February 16, 1959

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SAFETY

U.s. Monitors Soviet Attack on Air Force Transport

(U. S. State Department after several months investigation has formally charged that Soviet interceptors attacked and shot down a U. S. Air Force Lockheed C-130 last Sept. 2. The Department says the unarmed aircraft, which crashed inside the Soviet border, was attacked on the Turkish side of the border while taking part “in a world-wide Air Force project to study the propagation of radio waves transmitted by U.S. radio stations.”

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Kiwi-a to Test Nuclear Rocket Feasibility

Washington—United States effort to determine whether a nuclear rocket engine is feasible under present knowledge will move significantly closer to a definite answer this spring when initial hot tests are begun with Kiwi-A, the first experimental reactor approaching the type needed in a flyable rocket.

By J. S. Butz10 min

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Quarles Sparks Nuclear Plane Debate

Washington—Public hearings on the status of the U. S. nuclear aircraft program as opposed to Soviet progress in this field will be held bv the Joint Congressional Atomic Energy Committee within the near future—probably the first week of March.

By Katherine Johnsen7 min

MISSILE ENGINEERING

How Chrysler Programs Production of Jupiter Irbm

Detroit—Chrysler Corp. has produced the Army Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missile in what it calls a “record minimum lead time of three years,” and has given the missile a reliability that the Army sets at 92%. This lead time included many months when Jupiter shared an off-again, on-again status with the USAF-Douglas Thor before both were finally ordered into production for Air Force deployment.

By Evert Clark7 min

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Hiller Studies Minimum-cost Helicopters

Primary deterrent to adequately developed, low over-all cost helicopters is the present military policy of separate budget funding for procurement and operation, according to a Hiller Aircraft Corp. engineer who has made a detailed study of sources of rotary wing development and manufacturing costs.

AVIONICS

Survey Shows Size of Computer Market

Washington—More than half a billion dollars worth of analog and digital computers were sold last year for aviation and military use and the figure probably will exceed three-quarters of a billion dollars in 1959, an AVIATION WEEK survey revealed.

By Philip J. Klass6 min

AIR TRANSPORT

Initial Comet Operations Please Boac

New York—British Overseas Airways Corp. says it has experienced “virtually trouble-free” operation of its de Havilland Comet 4 on the North Atlantic, where daily New York-London service was inaugurated Nov. 14. Only one premature removal of a Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine has been necessary, occasioned by entry of a seagull which slightly damaged the inlet guide vanes.

By Glenn Garrison5 min

EDITORIAL

Rewards and Responsibility

The airline pilots have been remarkably successful in their battle to gain for themselves what they consider their proper reward for their work in the new jet transport era. Top pay for jet airliner captains in international service is $33,600 while, for similar duties in domestic service, a maximum of $28,000 is attainable.

By Robert Hotz5 min

AIR TRANSPORT

North Central Mass-schedules Traffic

Minneapolis—Philosophy behind the rise of North Central Airlines as a leader of the nation’s 13 local-service carriers centers about President Hal N. Carr’s prescription of mass production flight schedules as a means of rejuvenating unproductive traffic areas.

By Robert H. Cook4 min

Space Technology

Plans Detailed for Titan Complex Design

Washington—Competitive bids will be opened Mar. 19 for the construction of the nation’s first operational underground missile base at Lowry AFB, Colo., to house the Martin-Air Force Titan intercontinental ballistic missile. Construction of this “hardened” reinforced concrete and steel complex to house one squadron of Titans, with nine separate underground emplacements or “silos” is scheduled to be completed 730 days after the award of a contract which probably will be made around April 1.

By J. S. Butz4 min

February 91959

February 231959

February 16, 1959

February 16, 1959

U.s. Monitors Soviet Attack on Air Force Transport