Workers in the engine field had to gain experience also by collaborating in British research projects. Here, airflow in supersonic engine intakes was investigated and an engine exhaust reheat system developed for the British National Gas Turbine Establishment. When the RAAF acquired its first supersonic fighter, Mirage III-O, the Laboratories set themselves the task of studying in detail every aspect of the engine and airframe in order to be in a position to assist the Air Force in future investigations of operational problems as they arose.

Metallurgists were also active in the light aluminium alloy field. Stress corrosion cracking was a serious problem encountered with aluminium-magnesium-zinc alloys commonly used in aircraft construction in the 1950s. Scientists considered that the difficulty lay in the structure of the alloy formed during age hardening and found that small additions of silver had a beneficial effect by forming fine precipitates at the grain boundaries. No industrial facilities existed in Australia to produce quantities of the new alloy for evaluation and commercial interests in the United States, Canada and Britain took up development.

The Laboratories discovered early in the piece that, in the international commercial aviation scene, having a good idea and developing it with first rate technology does not necessarily ensure recognition. The unfortunate series of crashes of the de Havilland Comet jet airliner due to then-unknown causes, led to the development by ARL of the concept of having a strongly built, compact and fireproof crash recorder fitted to record pilot's speech and selected aircraft operating parameters on a continuously updated basis so that some helpful record could be recovered. This Australian-developed recorder, which was probably the first prototype of the 'black box', was taken up by a British industrial firm, but was unsuccessful against foreign competitors.

Human Engineering

The growing complexity of aircraft sub-systems called to question the capability of a human operator to control them. The discipline of human engineering was concerned with the man-machine interface; ARL engaged in a particular area of technology concerned with the problem of adding precision to the landing of large aircraft on runways.[48] A method was developed under the leadership of R.W. Cumming whereby the pilot could ensure his aircraft would describe the correct approach path if he maintained a chosen arrangement of lights placed near the runway. Installation of a Precision Visual Glidepath System at Nandi international airport in Fiji was favourably received; with further development, the Tee Visual Glidepath Indicator was produced. The letter T in lights would appear to the pilot, either upright or inverted, depending on whether his aircraft was below or above the correct glidepath. The horizontal line only at the top of the T appeared if he were correctly aligned. The TVGS was accepted internationally.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering