The development of manned supersonic aircraft in this country suffered a setback at the end of the 1939-45 War, when it was decided that the use of manned aircraft would be too dangerous; however, more realistic views soon prevailed and, as a result, the ordering of such manned aircraft was considered in 1947 by the Ministry of Supply and in our submissions to M.o.S. in 1949, we described the aircraft as having as its primary function “Research Flying at Transonic and Supersonic speeds up to M =1·5.”

The background which led up to this submission is of interest, as it shows a logical line of development within the Company.

There is a peculiar magic in these lines of Sidney Godolphin, penned 300 years ago. I can think of no better introduction to a paper on aeronautical research and design.

Flying is rather a remarkable business, about which we are inclined to get a little blasé nowadays. Few things can tax the engineers' skill more than the design of a modern high performance aeroplane. In its way it represents supremacy in engineering achievement. Let us not take all this too much for granted; and let us remember those gifted designers—no longer with us— who laid the foundations of the art. Among these, the name of Roy Chadwick stands high.

The Forty-Fifth Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, “Advanced Education and Academic Research in Aeronautics” was given before the Society by Dr. Clark B. Millikan, Hon.F.I.A.S., F.R.Ae.S., on 13th September 1957, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George St., London, before a large and distinguished audience which included H.R.H. The Prince of the Netherlands and a number of the Americans who had attended the Sixth Anglo-American Aeronautical Conference. Sir George Edwards, C.B.E., B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., President of the Society, presided. As has now become customary the principal awards of the Society awarded by the Council for the year were presented before the lecture (see July and October 1957 Journals). This year they included Honorary Fellowship of the Society which was accepted by His Royal Highness, The Prince of the Netherlands.

Introducing the Lecturer, Sir George Edwards said:–Dr. Millikan was born in Chicago in 1903, he graduated from Yale University in 1924 with the degree of Ph.B. and received a Ph.D. degree in physics and mathematics at the California Institute of Technology in 1928. In that year he was appointed Assistant Professor at the California Institute, in 1934 he became Assistant Professor, and since 1940 he has been a full Professor in the Aeronautics Department. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Institute from 1945 to 1947 and was appointed Director of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory in 1949. He has been Director of Wind Tunnel Testing at the California Institute since 1935, and Director of the Southern California Cooperative Wind Tunnel since it began operations in 1945. He is Chairman of the C.I.T. Trustees Jet Propulsion Laboratory Committee.

A Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, of which he was President in 1937, he is also a member of a number of other Societies. In 1948 the British Government awarded him the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom, and in 1949 he received the United States Medal for Merit.

Dr. Millikan is currently serving as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and as Chairman of the Aircraft and Guided Missiles Panel of the U.S.A.F. Scientific Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratories' Scientific Advisory Committee, Chairman of the Sub- Committee on Fluid Mechanics and a member of the Aerodynamics Committee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

The piloted aircraft provides the supreme example of the highly complex machine performing a precise function in which the control loop is still completed through a human operator. Although both physically and mentally his task has been greatly assisted by the introduction of automatic pilots, auto-stabilisers, power controls, flight directors and the like, he still possesses the ultimate advantage over the machine of being able to use judgment in the face of arbitrarily changing circumstances. Thus, until it is possible in advance to define the required tasks exactly, and to measure the subsequent performance of the system in precise and unambiguous terms, the pilot will be saved from the encroachment of automation.

The performance of the human operator is described by the aptness and speed of his reaction to the pertinent stimuli, in effect his transfer function as an integral element of the overall control loop.

In this paper the subject is considered from an aerodynamic point of view and no discussion of the possibilities of structural integration of the engine and airframe in the sense of using parts of the engine to contribute to the structural strength or stiffness of the airframe is included, beyond the statement that the simplest consideration and roughest calculations suggest that the sort of deflections obtained on typical aircraft structures at full load do not seem compatible with the integration into such a structure of engines having rotating parts and fine clearances, although in the case of units such as ram-jets such structural integration may well be practicable and desirable. Another structural problem which leads naturally to the consideration of engine and airframe as a single unit is the problem of improving flutter characteristics by placing the concentrated masses of the engines in suitable positions relative to the wing.

It is a great honour to be invited to present a survey of the aeronautical research in the Netherlands to this distinguished audience and I wish to express my thanks to the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society for giving me the opportunity to deliver this lecture. The more I appreciate it in view of the friendship between our two countries, between the Society and its Dutch counterpart and the personal friendship with so many present on this occasion.

