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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0040.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY 3RD, 1946 CIVIL AVIATION Controlled Freedom "Implementing" the Effects of the Removal of the Civil Flying Ban i Organising Aircraft Movements AT first glance, the wad of material which includesNotices to Airmen Nos. 5 to 25, might give one theimpression that civil aviation freedom has been given with one hand and taken away with the other. WhereasMessrs. Smith, Jones and Robertson are now free, subject to fuel restrictions, to climb into their aircraft and to goanywhere, these unfortunate persons might appear to be so hemmed in by restrictions that their freedom is quiteillusory. On further investigation, however, the mass of necessarily restrictive instruction will obviously not concernthe private pilot to any great extent, since nearly all of it deals with the inevitable rules and regulations which mustbe applied in "instrument flying" conditions, and, in fact, the civil pilot will be almost, if not quite, as free as in thepre-1940 era. All those involved will, in due course, receive or havethe, opportunity of seeing the various Notices concerned, and we Khali murrfy give a summary of the cviiditions forthe benefit of the ordinarily interested reader and future club pilot. In general, the conditions are very similar to those apply-ing before the war. A thorough meteorological service will be available, with radio facilities for those who care tomake use of them, beacons for fly-by-nights, a continuation of the Service rescue organisation, and a comparativelysimple airway zoning and directional system. For the moment, only twenty-five airfields have been officially allo-cated for the use of civil aircraft, but this number will naturally increase as conditions settle down and as theR.A.F. reaches peacetime strength and location. The first of the new series of Notices, No. 5, includes avery comprehensive list of obstructions which are likely to cause trouble in bad weather. Some of these are lighted,and many of the others will be so lighted in due course. Air traffic control stations have been made available, anda list of these is given in Notice No. 6. For ordinary pur- poses the ground control signals employed will be similarto those in use at Service airfields during the war. Radio Facilities Twenty-one radio stations will be available, four of themwith Standard Beam Approach facilities and, in the near future, broadcasts will be re-started from Borough Hill,Daventry, giving a continuous series of meteorological fore- casts, "actuals," navigational warnings and airfield ser-viceability details. In addition, a large number of civil and Service airfields will be available for the* provision ofdetailed meteorological information for civil pilots. These points are covered in Notices 7, 8 and 9. A very extensive system of light beacons, each flashingidentification letters or signals, was developed during the war, and these beacons will continue to operate. A com-plete list is given in Notice No. 10, while No. 11 gives a list of the airfields providing a '' fixed'' aeronautical tele-communication service for emergency messages, movement telegrams and so forth. The air-sea rescue organisation,though reduced, will still be available, and this will be gradually arranged to suit future Service needs and civilrequirements. Bad weather radio approach systems are now installedat Bristol (WhitchurchJ, Hum, Croydon and Speke. At least for the time being, this will be the Standard BeamApproach installation, which is similar to, but slightly simpler than, the original Lorenz system. Whether or notthis S.B.A. installation will be finally standardised depends on any international arrangements which are made. The installation is described, with the procedure for its use, inNotice No. 13, while in No. 14 is a description of the new medium-frequency S.B.A. system available at Speke,Liverpool, for the benefit of aircraft crossing the Irish Sea and carrying only medium-frequency radio equipment. Themain beacon at Speke may also be used for W/T com- munication." Danger Areas A very considerable number of areas are still"dangerous," and an examination of the map showing these areas suggests that the ultra-cautious pilot will findhis movements very restricted. Such danger areas, how- ever, merely give indications of possible rather than con-tinuous danger, and will no doubt be largely ignored. Copies of the current danger area map may be obtainedfrom the Ministry of Civil Aviation. By contrast, as already mentioned, the present list of available airfields isdistressingly short, but this list will no doubt be developed and enlarged rapidly as conditions return to normal. Pend-ing the production of new civil aviation maps, a series of sheets, varying in scale, are available to cover GreatBritain, Eire, and Europe. Details of these are given in Notice No. 18. Most important of all are the Notices Nos. 19 and 20,which deal with the zoning and directional systems to be used in this country. The object of the exercise, of course,is that of reducing the risk of collision in bad weather and, in general, the regulations will not trouble the civil pilotflying in fair conditions. The arrangements are quite tem- porary, and in due course a revised procedure for civilaircraft will be introduced. "Military Airways" are laid down between London and Paris, and between Londonand Brussels—each ten miles wide and extending vertically between 3,000 and 10,000ft. The existing '' approachzones" involve the areas of London and Bournemouth. The '' directional system '' is similar to that in force before1940, but it is considerably simplified in that the specified sectors and heights now cover all areas. "Aerodrometraffic zones'' are in existence at the five main London airfields—Croydon, Biggin Hill, Bovingdon, Hendon andNortholt—and permission must be obtained before entering these. RESULTS FROM BERMUDA FOLLOWING the meeting between Canadian and BritishGovernment representatives in Bermuda, a bi-lateral Canadian-British agreement has been signed whereby a maxi-mum of three hundred and fifty passengers every week will be able to fly each way on Trans-Canada Airline and B.O.A.Ct-aircraft, the companies operating jointly. The two terminals will be Dorval, Montreal, and Prestwick—the latter untilHeathrow is fit for all-weather use. • In the meantime, Trans-Canada Airlines have reduced theirAtlantic fare to £83 for the single journey, as against the £127 previously charged" The service is now opened to non-prioritypassengers. AUSTRALIAN DECISION THE recent Australian High Court decision on the Air LinesBill appears to agree that this Bill is valid save for one important section. This section of the Bill prevented the issueof an airline licence, to anyone other than the Air Lines Com- mission, for the operation of an inter-State service betweenpoints used as stopping places by the nationalised service. The Court also decided that an amendment made to the Air Navi-
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