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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0149.PDF
JANUARY 19, 1939 FLIGHT. 0/ COMMERCIAL AVIATION (CONTINUED) Ice proof Airscrews Compulsory FOLLOWING the recent enforcement of regulations for the compulsory fitting of de-icing equipment to the wings of commercial aircraft, an Air Ministry Notice to Aircraft Owners and Ground Engineers (No. 2, 1939) records an amendment of Air Navigation Directions, 1936 (A.N.D.I3) to make compul sory the fitting of approved de-icing equipment to airscrews. The amendment will have effect from September 1, 1939. The regulation will apply to '' all public transport flying machines registered in the United Kingdom and engaged on regular scheduled air services, whenever the weather reports available at the time of departure indicate the probability that conditions predisposing to ice formation will be encountered." The only approved airscrew equipment at present is the fluid de-icer described in Sec. 5 of A.M. Pamphlet No. 83, Ice Formation on Aircraft and its Prevention. Applications for approval of new types should be made to the Under-Secretary of State (C.H.2), Ariel House, Strand, London, W.C.2. The Five Lieutenants THE Latecoere Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris, which carried out one North Atlantic crossing last year for Air France- Transatlantique, has now four sister ships in existence. The French Naval air service has just taken delivery of its third six-engined 40-tonner of this type and these boats will figure in French Naval manoeuvres next May. The Lieutenant itself is known as the Latecoere 521, the second (also belonging to Air France-Transatlantique) is the 522, and the three naval units, which have been christened Altair, Algol and Aldebaran, are Lat6coere 523s. All are powered by six Hispano 12Y engines of 890 h.p. each and cruise at about 130 m.p.h. The original flying boat was produced as long ago as 1928, but was entirely rebuilt in 1937, and the later models have in corporated a number of modern features which have improved their performance. The latest information regarding the 522 is that she will be taken from the Latecoere workshops at Tou louse to the Etang de Biscarosse during the course of this week and should be ready to make her first flight towards the end of February. Another Empire Base Project "V7ET a fifth site for the land-sea air base for Imperial Airways -*- has now been suggested—albeit very unofficially. The scheme, for what it is worth, involves the excavation of an artificial pool somewhere on the south-east coast, this pool to be fed by pumps from the sea. At first glance the idea may seem to be somewhat ambitious, but a permanent base other than at Southampton Water will eventually be needed, and if the choice of site can be made irrespective of other considera tions (such as last-minute Admiralty objections) then there is not likely to be trouble in the future. The site in question would be chosen on a stretch of coast where obstructions are non-existent. Given suitable ,circum- stances, the base, with the equipment necessary for a modern airport, might be provided, it seems, for a cost as compara tively low as ^500,000. The previously suggested sites have been in Southampton Water, which is at present used, though not at all suitable for the purpose; in Langstone Harbour, Portsmouth, where the scheme has been resurrected as a private venture after various difficulties and has now been put back again ; in the Thames without the usual human need to draw an occasional breath) for 15 minutes without stopping because it was parted from its air hostess. Mind you, I've known grown ups behave in much the came way at the end of an air trip when the air hostess has been one of the girls of a lifetime. Seriously, though, I believe the K.L.M. air hostess on this occasion got up at about 4 a.m. to fly to Prague and brought these children back, and you may imagine that they constituted a whole-time job on the not-so-short journey from Prague to Croydon. A curious phenomenon—one not unfamiliar to the alienist, of course—is the sort of thing we suffered from last Estuary, where both seaplane and landplane alighting areas have been roughly surveyed near Mucking Flats; and, finally, at Pembroke Dock which has been recently suggested, very unofficially, as a possible base. The General Will Not Play A N unexpected snag has arisen over British Airways' Lon- 4* don-Lisbon mail service, which was to have been in augurated, following survey flights last autumn, on January 2. It is now announced that, when the Foreign Office sought General Franco's permission for regular services to be operated over the territory which he occupies in Northern Spain, he communicated a refusal, taking the attitude that he could not grant such facilities to a country which withheld from him full diplomatic recognition. Since, in order to avoid Spanish territory altogether, it would be necessary to make a long sea crossing of the Bay of Biscay, and as British Airways' fleet of twin-engined machines is deemed unsuitable in such circumstances, an impasse has occurred. Ways and means to a solution are now being examined. Direct to the Shetlands F OLLOWING an application to the Licensing Authority last October, Allied Airways hope to run a direct Aberdeen- Shetland service this summer. The present run, operated by Allied, via Caithness and the Orkneys, occupies i\ hours, whereas the new route would mean less than i| hours between Dyce and Sumburgh aerodrome, Shetland. The present single and return fares of £4 and j respectively will be reduced to £3 5s. and £5 15s. The service is to begin on June 24 and will be run to the end of September at least three times weekly. If it develops beyond a seasonal service it will, in all probability, benefit the Aberdeen-Shetland mail contract already held by Allied. Mr. Gandar Dower intends to inaugurate the service with a D.H. Rapide, and later, if the demand warrants it, a D.H.86B; this type has not yet previously been used north of Glasgow. Allied Airways have offered to help towards the cost of enlarg ing Sumburgh Aerodrome should that ultimately become neces sary. Irish Sea Traffic DURING the past twelve months the most important work in Ireland as far as civil aviation is concerned has been that in the development of the two airports at Dublin (Collins- town), and beside the Shannon estuary at Rynanna. These aerodromes were described in Flight of November 10. To wards the end of last year, incidentally, the transatlantic meteorological services at Foynes were taken over by the Eire authorities and Mr. A. Nagle, the Eire Director of Meteoro logical Services, is now in control. Presumably Mr. C. D. Peters remains in control of the actual work there. Irish Sea Airways, however—at present composed of Aer Lingus Teoranta and West Coast Air Services—carried nearly three times as many passengers as they did during 1937. The figures for the period between April 1 and November 19 en the Dublin-London service are 3,208 and 7,095 for the two years. The Dublin-Castletown (I.O.M.) service figures increased from 949 to 2,246. Mails were carried to the Isle of Man during the summer, and it is possible that, at the end of next year when the mail contract is reviewed, all first-class mail will be transferred to the air service. week. No fewer than four leading newspapers were rung up on four successive nights by some half-wit who gave a circumstantial account of a crash on Croydon Aerodrome— he could see the crumpled wreck from his window and the passing of an ambulance on its way to hospital with the injured. When asked for his name, address and 'phone number he merely gibbered. Newspapers have to verify such alarms, so we also suffer. A German pilot receiving full measure from one of the Airport Bureaux de Change the other day, delightedly remarked, '' Ach zo! " to which the immediate reply came from the inevitable opportunist standing nearby: " Zo vot? " A. VIATOR. THE WEEK AT CROYDON (Continued from page 65.)
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