HORIZONS UNLIMITED
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Year Published: 1960s
Description:
Dating to the mid- 1960s but prior to 1966, "Horizons Unlimited" was created by World Wide Pictures and the Society of British Aerospace Companies to provide an overview of the British aerospace industry, highlighting its history, achievements, and future prospects. It covers various aspects such as: (1) The development and use of different British aircraft, including commercial jets, executive jets, helicopters, and military planes (2) The role of British engines in powering many aircraft worldwide (3) The comprehensive nature of the industry, which includes manufacturing, research, and development (4) The importance of advanced technologies and materials in aircraft production (5) The rigorous testing processes to ensure safety and reliability and (6) The industry's contributions to international aerospace projects and future innovations like the Concorde. Overall, it emphasizes the significance of the British aerospace industry in global aviation and its continuous efforts in innovation and development.
0:19 - Introduction to the pilot and the automatic landing system.
0:47 - Description of the Trident One, a second-generation British jet airliner.
1:00 - Mention of other British jets like the Vickers VC10 and the 111.
1:23 - Overview of various British aircraft at Heathrow Airport (called London Airport until 1966), including the de Havilland DH.106 Comet -- the world's first commercial jet airliner -- Bristol Type 175 Britannia medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and the Vickers Viscount medium-range turboprop airliner.
2:01 - Discussion on the comprehensive nature of Britain's aerospace industry.
2:41 - Range of aircraft produced, from long-distance jets to helicopters and missiles.
3:39 - Importance of British engines in the global aviation industry.
4:46 - Support from numerous firms and workers making components and equipment.
5:03 - Increasing complexity and precision in manufacturing processes.
5:48 - Introduction of the 115 research aircraft and its role in testing new designs.
6:12 - Use of wind tunnels for testing aircraft models.
7:00 - High-speed research aircraft and future transport concepts.
8:01 - Emphasis on investment in research and development.
8:27 - Production processes for airframes and engines.
9:15 - Advanced techniques in engine production and testing.
10:59 - Development of new materials and technologies.
11:41 - Comprehensive testing for safety and reliability.
12:28 - Importance of air traffic control and advanced radar systems.
13:10 - Various aircraft types, including executive jets and military planes.
14:16 - Introduction of hovercraft and their applications.
15:01 - Expansion of hovercraft production and their future potential.
16:00 - Rigorous testing for safety in aviation.
17:03 - Cold start tests for engines.
18:01 - Testing of cockpit canopies for high-altitude conditions.
19:05 - Final assembly and testing of aircraft systems.
20:01 - Air traffic control advancements for increased safety.
21:02 - Overview of different aircraft types and their uses.
22:15 - Military aircraft including the supersonic Lightning fighter jet, the Royal Navy's Buccaneer, and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1, an experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. At 21:55 the Belfast transport is shown followed by the Handley Page Victor jet-powered strategic bomber, followed by trainer aircraft including the Gnat.
23:13 - Missiles, rockets and satellites including UK-3 for space research.
24:00 - International cooperation in aerospace projects including building Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprop engines for C-160 transport aircraft and VTOL planes.
25:10 - Ambitious plans for future aircraft, including Concorde.
26:08 - Conclusion with the pilot's perspective on the future of British aviation.
The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after its main competitor, the Boeing 727. 117 Tridents were produced by 1978. The Trident was withdrawn from service in 1995. The Vickers VC10 was built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown in 1962.
