FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0602.PDF
MARCH 5, 1936. FLIGHT. 2O3 QMMERCIAL /RATION AIRLINES AIRPORTS IN MINIATURE : An imposing view of the Stinson Model A (three 260 h.p. Lycomings) which has been designed specifically for feeder line operation in America. The rights for this machine, which, in its " export " form, has a fixed undercarriage, have been acquired by Brian Allen Aviation, of Croydon. It is possible that we shall see three Stinsons in operation here in the near future. THE WEEK AT CROYDON The Blind Approach Line : Seeing Life : The New Imperial Flying-boats Alterations : The Viastra at Work Service THE new Croydon blind approach system is progress ing faster than most people expected. From the air it looks rather like some sort of birdcage with a small hut alongside, for the wildfowler, decoy duck, or whatever the wizard in charge may be called. Anyway, I wish the outfit good hunting, and it will be to our great advantage if some of our forlorn wildfowl can be successfully lured out of the air into the cage in foggy weather instead of roosting at odd places up and down the countryside. Actually, of course, there will be no human wizard in the hut. The approach path, I hear, is to be over Purley Way in the gap between the hotel and the adjacent hangars, because this gives the longest run and also, on our bit of undulating downland, the smoothest possible landing. One marker beacon could be somewhere on the tarmac edge, next to the public enclosure, and the other, it has been suggested, might be in the Croydon railway goods yard, which is about the right distance away and on the correct line. Besides the Imperial pilots who are to be trained in Germany, it is understood that there is a scheme under consideration by British Continental Airways -whereby their pilots are to be trained in the Lorenz system as soon as the whole of the company's fleet is fitted. Incidentally, n ?'^A- service to Scandinavia, now in operation, aliords an excellent opportunity of daily practical train- in§- since the system is in use at Hamburg. Stockholm, which will eventually be reached, will also have the Lorenz system installed. Mr. J. Ii. G. McArthur, who was with Mr. Campbell Black on his recent Cape attempt, has just joined B.C.A as a wireless operator. He must be one of the very few members of the Caterpillar Club at Croydon. Captain "Bill" Ledlie, of OUey Air Service, is one of those lucky people for whom ripe plums fall off the trees just when they feel the need of them, or, if not plums, then ripe and sun-warmed oranges, anyway. When you and I were groping in fog and being advised to fit chains to our car wheels, "Bill " was hard at work following the sun on a special charter job. Leaving Croydon on February 4 he visited Malaga, where he saw a bull fight; Tangiers, where he had a good time; Granada, where he had a look at the original Alhambra ; and Seville, where he plucked and ate oranges. The party was given, I understand, by an enlightened lady of sixty-five years, who realises that the best value money can give, during an English winter, is an air cruise of this sort. No sooner had Bill Ledlie returned from this trip than he set off again with another client for a series of business calls in Germany. Charter experts do see life! During the past week interest has been centred round the Imperial flying boats which are being built at Rochester. Pilots of Imperial Airways who will have to fly these boats appear to be happy about them—which is all-important. If I remember correctly, some extremely valuable points were made by Imperial pilots when Scylla was being built, and certain last-minute alterations were
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
