicated airspeed likely to be encountered.Ground-level and high-speed devices are standard and several seats now have the patent Personal Equipment Connector and anelectric seat-height adjustment motor. Over 95 per cent of emer- gency ejections are now proving successful and more than 300lives have been saved. Incidentally, a VTO version of the Martin- Baker seat is fitted in the Short SC.l and the Dornier Do29. Theparticular seat exhibited in the show was a Mk 4BS for the Lightning. The Frankenstein pressure jerkin and g-suit combination forpartial pressure protection is still the R.A.F. standard together with Baxter, Woodhonse and Taylor partial pressure helmet.Modifications to the latter include improved sound exclusion and oxygen mask fit. Although not yet in general service the helmetis approved for squadron use and more than 200 have been made. M.L. Aviation exhibited the latest version of their partialpressure helmet with larger visor, flexible self-fitting oxygen mask, visor closure actuated by absolute pressure rather thanpressure drop and an internal sun visor. For more usual wear, British Oxygen Aviation Services exhibited the new R.A.F.Q-type mask which rests on the chin and is retained by a two- sweD in water and release the firing pin. This is the first opera-tionally acceptable device of this type. Latest Walter Kidde development is a one-man dinghy which is automatically releasedfrom a seat-type pack on immersion, positioned beneath the wearer by a high pressure tube and then inflated to support theman automatically even if he enters the water unconscious. Ultra exhibited the first automatic distress beacon in the worlddesigned for life rafts and Bumdept showed the navy's V.H.F. TALBE personal beacon, now also used for mountain rescue inSwitzerland, and the SARBE U.H.F. beacons in Fleet Air Arm and, in future, in R.A.F. service. SARBE is produced for wearon pressure clothing or with voice facility and transmits on 243 Mc/s. MATERIALS AND METHODS A PERIOD of consolidation of past developments appears to betaking place with metallic materials. While there has this year been no startling event comparable to the introduction of titaniumas an engineering material, there have been remarkable advances in the techniques of melting, casting and fabrication of existingproved alloys. Especially noticeable is the emphasis on the use of vacuummelting and casting. Thus William Jessop & Sons show an exceptionally large titanium ingot, made of course by this method,but they have also extended vacuum melting to steel and alloy ingots, with a resultant freedom from porosity and a metallurgicalsoundness unattainable in the past. This process of vacuum casting has also been utilized by D. Napier & Son for the pro-duction of precision castings in a variety of materials, including Nimonic alloys. As an illustration of the advantages of vacuum casting, theproperties of Nimocast 713C, a nickel-chromium casting alloy made by Henry Wiggin & Co., are of interest. A comparison ofthe stress-to-rupture properties of vacuum-cast, and cast-in-
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