Unrecognised inventor of hovercraft principle

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 15

Unrecognised inventor of hovercraft principle

On his first aeroplane flight in a Bristol Figher on a foggy English night in 1930 John Frost vomited from go to whoa. He emerged several pounds lighter, but loved every minute and begged the pilot, his school Latin teacher, for a repeat performance. His enthusiasm might have been taken for bravado in the face of an embarrassingly poor performance had he not sealed its authenticity by becoming an aviation designer of world repute. More surprising to Frost

himself was his brisk spring from bottom of the Latin class to top. Today, at 63, John Frost is the unrecognised inventor of the hovercraft principle and designer of 15 aircraft types including, in his opinion, the most beautiful aircraft in the world, the De Havilland 108. and the ugliest, the Canadian CF--100 fighter. He still gets sick flying. John Frost retired this month as a technical services engineer at Air New Zealand’s Auckland jet base.

The largest monument to his inventiveness during 12 years with the airline stands in a corner of the DCIO hangar — a $500,000 tail dock system which acts as a “dumb waiter” rising 24 feet in the vicinity of the tail to allow the changing of a tail engine- and easy access for repairs. It is a unique edifice, built at half the cost of comparable foreign equipment and it is his pride and joy. The Frost guided tour of the tail dock is like a tour of Notre Dame. It inspires the same “ooh” “aah”- response. Not that the hydraulically operated lift is as awe-inspiring as the gargoyles but, seen through the tender eyes of its inventor, it is not bad. “This is rather fun,” he says, pressing a switch which elevates sections of the wing dock to give engineers access to the DC 10’s wings. The DH 108 research aircraft was the first jet aircraft officially to break the speed of sound. Several weeks earlier the American rocket-powered Bell XI aircraft had performed the same feat. Although John Frost considers that its tail-less form and delicate, swallow-like appearance made it unsurpassably

beuatiful, it was plagued with longitudinal problems and, being a research aircraft, only three were made. It was the second aircraft to contain an ejector seat, and John Frost proved his dedication by testing the seat, which fired him like a bullet to the top of a 60 foot pole. He had the help of several pre-test sherries. In 1947 the Canadians invited him to take over design of the CF-100 fighter. John Frost dismisses the stocky, pugnosed fighter with distaste. “It was a clumsy thing. AU brute force.” The Canadians thought differently. Seven hundred were built for the Canadian Air Force and many were sold to NATO for service with the Belgian Air Force. It was the first fully all-weather fighter, with de-icing on the wings, engines and tail and radar in the nose. While with the same company — Avro Canada — John Frost was. catapulted to fame by his discovery of the ground cushion effect produced during vertical take-off studies on a circular shaped aeroplane. This was the principle used in designing the first hovercraft.

He had always been confident that good ideas can be sold. This was one of the best. The softly spoken English gentleman took himself off to the Pentagon where the Joint Chiefs of Staff offered him a S2M research contract. Two “avrocars” resulted and were quickly dubbed flying saucers. But at the height of his success, political problems developed between the Canadian government and the British-owned Avro company. which eventually folded. As a result, a fellow Englishman, Sir Christopher Cockerell, who used the ground cushion principle on the hovercraft, was credited with the idea instead. John Frost had put eight years into the flying saucer, and he left Canada for New Zealand with a bitter taste in his mouth. Air New Zealand aircraft are showcases for the Frost ingenuity. The unique swivelling bassinets suspended from the hat racks are his, as are adventurous plans for aircrew bunks suspended from the ceilings of the DClOs to give fully horizontal sleeping positions. Swissair bought his

design for locks to hold down the pallets positioned in the door of the cargo hold, and his airconditioning system for the DCIO cargo holds attracted overseas interest. Minor jobs like new aircraft toilet tap washers and galley plugs, and major jobs like the Murray Air biplane — designed from start to finish for agricultural use in Hawaii in 1969 and still being produced in Texas — all originated on the Frost drawing board. Q u e e n Elizabeth benefited from his talent with the kit-set lounge he dreamed up for her DCB trip from Rarotonga to the Christchurch Commonwealth Games in 1974 — complete with boudoir, bronze-stemmec dining table, and ref roses. His retirement will no be a gardening, odd-jobs round-the-house affair. The body is retired bn the mind has a will of it own. It flits like a photoscanner across a range of potential designs for yachts, aircraf’. underground industrial complexes. Something is on the boil but John Frost is being tight-lipped. "I have this idea ..." he says.' Whatever it is wnl carry the Frost stamp of ingenuity. —-