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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1448.PDF
586 FLIGHT JUNE 3RD, 1943 POST-WAR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT in take-off and climb. The ratio of fuel load to take- off weight, on the conditions indicated, and with a specific consumption of 0.45 lb. per horse-power hour, ranges from 10.o per cent, with a power-loading of 30 lb. per horse-power to 16.2 per cent, with a power-loading of 10, assuming the most advantageous wing loading to be used in each case. The extreme variation of structural weight within the confines of the chart is from 26 to 36 per cent. ; that of fuel weight, as previously noted, from 10 to 16; the varia- tion in weights of furnishings and equipment is almost negligible. The power plant, however, ranges from 15 to 40 per cent, of the total, and its variations dominate the determination of the amount remaining far pay-load. In combining the last two charts to produce Fig. 8, where cost per pay-load ton-mile is presented in terms of actual pay-load rather than of a hypothetical fixed percentage of the gross weight, calculations have been revised to main- tain a pay-load of 12,000 lb. as the constant element and allow the gross weight to vary. Suitable allowance has been made for the inherent effect of changes in size upon economy. The upper part of Fig. 8, corresponding to' high-power loadings, therefore, represents aircraft of some- what less than 60,000 lb. gross weight. The lower part, where the power loading is low, represents the economic performance of aircraft of substantially more than 60,000 lb. gross, in order that their relatively small per- centage of pay-load may be "built up to a total pay-load of 12,000 lb. It is obvious that costs computed in this fashion are making asymptotic approach to a minimum," of the order of 17 cents per pay-load ton-mile, as the power loading isincreased. (To be continued next week.) ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION The British aviation world paid homage to Dr. Warner by turning out in force, and the lecture hall of the In- stitution of Mechanical Engineers in Storey's Gate was packed. It seemed that almost everybody who is anybody in British aviation was there. Mr. Arthur Gouge, presi- dent of the R.Ae.S., in introducing the lecturer, said thafc two hours previously Dr. Warner had been elected an Hon. Fellow of the Society, an announcement whi£h was greeted with loud applause. After the lecture Dr. Roxbee Cox proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer, in which he paid a warm tribute to his work and said that hitherto those who were attempting to peer through the mists into the future of aviation were baffled by the absence of certain data. These data Dr. Warner had supplied. Lord Brabazon of Tara, a past-president of the Society, seconded and expressed the feeling of the gathering (and, indeed, of the entire British aviation world) by saying that he proposed to ask His Excellency, the American Ambas- sador, Mr. Winant, w-ho was present", to make arrangements for Dr. Warner to -^sit England every year. His Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, dealing as it had done with civil aviation, was like a breath of fresh air. The manner in which the audience signified its appre- ciation of the lecturer and his paper was convincing proof of Dr. Warner's popularity in England. Commercial Air Transport Its Past History and Future Prospects By SIR FREDERICK HANDLEY PAGE, G.B.E. HANDLEY PAGE has been a name familiar in Britishcommercial air transport circles since the first, andnot very "commercial," beginning made with con- verted military aircraft after World War I. When, there- fore, Sir Frederick read a paper before the Manchester Association of Engineers on May 28th, he spoke with the authority not only of a pioneer aircraft designer but of a one-time operator as well. The first part of Sir Frederick's paper dealt largely with the history of commercial aviation. He began by pointing out how the coming of the railways in 1844 shortened the time scale between London and provincial towns. Man- chester, in fact, moved to Hitchin; Newcastle to Hunting- don ; Carlisle to Northampton ; Plymouth to Newbery ; and Exeter to Windsor. In overseas traffic we retained, with the steamship, the cheap freights of water-borne trade. In the present air era we become more of and in Europe, and the United States moves nearer and occupies much the same geographical relation to Europe on a time scale as we did half a century ago. For this country the air routes, with their quick transit, are the natural ancillary of the sea routes with their cheap overseas transport. Sir Frederick next dealt with the growth and develop- ment of British air transport from the early days to the beginning of the war. His comment on the evils of monopolies and government subsidies ran as follows: — " State aid indeed prevented economic considerations from having play, and there followed in most European countries a single instrument for operation, a National Cor- poration, which was granted a practical monopoly as against other undertakings of the same nationality. '' One among many undesirable results of this policy was that negotiations for international air services were almost invariably conducted by governments and not by companies, with the result that an atmosphere of inter- national mistrust and suspicion frequently overshadowed the negotiations. It is true that economic considerations obliged the various State-monopoly companies to come to pooling arrangements for international routes, but this action was merely palliative, and some European air ser- vices were maintained only by means of heavy subsidies. The longer distances in, the United States, with the same currency, customs and government, gave an inherent ad- vantage compared with Europe to the development of air traffic, an advantage stimulated still further by competi- tive operation with a background of airmail contracts but without direct government intervention. '' Not only was the direct subsidy and a monopoly sys- tem the cause of international rivalry and suspicion but it also operated adversely -to the development of civil aircraft. " Here our single chosen -instrument of operation en- deavoured, in accordance with the terms of their charter, to reach as soon as possible a commercially paying basis of operation. The result was a tendency to concentrate on a policy of operation of larger but slower aircraft than were generally called for by other European lines. Whilst our Hannibal, built to fulfil these requirements, intro- duced a new standard of comfort in air travel, with its kitchen and saloon accommodation for 40 passengers, the general demand of other European air lines was for the smaller and faster aircraft, which for the same capital outlay could provide a more frequent and quicker service, and were less subject to variation in time schedules due to adverse head winds. "The somewhat hard bargaining on the part of the
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