F-86Ds in England Security of these islands at night and in bad weather should benefit greatly from the re-equipment of the U.S.A.F.'s 406th Fighter Wing with North American F-86D Sabres.
Gnat and Midge Unlike the gnats in Keats' ode To Autumn, the light fighters of the name under construction by, or in contemplation by, Folland Aircraft, Ltd., are far from being a "wailful choir." The Midge (low-powered prototype of the Gnat) has completed 65 hours of test and demonstration flying and has been flown by 14 different pilots.
Flying Boat Hope The only factor likely to bring about a large-scale flying-boat revival, said Mr. D. Keith-Lucas in a lecture last week, was nuclear power. It was thought that aircraft propelled by atomic energy were likely to be very large and to have a landing weight that remained equal to the take-off weight; a flying-boat was therefore the right answer. Mr. Keith-Lucas is a director and chief designer of Short Bros. and Harland, Ltd.
Award to Fighter Pilot The award of A.F.C. to F/L. J. De M. Severne, in recognition of a particularly fine example of airmanship and personal courage, has been approved by H.M. the Queen. F/L. Severne took off from Wunstorf, Germany, in a Venom last November, and was due to land at Fassberg after a routine flight. While holding the aircraft inverted at the top of a loop he smelt fumes and saw that the fire warning light was on. He righted the aircraft, jettisoned the tip-tanks and, from ten miles out and 8,000ft, decided to make a wheels-up forced landing. A belly landing on the crash strip was completely successful, and F/L. Severne then got out of his machine, hacked the engine cowlings off with an axe and directed a CO2 extinguisher onto the smouldering fire he found there.
Source: Flight International
