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WHILE articles have appeared in the technical press from time to time, dealing with the altitude control purely from a design point of view, very little has been written in relation to the construction, testing, and correct method of operation of this important unit, and it is doubtful if many of the present day pilots, mechanics or engine testers have an intimate knowledge of what actually takes place inside the carburettor, when the altitude control is in operation.

THE first essential in the design of an efficient exhaust system is that the exhaust gases should be carried away from the engine and clear of the aircraft without undue increase in exhaust back pressure. A further consideration of equal importance is the elimination of noise.

SUPERCHARGED aero engines are more or less a post‐war invasion into the practical side of aero‐engine design. The problem of power boosting for internal combustion engines, especially aero engines, has for several years engaged the attention of engine designers, with the result that to‐day quite a number of engines are produced with superchargers as an integral part of the standard equipment. Various types of superchargers have been tried, such as the reciprocating pump, Roots Blower, exhaust‐driven turbo compressor, and the gear‐driven centrifugal form of blower. The last‐named is the type most commonly used in this country at the present time.

THE issue of AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING for October, 1931, contained descriptions of the Rolls‐Royce racing engine and the Schneider Trophy seaplane.

THE problems attached to the installa‐tion of modern high duty aero engines are rapidly becoming more difficult. Almost every aero‐engine firm has its own installation department consisting of highly skilled technologists who are in continual co‐operation with the aircraft builders during the design and initial engine installation stages of new type aeroplane. Only by the closest liaison between the engine and the aeroplane manufacturers during the early stages of design can maximum efficiency and successful results be expected from their products.

The interest for collaboration among small and mediumsized enterprises and innovation has been highlighted, in recent times, due to the acceleration of technological changes and to increasing international competitiveness. Many small firms, with rigid structures and weak entrepreneurial dynamics, experienced difficulties in becoming innovators. Some of these firms can adopt collaborative agreements because these relationships enable them to get the necessary innovative activities, know-how, and exploit opportunities, which they cannot achieve alone. This study examines the motives for the formation of collaborative agreements in industrial Portuguese SMEs and presents some empirical evidence concerning collaboration as an important vehicle for the innovativeness of these small firms. The findings were based on a sample of 92 firms/collaborative agreements.

TEST bed equipment plays no small part in the comparatively high standard of efficiency of the modern aero‐engine, and a lot of time has been given to the careful study of engine test requirements by equipment designers.

Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions. To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking. The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light on intragroup interactions.

This paper presents an overview of past and present research projects associated with electronic document delivery. The paper briefly outlines the Follet Report and introduces the UK's Electronics Libraries Programme, including the recently funded Focused Investigation of Document Delivery (FIDDO) project at Loughborough University. Four research areas have been identified as follows: resource sharing projects; network communication projects; electronic scanning projects and electronic document delivery systems. Conclusions highlight the major impact that technological developments are currently having on this area, the need for librarians to reassess their role in the information chain, and the need for delivery systems capable of handling different formats and a wider coverage of material to satisfy requests.

Reviews current literature in the field of interlending and document supply. Topics covered include UAP, national library policy, public libraries, resource sharing, distance education students, electronic copyright management and charging between libraries.