It is my intention to give a survey of some of the work performed in the Netherlands in the post-war period and to describe briefly the main installations which are now available or under construction. I hope that I will be able to give you an impression of the scope and the nature of the aeronautical research activities in the Netherlands. These activities are being directed in the first place by the immediate needs of the industry and the aircraft operators; and in the second place by the desire to contribute to the general development of the art, thereby also supporting the exchange of results on an international basis, even more essential than before, considering the rapidly growing importance of aviation in its broadest sense.

Before entering into more technical matters it may be worthwhile to give very briefly an outline of the present organisation of aeronautical research and development in the Netherlands.

The Twelfth British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture “ Aeronautical Development in Australia and its Potential Contributions to the British Commonwealth ” was given by Mr. L. P. Coombes, D.F.C., B.Sc, F.C.G.I., F.I.A.S., F.R.Ae.S., Chief Superintendent, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Melbourne, before the Society on 22nd November 1956 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Mr. E. T. Jones, C.B., O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., President of the Society, presided and introduced the Lecturer

MR. E. T. Jones: The British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture was given annually and normally alternated yearly between a resident of the United Kingdom and a resident of a member country of the Commonwealth. This year the lecture was to be given by a resident of Australia and it was his great pleasure to introduce Mr. Coombes. Mr. Coombes had long been a friend and colleague of many of them but as they had a fair number of the younger generation present he would introduce Mr. Coombes properly.

Mr. Coombes had served the profession of aeronautics since 1917 when he started as a pilot in the First World War. For ithese services he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was a Fellow of the Society and a Fellow of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. He was also a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute. Mr. Coombes was elected Chairman of the Melbourne Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1953 and in 1956 he was elected President of the Australian Division of the Society. He was also a most active and enthusiastic member, or delegate rather, of the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council, a body to which he referred in the paper and which came into existence in 1946.

Mr. Coombes joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the Aero Department in 1924 and a year after transferred to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe. He was recalled to Farnborough in 1930 to take charge there of the seaplane testing tank which had just been erected and many would remember that Mr. Coombes and the late Mr. W. G. A. Perring worked side by side on that tank for many years. He thought it was about 1938 when he and his family left England when there were no facilities at all in Australia for aeronautical research. Indeed there was no organisation in Australia for aeronautical research and he thought that there was no need personally or professionally for Mr. Coombes to go to Australia because he had already assured for himself an eminent aeronautical career in the British Air Ministry. Mr. Coombes therefore was just as much a pioneer, aeronautically speaking, as those men of sail who set out from England two centuries before him. Mr. Coombes was both architect and designer of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne and was now the leader there of a strong team of scientists and engineers who had made quite a reputation in the aeronautical sciences for the high quality of their work.

He would like now to read a message from Australia from Mr. Isbister, the honorary secretary of the Australian Division, which said: “ Please convey to our President, Mr. L. P. Coombes, best wishes for a successful British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture. From Council and members of the Australian Division.”

The increase in jet engine thrust has been accompanied by an increase in the noise generated by the jet stream to such an extent that the associated noise pressures are now capable of exciting vibrations in an aircraft structure which are potentially dangerous from the fatigue aspect. Several examples of fatigue damage of this kind have appeared already on aircraft in this country and in the United States.

The noise generated by a gaseous jet arises principally from disturbances caused by high velocity gradients at the jet boundary. Classical theoretical work on noise generated in this way has been done by Professor Lighthill. He introduced the concept of an “acoustic quadropole” as the elementary sound generator, and showed mathematically that the total acoustical power radiated by a jet varies directly as the eighth power of the jet exit velocity and the second power of the jet exit diameter.

The problems involved in the packaging of Service radar equipment are reviewed. Information on shock testing techniques, instrumentation and a design procedure for cushioning are given, together with some examples of current packaging methods used by the Ministry of Supply's Radar Research Establishment, Malvern, Worcs. The paper is based on a lecture given to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Gloucester and Cheltenham Branch in December 1954. Received October 1956.

This paper considers some of the special problems of wind tunnel testing which arise in high-lift work. Discussion is confined to current experience in the R.A.E. and N.P.L. low-speed wind tunnels, and refers mainly to tests on blowing over flaps or jet-flaps. Comments are made on suitable size of model, methods of feeding compressed air into models without affecting balance readings, and general test technique. Methods of model construction are not specifically discussed.

