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ON Friday, March 24, 1961, the Minister of Aviation, Mr Peter Thorneyeroft, officially opened a new high supersonic speed wind tunnel at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford. This tunnel provides the final stage in the present plans for expansion of the wind tunnel facilities at Bedford, being capable of providing speeds from Mach 2.5 up to Mach 5 in a working section measuring 4x3 ft. Three other tunnels arc already in operation at Bedford—these being the 13x9 ft. working section low‐speed tunnel, the 3x3 ft. tunnel, which is transonic and supersonic to Mach 2, and the 8x8 ft. tunnel, which is subsonic and supersonic to Mach 2.8.

THE aircraft industry in the past has always had to rely on the wind tunnel facilities of the Ministry of Supply for such testing as was beyond the scope of the individual firms' tunnels, which are usually small. The new tunnel of the Aircraft Research Association Ltd., opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on May 4, is the result of the first attempt at co‐operative action between firms in the industry.

A NEW 8 ft. × 8 ft. HIGH‐SPEED WIND tunnel recently inaugurated by the Ministry of Supply at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford is to be used for aerodynamic research on models of aircraft and guided missiles. It is claimed to be the largest and most advanced wind tunnel of its type in Western Europe. Responsibility for the design and construction of this wind tunnel has been a partnership between Ministry of Works engineers and architects, Ministry of Supply scientists and engineers, Lloyds Register of Shipping, the English Electric Company Ltd., and other main contractors and a large number of sub‐contractors. We are interested in the lubrication of this job and in particular, lubrication of the compressor.

THE convincing demonstrations of smooth and completely controlled transition from vertical to horizontal flight by the Short S.C.1 must surely be regarded as the highlight of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors'Twenty‐First Flying Display and Exhibition held at Farnborough. The S.C.1 was built and designed as part of a Ministry of Aviation research programme and first achieved transition at the Royal Air‐craft Establishment at Bedford on April 6 of this year. The design of its control system followed on from the work done on the Rolls‐Royce Flying Bedstead and a rig constructed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and for hovering and low speed flight control is dependent on four nozzles, at the wing tips and nose and tail, which are supplied with high pressure air bled from the lift engines. These engines are specially designed lightweight units, the Rolls‐Royce R.B.108, of which four are used for lifting purposes and the fifth for forward motion. The fuselage is of monocoque construction composed of channel section frames about 7 inches apart and a minimum number of channel section longerons which are riveted to the skin sheeting. The delta wing of 10 per cent thickness cord ratio is a two‐spar structure with an auxiliary spar at the 76 per cent chord position and closely spaced chordwise ribs. This structure allows the four closely grouped lift engines to be accommodated between the main spars at the air‐craft centre of gravity. Medium strength aluminium alloys form the basic structural material of the S.C.1, with a certain number of titanium sheet components for fire‐walls. The wing centre‐section spars form an integral part of the bulk‐heads at the front and rear ends of the lift engines bay.

THE Farnborough 1966 Show was at first glance much the same mixture as before, but the second glance was the more revealing. The participation in the flying display of European aircraft by no means swamped the air, even if the Italian verve took the acrobatic honours, but the theme of collaboration with other countries was to be found on practically every stand inside the exhibition tent. It was obvious that the smaller firms not directly involved in production agreements with other nations were very export conscious. The pacemaker of all this collaboration was of course the Concorde, only to be seen in model form, but rapidly taking shape at Toulouse and Filton, and many of the equipment manufacturers had Concorde hardware on display. Beagle announced the Pup, Britten‐Norman produced the production Islander, and Handley Page showed the Jetstream mock‐up. After many years of neglect, the industry is now taking an interest in the general aviation market. The P.1127 (R.A.F.) made its first appearance. The paradox of the P.1127 is that it is almost a part of Farnborough history, yet there is no other V/S.T.O.L. aircraft in the world that has but a fraction of the operating experience it has gained. Farnborough this year gave the impression of being more a serious trade show, and less a public spectacle. Sir Richard Smeeton, Director of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, reported that the exhibiting firms had received more serious business enquiries this year than ever before, and he forecast that 1968 would be a vintage year, which would see the appearance of the HS.801, the Concorde and Jaguar in the Farnborough skies. It is not possible to cover every exhibit shown at the Farnborough Show, but the following report describes a wide cross‐section beginning with the exhibits of the major airframe and engine companies.

