Farnborough Reviewed Serious S.B.A.C. work completed, historic Farnborough airfield was invaded last week-end by the public in their tens of thousands, and both climatic and climactic the two days proved to be. After Monday's memorable "all-weather" flying display, described last week, how different were the exciting conditions of Sunday! It was between towering clouds and shafts of brilliant sunlight that the Swift made what must have been the most perfectly timed and positioned of sonic dives, visible from the start to finish, complete with condensation puffs and culminating in the almost simultaneous arrivals of double bang and aircraft along the runway.
Avon-Sabre Delivered On August 30th the Australian Prime Minister visited Laverton aerodrome to officiate at the handing-over ceremony of the first production Avon-Sabre for the Royal Australian Air Force. Ninety of these aircraft have been ordered from the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, at whose Fishermen's Bend factory they are now in production.
The R.Ae.C. Rally The belt of rain and low cloud which passed over Southern England during the morning of Thursday of last week was unfortunately moving into the flight paths of most of the light aircraft en route to White Waltham for the Royal Aero Club's International Invitation Air Rally. By dusk that evening, however, some two-thirds of the expected 43 machines had arrived.
Polar Route Progress On September 10th S.A.S. officially confirmed that their trans-Polar service will begin on November 15th. Douglas DC-6Bs will leave Copenhagen at 8.10 p.m. local time on Mondays and Fridays, arriving 27 hr 10 min later at Los Angeles. Refuelling points on the route will be Sondre Stromfjord (Greenland) and Winnipeg. The return flights, departing from Los Angeles on Mondays and Thursdays at 0005 hr, will take 24 hr 20 min.
Other Air News True to form, within 48 hours of the revelation of the Rolls-Royce vertical-take-off design, at least one Soviet radio station reported that Russian designers had developed V.T.O. aircraft long before any took to the air in the West.
Source: Flight International