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Transcription
[Music] [Music] every flight needs a pilot like me but today I have a helpmate an automatic Landing system to bring me down safely even in the thickest fog [Music] [Applause] this plane is the Trident One of Britain's second generation Jet [Music] Airlines there's another the vc1 off across the Atlantic probably and the third the 111 that's the short Hall specialist the tridon come somewhere between you can see them now in airports all over the world in all kinds of Airline colors side by side with the first generation of British Jets still giving fine service take London Airport there's the comet the world's very first pure jet airliner the britania a prop jet and the first turbine pared plane to fly a regular passenger service across the Atlantic the vicount the first prop jet ever to go into passenger service it developed into the Vanguard bigger faster then come Freighters like the Ary and the many many planes built abroad but with British engines the French Caravel the Dutch friendship quite a few 707s and dc8 too it's a good record a record of an industry leader which serves the whole world what does it take nowadays to build a plane like this what kind of industry has to exist to do [Music] it in many ways the industry has a new look many of the Great names of the past deand and Hawker Vicor and English electric have come together to make bigger units more efficient more competitive it's a big industry his labor force about2 200,000 annual turnover 5 or 600 million with over a third going on research but these are just facts and figures take a look inside Britain's Aerospace industry is one of the few really comprehensive ones in the whole world it makes a complete range of aircraft from the great longdistance vc10s to sophisticated executive Jets like the 125 a wide range of helicopters made and [Applause] exported missiles rockets and satellites too and the means to power them British engines power about half the turbine passenger planes of the western world [Music] [Applause] supporting these are literally hundreds of firms and thousands of people making components and Equipment these two finding their way into many planes other than British equipment becoming more intricate more delicate factories becoming more clinical and antiseptic while behind every aspect of production are the men who plan design and draw the planes in service today the shapes of the plan L of [Music] Tomorrow this plane is the 115 Pilots like me think it's a great plane but it's well on its own because it was designed just as a research tool to see how the delta wing shape for the Concord airliner handled at low speeds the shapes of new aircraft get their first practical testing though in Wind tunnels this is one of over a 100 variants of Concord which have been tested and this is one of the key test tunnels all necessary to test a 6-t model at twice the speed of sound past the sound barrier and on to Mac 2 oil picks out the air flow over wings and fuselage smoke picks out the vortices the model can even be flown [Music] [Music] crammed full of instruments it's taken up to several thousand ft before being dropped its programmed flight path is recorded all the way for later study and after models actual research aircraft the 221 for high speed work on the Delta shape the SC1 for vertical takeoff research it was the world's first in the future how about a transport to take 200 people non-stop halfway around the world or an air bus to take 150 passengers entirely within the Contour of the wing or a plane which Alters the shape of its wings in flight or Wave Riders planes to travel at four times the speed of sound the transport of the 1980s fantasies more like fascinating possibilities which only further research and development can make practical as this 115 has helped Concord you can't have a world-class industry without investment in research and after research the production aircraft take the airframe alone it must be light yet strong one way to get strength is to Mill from the solid in shaping it you might Mill away about 90% of the original block but you'll keep its essential soundness another way is to use resins to bond the various parts together they become the filling in a kind of great metallic sandwich clamped permanently together in the jaws of one of the world's most powerful presses the result is a bond as strong as the metal [Music] itself airframe and engines engine production makes if anything even heavier demands on technology they are now tested in special Chambers at twice the speed of sound and at altitude conditions to over 70,000 ft helped by facilities like these today's British jet engines have been developed the turbo fans like the spay and Conway more efficient more economical tested to stand great heat and pressure and yet needing Parts made with fine Precision in very tough metal so new techniques of production have had to be pioneered techniques like darkk erosion to burn perforations for air cooled veins techniques like electrochemical forming to mold shapes of great intricacy techniques using an intense Electron Beam for working Metals too hard to cut and weld with normal methods these are the frontiers of Technology but even with everyday Machine Tools the industry is out in front [Music] and there's new material being developed too non-metallic weight saving it's on this firm basis of technology that the achievements of the engine side of the industry have been built from The Trusted prop Jets through current Innovations like the Pegasus vertical takeoff engines and onto developments of the future like ramjets four times the speed of sound these are the engines to drive the passenger planes of 20 years ahead being tested now in [Music] Britain airframe engines and Equipment what's needed to service a modern airliner over the equator or the Arctic and whatever the height you need a pressure and temperature control system on the flight deck instrumentation has to be Fuller than ever before and yet incredibly sensitive than accurate while to process flight data are AIDS like the black boxes small computers which act as the aircraft's electronic memory to keep all these systems working often triplicated for extra safety can take up