FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1491.PDF
JULY 20TH, 1944 FLIGHT 73 to the outside atmosphere through any small leaks in the structure, but chiefly through the automatic escape valve. * In addition, the vitiated air may be discharged through the turbine gyioscopes of the various navigation instru ments (in unsupercharged aircraft special vacuum pumps are required for this purpose). In large aircraft equipped with auxiliary electrical plant driven by small engines, the vitiated air may be used to supercharge these engines. For large post-war civil aircraft, designs have been pre pared, by which the passengers' and crews' compartments will be closed from the start. Full air-conditioning will be provided, including refrigeration, heating, drying and humidifying apparatus in addition to the superchargers, by which the cabin conditions will be maintained at comfort able ground level conditions whether the machine is in the stratosphere, near the ground, in the tropics, or the Arctic regions. Young and old, weak and strong, will be able to fly at any height over any part of the globe. Post-war/PHvat^C Aircraft Shall Military Tyfies be Made Available or Scrapped? By ALAN GOOnpTELLOW THE author, who is now a Commander (A) in the Fleet Air Arm, was very prominent in private flying circles in pre-war days. He is on the committee of the Royal Aero Club and, therefore, write with considerable authority and experience. A T the moment nobody can say what the post-war situa- *-~ J-\ tion is going to be. We do not know whether there are T JL JL going to be any clubs, any Civil Air Guard, or any private owners. We do not know whether the Air Ministry wants to encourage them or to discourage them. Perhaps the Air Ministry itself does not know; at any rate, it refuses to say anything definite. The one thing we do know with certainty is that there are plenty of light and medium-light aircraft in this country at the moment, and that unless they are all scrapped there should be an ample supply available after the war to meet any possible requira«rents. The types available include the Tiger Moth, Magister, Proctor, and Auster among the light aircraft, * and the Dominie, Oxford and Anson amongst the medium types. (There are also several American types, but these are excluded from the list, owing to possible difficulty in obtaining spares.) All these types are readily adaptable for use by schools, clubs, or private owners. Many of the aircraft concerned could have the necessary adaptations carried out by the parent manufac turers and be overhauled up to certificate of airworthiness d standard at a very modest cost. Would it be better to do this p* or would it be better to scrap the lot and to start afresh with new designs ? Let us consider the arguments on both sides. In favour of scrapping it may be argued that the manufac turers will not want the market flooded with cheap second hand aircraft which will ruin their prospects of selling new ones. It may also be argued that to have the sky filled with undisciplined enthusiasts, with the consequent risk of collisions, in the air at a time when a lot depends on building up our commercial air lines with a reputation for regulation and safety, is most undesirable. I do not believe either of these arguments is sound on a long-term view. Take the case of the manufacturers first. It takes some con siderable time to bring a new design to the production stage, and during this time only the experimental and design depart ments-are employed. If all these aircraft are scrapped there will be nothing for the clubs and private owners to fly (unless, of course, they buy from abroad) for probably at least two years after the end of the war. If, on the other hand, these aircraft are handed back to parent manufacturers for recon ditioning and modification as required, they will be able to keep at least a fair proportion of their trained men employed, to build up their sales organisations both at home and overseas, and, last but not least, to create a market against the time when their new designs will be ready for sale. When the war is over many people who are now flying will want to keep in practic^ and it will be in the interests of the country that they shoula be kept in practice. Many more of the older ones will be ready to try the experiment of using an aircraft for business or pleasure, either flying it themselves or employing a pilot, and this will be particularly the case,jf the first cost of the experiment is a reasonable one. The cost of medium-sized aircraft before the war ran to some thousands of pounds, which is rather a lot to spend on an experiment. The cost of reconditioning and modifying the Dominie, Oxford, or Anson would probably be a matter of a few hundreds of pounds, which would make the experiment very much more tempting. It is not suggested that everyone who purchased an aircraft at the cost of reconditioning would be ready in two years' time spend the muchjarger sum required for a new one. Some ^simply would notjwl able to afford it, others would have found—— the experiment^itfnsuccessful from the business point of view and wouldjB«r longer be interested. There would, however, remaux-a'very substantial market oi people who could afford "IU "pay for the new productions and were prepared to do so. Amongst business men many would have found a private air craft so valuable in connection with their enterprises that they could not visualise the possibility of carrying on without it. Amongst the amateurs it would be the same as it has always been with the yachtsman: You start with something like a small converted fishing boat and end up, despite yourself, with"**"' a 6-metre racing yacht or an ocean-going cruiser, according to taste. The clubs and schools, starting with only a nominal capital outlay to write off, would have been able to build up reserves with which to purchase the new types. From the point of view of the manufacturer, therefore, I believe that the arguments in favour of the second alternative far outweigh those in favour of scrapping. Air Safety There remains the problem of air safety in connection with our air lines. This is a matter of high policy in which many factors hav% got to be taken into consideration, and obviously-** the risk of air collision, with its almost certainly disastrous consequences, cannot be ignored or lightly treated. One thing, however, is clear; either we have got to ban all private flying for the sake of air-line safety, or we have got to encourage it. accepting a degree of risk and imposing only such limitations as are reasonably necessary. There is no half-way house; to permit private flying subject only to almost prohibitive restric tions would achieve no useful purpose whatever. Personally, I believe that the risks involved must be accepted. Even if all private flying were banned, the risk of collision with***" Service aircraft would still exist, and most air-line pilots and passengers could tell of narrow squeaks in this connection even in the days of our small pre-war Air Force. Some restrictions, of course, will have to be imposed. Private aircraft not in wireless communication with the ground may have to be kept out of the clouds—and out of the air altogether in Q.B.I, con ditions. Certain zones or "route layers" may have to be reserved for air liners only. In approving new designs a mini mum arc of vision from the pilot's cockpit may have to be insisted on. Subject to a few reasonable restrictions of this—*™" sort the risks are not .unreasonable. After all, the sky is a very big place, and quite limited portions of it are at present being used simultaneously by a hundred times the number pf aircraft likely to occupy it under peacetime conditions. To sum up, I believe that as soon as possible after the war is over, parent manufacturers should be given the opportunity to take back existing Government stocks of their own types of light and medium-light aircraft suitable for civil use, to be resold at the cost of reconditioning and modification with an agreed maximum figure for each type of aircraft (probably—"* about one-sixth of,its original manufactured price). Manufac turers would then inspect the aircraft to decide whether in each case the aircraft could be reconditioned, modified and sold within the maximum price limit; those which were rejected on these grounds or which were surplus to the manufacturers' estimate of market requirements could be scrapped or otherwise dealt with at the Government's discretion. Sales by manufac turers should be permitted in any part of the Empire and pos sibly extended to the territories of Allied nations with their consent. Restrictions on resale by a purchaser would be necea« "" sary to protect the interests of manufacturers, but these could be devised without undue difficulty. Restrictions on use should only be in accordance with normal air navigation and air worthiness regulations in force.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
