BEATING HEAT BARRIER
New Material For Planes Developed
(Special Crspdt N.ZP.A.) LONDON, April 25
Rolls-Royce scientists have invented revolutionary new material for building aircraft to fly continuously at 3000 miles an hour without melting, says the “Daily Herald’s” air correspondent. They have spent £200,000 developing what is basically a combination of metal and heat-resistant glass to beat the “heat barrier.”
“A big headache for designers of ultra-fast aircraft has been that when a plane travels more than twice the speed of* sound, air rubbing against it causes so much heat that ordinary metals soften,” said Dr. A. Smith, head of the company’s advanced research group.
“We have succeeded in mixing aluminium with fibres of silica, a substance like glass, to make a material which is far tougher and will resist far more heat than ordinary metals used in aircraft constructton,” he said. “The idea is brimful of potential and is the start of a new era of composite materials which will have a farreaching effect on engineering of the future.”
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CII, Issue 30115, 26 April 1963, Page 6
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170BEATING HEAT BARRIER Press, Volume CII, Issue 30115, 26 April 1963, Page 6
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