October 5, 1959

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MISSILE ENGINEERING

Aerojet Broadens Activities in Move to Diversify

Azusa, Calif.—Recent Aerojet-General Corp. purchase of Rheem Mfg. Co. Defense and Technical Products Division at Downey, Calif. brings Aerojet into the fields of drone aircraft, flight simulators, large aircraft fuselage section fabrication and new areas in explosive ordnance—typifying its efforts in diversification.

By Russell Hawkes29 min

BUSINESS FLYING

Gulfstream Is Easy to Handle, Rugged

Bethpage, N. Y.—Grumman has worked the ruggedness of its military line into its pressurized, 350-mph., twin-turboprop corporate Gulfstream which, at 25,000 ft., has a range of 2,530 stat. mi. with 45 min. fuel reserve. It should pose few transition problems for pilots of executive pistonengine aircraft.

By Robert I. Stanfield15 min

AVIONICS

Avionics Grows in Aircraft Companies

Washington—One of every four engineers and scientists employed by aircraft manufacturers today is an electrical-electronic engineer and by 1964 the figure is expected to be one out of every three, an AVIATION WEEK survey reveals. Five years ago (1954), an AVIATION WEEK survey showed that approximately one of every six engineers employed by aircraft manufacturers had an electrical-electronic background.

By Philip J. Klass9 min

132

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Navy Contracts

Following is a list of unclassified contracts for $25,000 and over as released by U. S. Navy contracting offices. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington 25, D. C. Cox Instrument Division, George L. Nankervis Co., Detroit, Mich., fabricate and furnish nine (9) calibrating secondary standard flowmeters in accordance with BuAer Spec. XMA-117, NOas 59-4233-f (MA-51-488-59), $96,383.

138

PRODUCTION

New Methods Applied to Minuteman Cases

Indianapolis—Decision to give Allison Division of General Motors Corp. a competitive contract for development of prototype Minuteman rocket cases (AW May 18, p. 119) was based on Allison’s ability to fabricate high strength cases and to test them quickly and simply, according to company officials.

By J. S. Butz8 min

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Explorer VI Reveals New Radiation Data

Washington—Early data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Explorer VI satellite is revealing new radiation patterns, including a high energy band near the earth, as well as demonstrating the feasibility of relaying pictures from space vehicles.

By Craig Lewis8 min

112

AVIONICS

Computer Simulates Pilot ‘reasoning’

Downey, Calif.—Automatic landing system built around a flare computer which brings about “precognitive” flight technique has been developed by Autonetics Division of North American Aviation here. The “precognitive” feature means simply that the computer uses the same line of “reasoning” that a human pilot would in flying the airplane through the critical last quarter mile of final approach and through the flare, making corrections in small increments as needed to compensate for deviations, rather than try to return to a preprogramed flight path.

By Richard Sweeney6 min

September 281959

October 121959

October 5, 1959

October 5, 1959