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A convincing demonstration of the Garrett‐engined Skyvan S.T.O.L. capability was given recently when it was operated from a grass strip at Bottle Farm, Charing, owned by Mr James Hay Stevens, a former Technical Editor of AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING. The Bottle Farm strip is only 1,200 ft. long and 60 ft. wide, so that the Skyvan found it necessary to use reverse thrust when turning on the ground. In spite of a fresh cross wind, the Skyvan had no trouble in operating from the strip and landing in little over half its length.

THE great intake of unskilled labour into industry and ‐the fighting services during the War has made a heavy demand for perspective drawings; drawings that can be readily understood by those who have not the experience to read the plain engineering drawing. In this country these drawings arc mainly used for instruction and maintenance handbooks, although in the U.S.A. they are also being very largely used for shop assembly drawings.

THE spread of the war to the East in the summer of 1941 has disproved the opinions of Russian aeroplanes that were widely held outside that country and, at the same time, it has shown that the progress in design, which started to be apparent between 1925 and 1930, has been steadily maintained. In a previous article an outline of the Soviet aviation system, together with details of some of the then more modern designs, was given for the period up to 1939. Exact information about Russian aeroplanes is still hard to obtain, but what can be discovered bears out the conclusions given in this earlier article.

THIS article is complementary to that on the new Junkers constant‐speed air‐screw and is intended to be read in conjunction with it.

THE Piaggio Company has long been known for the design of unconventional aeroplanes; unconventional, that is, in the sense that they have broken with the general practice of the day. Their first post‐war type, the P‐136 five‐seater twin‐engined amphibian flying‐boat, is no exception. The prototype was generally considered to be one of the most interesting aeroplanes exhibited at the 1949 Salon de l'Acronautique. A second prototype was completed for demonstration purposes and, although civil sales were limited to a single example bought by King Farouk, the Italian Air Force adopted the P‐136 as a seaplane trainer and a first series of fifteen was recently completed for them at the company's main aircraft works at Finale Ligure. Piaggio &.C., although well‐known as an aircraft and aero‐engine constructor, is primarily an industrial firm making many different products, including railway coaches and the familiar Vespa light motor cycle.

The basic organization of maintenance and overhaul is examined, with some notes about the aircraft in use, the Convair 240 and the Douglas DC‐3, DC‐4 and DC‐6, and the reasons for the maintenance on each type being carried out differently. Owing to the operating conditions of Sabena, with both long‐range routes and short‐range networks in Europe and the Congo, organization of maintenance presents special problems. The routine inspections on the DC‐3, Convair and DC‐6 are described separately in order to present a picture of the line maintenance of the Company. The DC‐3 is maintained on a 125/500/1,000 hour cycle, with a special major inspection at 3,000 hours; the Convair has a similar progressive scheme; while the DC‐6 is serviced on an alternating 75/150 hour cycle, plus certain progressive items, to a major inspection at 2,400 hours. Airframe overhaul—carried out on all types despite the progressive maintenance schedule for the Convair—occurs at about 10,000 hours. The power plant (or ‘quick‐change’) work, engine overhaul and accessory maintenance is described, but radio, radar and instrument inspection and repair are not covered.

THE immediate impression of this year's Salon was that of a return to reality. Instead of the customary collection of fanciful mock‐ups posed precariously in artistic diving or climbing angles, the aircraft on show (with one exception) had all flown and, as if to emphasize this by contradiction, they were mainly exhibited in natural, almost pedestrian, attitudes. The number of aeroplanes shown was small and was indicative of post‐war conditions. However, the representation was much more satisfactory from the international viewpoint than was the Salon of 1946, the countries represented besides France being Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey and the U.S.A.

THIS article is an attempt to explain the way in which the actual servicing schedules now used by the Royal Air Force are evolved and also to give an outline of the organization necessary for this work. The whole field of R.A.F. planned flying and planned maintenance has already been very effectively covered by S/Ldr Harrop's paper and this present article contains a more detailed account of some of the practical problems involved in the one aspect of the production of schedules.

A power unit for aircraft and the like comprising, an internal combustion engine, a variable pitch propeller, a supercharger for said engine, a compressor, a series of combustion chambers surrounding said compressor and connected to be supplied by said compressor, each of said combustion chambers terminating rearwardly in a propulsion jet, means for clutching said propeller to be driven by said engine, and drive means connecting said engine to the drive shafts of said supercharger and said compressor.

THE manufacturing methods and processes being used by Percival Aircraft Ltd., at Luton, in the production of the Prentice are of more than usual interest because this is the first metal aeroplane to be made by a firm well known for its wooden aircraft. Not only has the company built many hundreds of Gulls, Proctors and other wooden aeroplanes of its own design, but during the war the factory was largely occupied making Oxfords and Mosquitos. It is only in the post‐war period that Percival's have turned to metal, with the Prentice for the R.A.F. and the Merganser and Prince for the civil market. It was decided to design and build much of the works equipment. Examples of this are to be found in the two stretching presses, the strip rolls and the strip slitter.