THE purpose of this arresting system, which was demonstrated with the aid of a Supermarine Scimitar equipped with conventional naval deck‐landing hook at this year's Farnborough Air Show, is to prevent accidental over‐run of aircraft. Design and development has been carried out by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford, while the energy absorption units for the installation have been designed and supplied by the Aviation Division of the Dunlop Rubber Company, working in close collaboration with the Establishment.

A Discussion concerning the Use of Wind Tunnel Results and Flight Test Measurements in the Prediction of Aerodynamic Loads for Stressing Purposes in the Aerodynamics Department of the Weybridge Division of British Aircraft Corporation. The responsibility for the prediction and issue of aerodynamic loads for stressing purposes at the Weybridge Division of British Aircraft Corporation is carried by the Aerodynamics Department. The arguments for and against this arrangement are briefly examined. One of the main arguments in favour is the facility with which wind tunnel tests can be instigated and controlled. The use of wind tunnel tests specifically designed to give aerodynamic loading data and their relation to estimation using theoretical and semi‐empirical methods is fully discussed and illustrated. The confirmation of design estimates by full scale in‐flight load measurement is described and the usefulness of in‐flight measurements as a design tool on subsequent aircraft of a similar type is discussed.

IN the September, 1956, issue of AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING, Mr McClements and Sq./Ldr. Armitagc surveyed ‘Helicopter Developments during the Post‐War Years’. The purpose of the present article is to discuss the subsequent developments which have taken place during the last six years. This period has been one of continued expansion in helicopter development and of much more widespread utilization of helicopters in both military and commercial operation. Since their initial development, over 150 different types of helicopter have been successfully flown. This figure includes many experimental machines or prototypes built by small groups. The major helicopter constructors have put about 40 types into quantity production and over 10,000 helicopters have been built in the Western countries. These have been predominantly for the military services, the large majority being built in U.S.A., but something approaching 2,000 have been used in commercial operations.

TO say that the Twenty‐fourth S.B.A.C. Show was an unqualified success is perhaps to gild the lily. True there were disappointments— the delay which kept the TSR‐2 on the ground until well after the Show being one—but on the whole the British industry was well pleased with Farnborough week and if future sales could be related to the number of visitors then the order books would be full for many years to come. The total attendance at the Show was well over 400,000—this figure including just under 300,000 members of the public who paid to enter on the last three days of the Show. Those who argued in favour of allowing a two‐year interval between the 1962 Show and this one seem to be fully vindicated, for these attendance figures are an all‐time record. This augurs well for the future for it would appear that potential customers from overseas are still anxious to attend the Farnborough Show, while the public attendance figures indicate that Britain is still air‐minded to a very healthy degree. It is difficult to pick out any one feature or even one aircraft as being really outstanding at Farnborough, but certainly the range of rear‐engined civil jets (HS. 125, BAC One‐Eleven, Trident and VCIQ) served as a re‐minder that British aeronautical engineering prowess is without parallel, while the number of rotorcraft to be seen in the flying display empha‐sized the growing importance of the helicopter in both civil and military operations. As far as the value of Farnborough is concerned, it is certainly a most useful shop window for British aerospace products, and if few new orders are actually received at Farnborough, a very large number are announced— as our ’Orders and Contracts' column on page 332 bears witness. It is not possible to cover every exhibit displayed at the Farnborough Show but the following report describes a wide cross‐section beginning with the exhibits of the major airframe and engine companies.

THE Deutsche Luftfahrtschau, or as it is more generally known, the Hanover Air Show, is held every two years by the Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft‐ und Raumfahrtindustrie e.V. (Federal Association of the German Air and Spacecraft Industries). This year's Show will be held from April 29 to May 8 at the Hanover Langenhagen Airport and will be held at the same time as the Hanover Fair.