Passing Comments
Page 22
Page 23
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A.A. Telephone Boxes A N additional service to road Being Conspicuously 1--1 users .which is being given Numbered . by the Automobile Association
is the introduction of a numbering system for that body's roadside telephone boxes. Each box now bears a number plate with conspicuous black figures on a yellow background. The numbers will be quoted in the road routes issued by the A.A. to its members, apart from being landmarks to other drivers.
Private Aerodrome for A PRIVATE aerodrome is a Well-known Manu" projected by Mr. David
tacturer Brown, managing director of
David Brown and Son (Huddersfield), Ltd., and David Brown Tractors, Ltd. It is to cover 50 acres of land reclaimed from Crosland Moor, which is on a plateau to the south of Huddersfield, a few hundred yards from the head office of the David Brown Group. It is to have a runway 900 yds. long and 50 ft. wide, and Mr. Brown sees no reason why it should not be made available for other users. Industry ,:_eitands rapid communications hnd transport more than ever before, but the air services in the West Riding are alleged to be inadequate, the nearest aerodromes being at Manchester, Yeadon and Doncaster. The Town Council has appointed a sub-committee to report on the appli
cation from the company for the diversion of a cart track which intersects the projected runway. It is understood that all large municipalities may eventu ally have their own landing strips, but the company wants something for its more immediate use.
Miles oi Blue Prints THE amount of redesigning Used for New Leyland 1. and planning which has Ran.,e . ..... confronted large commercial
vehicle manufacturers in switching from war to civilian production, can be gauged from the output of many design and drawing offices. At the Leyland works, 105 miles of paper are said to have been used for the issue of over 210,000 blue prints within the 12 months which fol. lowed the collapse of Japan and the end of the war. During this period, the company finalized production drawings for a post-war range of passenger chassis, as well as a new range of goods vehicles with carrying capacities rising from 7 to 15 tons. Each range is duplicated by special models for export. The peak output of prints from the drawing offices was reached during the war, when the Leyland concern, acting as a parent company on Tank production, was preparing and issuing drawings and specifications to nine other manufacturers. At that time its annual output reached 150 miles of paper for 300,000 prints.
Cleaned Plugs Which Contained Abrasive Material . . . . .
ONE of our friends who is something of a chemist recently had four oily sparking plugs cleaned in a machine using abrasive powder. He was naturally most anxious not to have any of the powder enter the cylinders, and decided to test the plugs by immersing them in ether. The result was that nearly half a teaspoonful of the powder was removed. No doubt this would eventually have dropped into the cylinders, with, possibly, drastic consequences to the bores and, perhaps, the engine bearings. It may be that the experience showed carelessness on the part of the operator of the machine, but it is a point which deserves the attention of the manufacturers of such equipment. We shall be pleased to publish any advice from them as to how such a contingency can be avoided. Progress In Two-way A MERICAN operators. in Radio for Haulage I-1 the haulage field are look Vehicles ing forward to the installation
at an early date of two-way wireless communication between their vehicles and offices. This is announced in an article in "Transport Topics." A concern named Highway Radio, Inc., was formed some time ago as a subsidiary of American Trucking Associations, and practical tests of equipment Lave been carried out during the past 11 months under the authority of the Federal Communications Commission. In July, application was made for permission to operate such units for a period of five years. Little trouble has been experienced in communicating with drivers at a radius of 100 miles; the "talk back" is, however, limited to about 60 miles, which, for adequate two-way communication, means satellite fixed stations.