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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0229.PDF
FLIGHT, 19 February 1960 229 (•QTEZ 840 is the designation of France's forthcoming light transport, first mentioned in "Flight" last week. The turboprops ore Turbomeca Astazous, each rated at 436 h.p. Passenger capacity will be 16 to 24 model's shape was wrong: aerodynamically it was wrong: "Iknow every inch of that machine." But with typical sincerity he went on to pay tribute to his hosts—"how much we appreciatethe representatives and their thoroughness." Thirty-six firms, he said were represented at Boscombe; and there was the "finest ofciose liaison" between them and the Ministry and RAF. He paid tribute to the companies' "understanding and good co-operation."Finally he had a personal word, that after 30 years' service— which he had thoroughly enjoyed—he was happy that the RAFhad let him join; and at 52 was looking forward to starting on a new life and fresh adventures. ., ...... Gliding Congress Details DATES have been announced for the 7th congress of the glidingresearch organization OSTIV, to be held at Cologne during the World Gliding Championships. The official opening will beon Tuesday, June 7, and the meeting will close on Friday, June 17. Delegates are expected to be accommodated at ButzweilerhofAirfield, where the championships are taking place. Papers will be presented at the meeting on technical andmeteorological subjects concerned with gliding, and there will be discussions on the draft airworthiness requirements forstandard-class sailplanes which are now being prepared by an OSTIV working party. The OSTIV Trophy—first awardedlast year to Rudolf Kaiser for his Ka-6—^-wiLl again be awarded to the designer of the standard-class machine judged (by a specialcommittee) to be the best combination of cheapness, simplicity and efficiency. Prospective authors of papers for the congress should senddetails to Alan Yates, City of Bath Technical College, Lower Borough Walls, Bath, Somerset, before April 1. "Brab" Dines at Fair Oaks HALF-HEEDED, the seasons slip by, marking but not proclaim-ing the passage of years. Few men are left who remember flying as it was in the beginning. "None of you can realize," said theguest of honour at Fair Oaks Aero Club's fourth annual dinner on February 5, "the extraordinary atmosphere of those early days;the appalling proposition of getting an engine to start; the difficulty of finding in England a magneto or a turnbuckle, orthat unforgettable first moment of leaving the ground." The speaker, of course, was Lord Brabazon of Tara, himselfone of the last of the pioneers. "A sort of human pterodactyl" he sighed, rather obviously feeling nothing of the sort, "and the manwho has frequently been described as 'the first certified pilot'." And apart from a fleeting reference to the present—"I'm theman who barred the certification of the 707"—in deliberate and detailed reminiscence Lord Brabazon then discussed the earliestdays of flying, so that fifty years on some of his listeners might say they had heard about it from someone who was there. Whatwas the first public reaction to the first flight by Britain's pilot No 1 (at Issy-les-Moulineaux)? "A taxi driver kissed me on bothcheeks." What was Lord Brabazon's own reaction to becoming airborne? "Consternation." And much more in a similar vein, about the Daily Mail prize,the Michelin Cup, flying and not-flying at Brooklands, and early efforts to become airborne. But of all that would never come back,said Brab, what he regretted perhaps most was ballooning—"A KANPUR 1 is the name of this light aircraft, designed and built in J32 days by Indian Air Force technicians, under AVM Harjinder Singh, at the IAF station at Kanpur. Built entirely of indigenous raw materials, the new four-seater prototype was on display at the World Agricultural Fair in New Delhi real gentleman's way of getting into the air. You didn't knowwhere you were going, how far, or where you would come down. And you didn't care."Difficult as Lord Brabazon is for any speaker to follow, within three minutes of starting a highly apocryphal account of a wartimeflight he had made with Wg Cdr Arthur (the club's chief flying instructor) H. E. Baker (CFI of London Transport Flying Club)had reduced his audience to that near-hysterical state where any- thing that is said brings renewed laughter. But he broughtsufficient sanity to the proceedings towards the end to pay a warm tribute to his old colleague and to read a telegram from the Guildof Air Pilots and Air Navigators announcing that Wg Cdr Arthur had just been awarded the Guild's Award of Merit. IN BRIEF Rolls-Royce have signed a contract for the supply of Dart turbopropsfor the prototypes of the Japanese YS-11 airliner. Worth £297,000, the order is the first to be placed for the RDa.10, of 2,660 e.h.p. Maurice Brennan, who at the beginning of the year took up the position of chief engineer with Folland Aircraft—now one of the companies of Hawker Siddeley Aviation—has been appointed to the Folland board. An agreement between the British and Maldivian Governments,granting Britain the use of Gan Island as an RAF base for 30 years in return for financial aid, was signed by C. J. M. Alport, Minister ofState for Commonwealth Relations, last weekend. One of the US Navy's new Goodyear ZPG-3W airships was wreckedlast weekend when a gust drove her against a hangar as she was being towed by a tractor at South Weymouth, Mass. Designed for radarearly-warning duties, and of l§m cu ft helium capacity, the ZPG-3Ws are believed to be the biggest non-rigids ever built. We regret to record that Air Cdre R. J. Legg, representative in SouthAfrica for Rolls-Royce Ltd, died after a road accident near Pretoria on February 6. Aged 56, he held several air attache appointments after thewar, and went to South Africa in 1952 as senior air liaison officer to the British High Commissioner. He retired from the RAF in 1952. Our associate journal The Motor Cycle recently sent a writer andartist to NSU Werke to bring back a full story—exclusive in Britain— on the revolutionary Wankel engine. A history and description, withcutaway drawing, appeared yesterday, and next Thursday's issue con- cludes the story. A reunion dinner for members of the RFC, RNAS and the RAFduring the First World War is to be held next Thursday (February 25) at the Royal Empire Society, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol.Ex-servicemen wishing to attend should contact R. W. Watson, RAF A Headquarters, Carlton Lodge, Eastfield, Westbury-on-Trym, Glos. Preparations are now under way for the mountain soaring group ledby Dr Brennig James to travel to the Himalayas in April to investigate mountain air currents by sailplane flights over the Annapurna range.Dr James had requested permission to attempt to soar over Everest, but the Nepalese government permission was restricted to Annapurna. Theexpedition will be based on Katmandu and Pokhara, and the aircraft will probably comprise two Skylark 3s and two T.42 Eagles. Asked on February 9 about his plans for introducing regulations "toenforce all persons operating from private flying clubs to insure against third-party risks," the Minister of Aviation stated in a written replythat (-under the Civil Aviation Act 1949) all aircraft owners were legally liable to pay compensation for material loss or damage caused by aircraftto persons and property on the surface. "It is my understanding," the reply continued, "that persons operating from private flying clubs infact insure against such risks, but the position is now being studied.,5'
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