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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1838.PDF
566 JUNE 27, 1940 enables them to transmit more quickly to one another their ideas, their orders, and their most valuable goods. The effect of this on imperial trade cannot be calculated. The commercial success of aviation has become less and less related to private pioneering enterprise and more and more the responsibility of the State. Prestipe no longer comes automatically to us, and if foreign civil aviation has its States behind it, our trade and prestige will suffer unless our State is behind ours. I have already given some idea of the things for which money is required but I will not venture to say how much they will cost. All that is certain is that a courageous act of reorganisation is required and '' that for several years to come substantial help from public funds will be essen-, tial." The United States were faced with a similar task only a little while ago and their Federal Government did not hesitate to take drastic steps towards co-ordination and unification of control, steps which appear to be very successful. . Economics of Aviation Whatever money is obtained for civil aviation, be it a lot or a little, must be well spent. The best distribution of money over the various branches of civil aviation is itself a problem for research. The other problems of economy KAIN DIVISIONS d ths l iCOKTBOLUNG AUTHOR! SUBDIVISIONS FOR I lITY CONCERNED WITH, | BODIES -j OPERATION in Insurance Expertadvisers CONTROLLINGCIVIl, (MAT! ON AUTHORITY Civil ayiaTionauthorities of The Empire communications ft>St Office OinaiusaUon of Fbreion Organisation ofImperial air routes. £XOrganisation erf Nat- ional air routes Licensing cfair routes I Meteorology [ting firmS| p| Production d Airttaft^==4Akaft f>rms| Expert advj&ersfrom RAF irate •try k insurer* REGULATION AND SAFETY International &. nationalnavigational rules Airworthiness reouHicn("inherent jafetq) 1 llnKnational Extia-to-airtraftSafe'y regulation (including radio) mnissicTi lorxftendation Certification EnfoitemenT andSupervision of detain construction (inspection)and otto regulations \ AfXIDENT I H Statistical analysis & I INVESTIGATION! lappraisement of accidents FINANCE |~r=) Economic studies | Researcfi deyelopmerrt military airtraft RESEARCH &. DEVELOPMENT Expert Tecfinral & scientific . committees Collection .& analysis of data TRaory & experiment' = ResearchInstitutions Cwil "ftchnicalEstablisfiment dev 1 lAireelt Xnpinsf=n Inslruirtenland' J I I Equipment, and Operating firms LAW EDUCATION 4. TRAINING [ Private fly.ine) & giidingj= 1 I I Tfechical T«a. scientific L J I education p~ Clubs &. civil Shools g - Examinationand Certification •snng firmS, .Eoyal Aeronaut •ical Society Pilots' Associations Ground IEngineers | Pilots &Navigators Fig. 15. Co-ordination of civil aviation control. in civil aviation seem to fall into two classes, economy in construction and economy in operation. Among the former are the problems of the production engineer—the degree of special tooling proper to a given contract, the choice of easily obtained materials, the avoid- ance of complicated sections and joints. Problems of this kind appear to be capable of fairly precise definition. The problems of economy in operation appear to be much more complex. Economy of operation is bound up with the route conditions—the terrain, the weather, the number of stops available, the size and nature of aerodromes, the class and volume of traffic. Given such data, it may be possible to work out the best speed of operation and whether one should use a large number of small aeroplanes or a small number of large ones. At present the method of making this sort of estimate is rough and ready, and I think that there is room ior some economic research. I suggest that the civil aviation authority should include a small staff, charged with the duty of studying airline econo- mics, which would collaborate with the operators, integrat- ing their experiences, studying their income and expendi- ture accounts, and trying with the aid of statistical and probability theory to reduce airline economics to a science. , A most significant document is a report of the United States Maritime Commission on transatlantic costs. The commission found that air transport was likely in the near future to be operated at a cost equal to or possibly less than that of a marine superliner. ..'. Operational Economics The solution of a problem of operational economy for some particular route will generally include a set of mini- mum performance figures required of the operation aero- plane. The designer then has a problem in economics of a most complex kind. He has to produce the required performance in the most efficient way. To achieve an exhaustive solution, the effect of each characteristic or dimension of the aeroplane on other characteristics must be fully investigated. For example, decrease of aspect ratio will reduce wing structure weight but will increase induced drag. Increasing the thickness of the wing will also reduce structure weight and increase drag, but further effects of the change become apparent—the engine nacelles will have become less bulky relative to the wing, tending to reduce drag, while the junction area of wing and fuselage will have increased, tending to increase interference drag. Also stowage space in the wing is increased, which may allow the fuselage volume to be reduced. This effect also reduces drag and, perhaps, structure weight. The complexity of the problem is at once apparent. I think there is a widespread belief that these complicated problems of design economy can only be solved as the result of the natural development of design over a period of years. General adherence to this thesis will mean that our designs will be consistently outpaced by those of more scientifically-minded folk. I suggest, in addition to the staff concerned with the economics of airline operation, a staff concerned with research into the economics of design. Coordination In the foregoing I have tried to give an idea of what has to be done ; the organisation needed to do it is shown in the diagram of Fig. 15. My diagram is intended to show in general terms the constituents of British civil aviation as related by a con- trolling authority in a simple scheme. In this diagram I have indicated the necessary collaboration between the components of the Empire. I have denned British civil aviation as Empire civil aviation. Australia, New Zea- land, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, India, must each have its own civil aviation problems which only its own organisation can control. But they have in com- mon a world airline, and a common interest in its develop- ment. Australia, Great Britain and Canada have their own aircraft industries and aeronautical institutions, and planning for the future must take account of the dis- tribution of all their products and the utilisation of their resources. I would hope, for exaajple, that the airworthi- (Concluded on page
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