April 21, 1958

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AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Douglas Uses Extra Time to Refine Dc-8 for Jet Race

Santa Monica—Faced with competition which is first on the scene, Douglas Aircraft Co.’s DC-8 is the product of carefully planned exploitation of advantages in being second and a ground test program which Douglas engineers believe to be unprecedented in scale and thoroughness.

By Russell Hawkes25 min

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Orbital Re-entry Will Intensify Demands on Structures

Washington—Hypersonic speeds will bring changes in aircraft structures comparable to the advance from wood-fabric design to all-metal construction. This paraphrase of a statement by Walter R. Dornberger, technical assistant to the president of Bell Aircraft Corp., illustrates the difficulties now encountered in designing The structure of a winged vehicle which can orbit the earth and return intact.

By J. S. Butz10 min

Reorganization Plan Responsibility Not Clarified for Defense Personnel

New York—Proposal for reorganization of the Defense Department has created some confusion among Defense personnel as to which group is responsible for specific missile and space projects, William M. Holaday said at a recent Society of Automotive Engineers National Aeronautic Meeting.

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Letters

Excellent Coverage I am writing you in order to express my appreciation for the excellent article in the Jan. 27 issue of AVIATION WEEK (p. 70) concerning our shipboard operations. I feel that the article and accompanying photographs expressed our mission and experiences especially well.

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EQUIPMENT

What's New

Description of platinum-clad metals, Technical Data Bulletin PLA-5, General Plate Division, Metals & Controls Corp., Attleboro, Mass. . . . Bulletin No. 341 explains how the technique of resistance welding is adapted to the production process, Sciaky Bros., Inc., 4915 West 67th St., Chicago, Ill. . . .

What the Industry Did in 1957

The scheduled airlines set new traffic highs in 1957. They carried more people, and more property, more places and for longer distances than ever before. 1957 was a year in which the airlines flew: 49,339,000 passengers, 31,243,100,000 revenue passenger miles, 160,689,000 ton miles of U. S. mail, and 507,678,000 ton miles of freight.

April 141958

April 281958

April 21, 1958

April 21, 1958