It has been normal in discussion of helicopter operations to assume that the aircraft will operate at low altitudes. In particular, the commercial operation of helicopters on “inter-city” routes is usually assumed to take place between altitudes of 1,000 and 2,000 ft. with the appeal of the view of the countryside adding to the attractions of this means of transport.

It is intended to show in this paper that there are considerable advantages to be gained from flying very much higher than these low altitudes, and in using flight paths very similar to those of conventional air liners.

The 999th Lecture to be given before the Royal Aeronautical Society “ The Importance of Time in Aircraft Manufacture ” by Air Commodore F. R. Banks, C.B., O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S. was given on 17th October 1956 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Great George St., London, S.W.I. Mr. E. T. Jones, C.B., O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., President of the Society, was in the Chair. Opening the meeting, Mr. Jones said:—

This evening marked the opening of the Society's 1956-57 Lecture season in so far as the London district was concerned. Actually, two Main Lectures had already been given at Branches; the first at Derby and the second at Henlow and at both there was a large and appreciative audience. It was gratifying that these early Main Lectures at the Branches had been received so well. He mentioned this because out of nine Main Lectures this session four were planned to take place at Branches, and that was quite an innovation. It was, he thought in 1948 that Council thought it would be a good thing if a few of the Main Lectures each session were held at the Branches and, so to speak, take the Society now and again to the Branches. He was sure they would agree that that was a good thing to do. There might be some present from the Branches and he had no doubt there would be reciprocal response in the Branches' members coming to lectures in London.

Now it was his pleasant duty to introduce their Lecturer. Actually of course he did not require any introduction. Air Commodore Banks, as they well knew, was a Lecturer of some importance. He had lectured many times to this Society and, indeed, to other Societies in other countries. He was a Fellow of their Society, a Companion of the Bath, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and, what was a little more unusual in their Lecturers, he was a Commander of the French Legion d'Honneur and a Commander of the United States Legion of Merit. He had a particular distinction in respect of the subject he was speaking on tonight. He started life as an engineer. He then became an aviation fuels specialist. Then he became Director-General of Engine Production in the Ministry of Aircraft Production, and later changed from Production to Development and became Director of Engine Development in the same Ministry. He then went back to his first love, fuels, and returned again for sixteen months to the post of Principal Director of Engine Research and Development at the Ministry of Supply, when at that point of time this Ministry was rather hard put to get the right man in the right job. He was now a Director of The Bristol Aeroplane Company and was also on the Boards of Bristol Aero Engines Ltd. and Bristol Aircraft Ltd.

The requirements of aeronautical engineers have been one of the greatest stimulants of metallurgical research and development during the present generation. Materials for the piston engine and the airframe had shared about equally the attention of the research metallurgist from the early twenties to about 1945. Then the gas turbine appropriated the major effort in metallurgical research because it was clear that progress with this propulsive unit was inescapably dependent upon the production of metals and alloys capable of giving reliable service at ever increasing temperatures. Here it was a question of evolving new materials having characteristics for which no appreciable demand existed before the advent of the gas turbine. The past five years have seen the airframe come back into the picture metallurgically, because of the new concern with fatigue and because supersonic speeds are bringing with them service temperatures for the airframe higher than anything arising while speeds of flight were comfortably subsonic.

All of us who are intimately connected with aviation appreciate that the introduction of a new era of air transportation—the jet age—will not be accomplished without a tremendous effort in almost every field of the Industry.

There are current problems for which solutions are available but not implemented, current problems requiring new solutions, and new problems associated with the unique characteristics of the jet aeroplane.

The opening paragraph in my first Flight Test Report after the initial flight of the Fairey Delta 2 still rings very true today:—

“This aircraft shews every promise of being a very pleasant flying machine. Soon after take-off, I had confidence in the handling characteristics, and I should like to congratulate all the design and engineering personnel who made this possible.”

This great day was the 6th October 1954, at Boscombe Down, and was the start of an intensely interesting development programme—not without its setbacks and excitements—which was highlighted last March by the gaining of the World's Absolute Air Speed Record for Britain. The early flights followed the pattern of most prototype aircraft and, but for an unfortunate setback on the fourteenth flight, went very smoothly.