to 50 Mi of wiring even a familiar piece of equipment like an underc can do the unexpected like squatting to lower the fuselage nearer to the ground for ease of loading and so the many different skills come together to make the complete aircraft and they're in evidence in every new plane the industry produces it's always the way the glamour planes get the attention while the Choppers do the work army assault transport for the Wessex reconnaissance work for the wasp and Scout airc rescue for the Whirlwind there's our man [Applause] some people never learn soaked to the skin trying to row across the channel when he could have been riding on a cushion of air hovercraft [Music] [Applause] [Music] large and small hovercraft are already making scheduled passenger runs in many parts of the world they're being used by the military [Applause] too while on Britain's aisle of white is the world's only production line of hovercraft this line is now being greatly extended as the giant srn4 ENT production a hovercraft to take over 250 passengers and over 30 cars the future for this newest form of Transport is certainly Unlimited [Applause] [Music] in a real emergency a man's life would have been saved safety no other industry goes to such lengths to test its product how does an undercarriage stand up to repeated heavy Landings how do the lining stand up to sudden breaking at takeoff speed to find the answers test and test again aircraft like cars have to start when cold this spay is been standing for 3 days at -40° Centigrade but a first time start is still expected after all if an arrow engine fails you just can't Coast to the side of the road and f a garage now accelerate infrared radiant heaters glare down on a cockpit canopy carbon dioxide pressure is the coolant the aim to simulate the effect of high altitude flying at supersonic speeds the life of the pilot depends on the canopy's resistance everything is tested Britain has over 100 engine test cells engaged in routine testing alone every piece of equipment too from the bolts on doors to the latest navigational AIDS and when the individual pieces of equipment come together into aircraft systems these two must be tested the entire electrical layout for example finally the complete systems of the plane to be Pilots can see exactly what happens to every movement of the controls and get experience of the aircraft long before it ever flies another element of safety is an air traffic control with traffic getting heavier every year and the coming of SuperSonic passenger flights control equipment has to perform outstandingly take one of the latest ideas secondary radar a plane isn't merely tracked but interrogated too quite automatically about its height for example the more Ground Control can find out about the planes in its area the safer still can flying become for all kinds of planes Great and Small like the 206 just the thing for the busy executive whose time costs money and with flight deck equipment up to Airline [Music] standards of course if you're really one of the pillars of Industry it'll have to be the 125 with its two Viper Jets it's faster than most airliners and the last word in luxury for a Workhorse there's the sky vanan robust and roomy and designed to take off from simple grass strips like The Islander intended for feeder services from outlying areas inexpensive to buy and to operate [Music] then come the medium-sized transports established export successes like the 748 and the herald nine out of every 10 Heralds built go for export and besides all these the military Flames like the [Applause] Lightnings the supersonic lightning is an Air Force fighter the Navy's new strike aircraft is the low-flying buccaneer most unconventional of all are the krons with their special Vector thrust Pegasus [Applause] engines they formed in Britain a special three Nation Squadron which was the world's first for vertical takeoff the Belfast is the first strategic transport to be built in Britain and one of its biggest planes ever alternative loads include 150 combat troops or even four [Music] helicopters to complete the roll call bombers like the Victor and trainers like the n and Prest another side to defense unman craft missiles altogether providing a complete and comprehensive defense system Rockets aren't just for the military nowadays they're an essential part of space research Britain's biggest is Blue Streak test fired at WRA in Australia it's now the first stage of Europa 1 Europe's major launcher scheme and after Rockets the satellites they will launch like the uk3 or this one for the European space research organization cooperation is in the air for many years of course the industry is exported all over the world and men have come to Britain to be trained but current projects go far beyond this a four-nation Consortium is building th engines for the French Atlantic and Franco German c160 transports British lift jet engines have been specially developed for German and French vertical takeoff air [Music] ground in one of the world's few vertical takeoff tunnels research has gone ahead on several International projects even in production cooperation is becoming the norm and so in Ireland an English tape deck guides the Milling of a part for a new Dutch plane plans are ambitious a German Dutch British replacement for the Aging DC3 a new business and feeder jet to be marketed with American Health and biggest of all the angl French Concord the world's first supersonic airliner and an aviation breakthrough as basic as the jet [Music] engine Concord is in production of course in Britain alone it's meor tremendous investment in new test centers for structures for the huge and Powerful Olympus engines French and English work side by side as Concord takes shape cooperation in action I wonder what other planes I'll see in the years ahead and even fly I have a good few years of front rank flying left yet Paris in 40 minutes this year New York in 2 or 3 hours in a few years time what after that one thing I'm sure of there'll be a British industry involved designing building pioneering as they've done since the first years of powered flight as they're doing now all over the world [Music] and [Music] sh [Applause] [Music]
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