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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0298.PDF
110 FLIGHT. FEBRUARY 2, 1939 THE WEEK AT CROYDON "A. Viator" Discusses Chimneys9 Obstructions in General, and the Good Old Days OPERATING companies at Croydon are discussing a circular letter which they have received from the Air Ministry. This says that the Croydon Council pro poses to erect a 300ft. chimney some 2,173yd. from the nearest point of the airport boundary. In-a languid sort of way, it seems, the Ministry dis approves of the project for, "as a result of representa tions," the chimney, originally designed to be 350ft. high, has had 50ft. knocked off it. This, no doubt, has saved some poor airliner captain from knocking the top fifty feet off it, and so far we may be forcibly grateful to our energetic Ministry, whose main function, after all, is actually to safeguard the interests of civil aviation. Another cause the Ministry has for self-congratulation is the fact that the base of this gargantuan obstruction will be 43ft. below the lowest point of the aerodrome. As the lowest point of the aerodrome is, no doubt, a deep hole inhabited by a prolific race of mud frogs, it does not really help much, especially as there are quite nice-sized hills on the aerodrome. The Ministry ends its letter charm ingly with the words, "In view of the proximity of the proposed chimney to the existing air routes, it is thought that your company would wish to be informed of the scheme." In the past, the first, or almost the first, we knew of any pylon or chimney in building adjacent to the landing ground was the report from a pilot that he had met a steeplejack at 250ft. in thick fog, and that this artisan had been annoyed at being disturbed—to the extent of flipping a trowel of wet mortar into the cockpit window. It is nice to be warned, and it may seem ungrateful to suggest that a 300ft. chimney is just the thing which should not be built, and should not be allowed to be built anywhere near an airport at a point where pilots are bound to be (lying at a comparatively low height in order to get in and MEKCIAL A/IATION FAR EASTERN TERMINAL : The entrance to Singapore airport, with the terminal building in the foreground. land, and where the cloud-base may often be 300ft. or lower. Moreover, in poor visibility a pilot and crew have enough to do and enough anxiety (not forgetting the numerous other obstacles round Croydon aerodrome which a supine administration has either allowed to go up or neglected to have pulled down) without having to look out for 300ft. chimneys. What was it which caused the recent lamentable accident at Cologne, when the pilot was an extremely experienced man, and how many other accidents have been caused by ill-sited chimneys? An ex tremely unsatisfactory feature of the affair is that there seems to be no indica tion, as I am informed in the Ministerial epistle to the companies, that strenuous efforts, vigorous representations, or even mild protests have been made to prevent the erection of this chimney. Has any high official of the Air Ministry called on the Council to point out that, however important such a chimney may seem to be, the preservation of human life is more important? If, after such a warning, emphatically delivered by one in authority, the Council persisted in a scheme which placed the gravest responsibilities on their own shoulders, I should be surprised. Meanwhile, with a perfect genius for getting hold of the wrong end of the stick, a Sunday newspaper asserts that Croydon is to be abandoned by air traffic concerns within the next few weeks in order to allow of levelling operations. What he means is: "Within the next few years, when Fairlop is ready " But don't some of us wish we could abandon the place, especially as the competitive spirit of adjacent councils will probably cause an epidemic of chimneys on our borders, each taller than the last? Specially Sown Qrasses Since International Air Freight ceased operations their American-built freight carriers have been housed in a remote hanger in a corner of the airport. A little " burrd " told me that these machines have now been purchased by no less dignified an establishment than the Air Ministry itself, and that the department concerned urgently desires to put them into the air as training ships, flying labora tories, or what you will. So far excellent. But that same Ministry (Directorate of Seeds and Pips), some months ago, went all agricultural-minded and a sower went forth to sow a huge area in front of the hangar in which the ex-I.A.F. planes were slumbering away the winter. Superhet grass seed was used, each individual seed, it is thought, having been personally inspected by Mr. Middleton and issued with a certificate of fertility. Dte. of S. and P. ordained that there was to be no traffic across the newly sown area for a twelvemonth, and officials obliged to visit the hangar walked on their hands so that nobody could accuse them of trampling on the grass. So now the machines cannot be got out of the hangar, nor, incidentally, can any others get in, which is mystic and wonderful to think about in these days of congested hangars and lack of accommodation. • As I write there is a devil of a rattling noise outsfde my window. It is the sort of noise which might herald the
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