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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1326.PDF
A fine portrait of the Constellation Bangor 11 near the Canadian-American border. This aircraft is the one inwhi ch the tenth proving flight, the subject of this narrative, was made. ATLANTIC JOURNEY 1,100 miles—may appear surprisingly long. The timetaken for the two ocean legs depends to a great extent on the winds, and the table of scheduled times and actualelapsed times given below indicates quite remarkable agree- ment. Due to a minor hydraulic defect, the first take-off fromthe London Airport was delayed, and a little more time was also lost during the rest of the journey. However,this was a proving flight, and the ground staff at Rineanna and Gander were not at that time completely familiar withthe somewhat inconvenient freight-loading arrangements for th? Constellations or the paper work involved.In the week which elapsed between outward and return trips the improvement in organization was sufficient jtobe immediately noticeable, and is reflected also in the time- keeping on the return flight, in particular the time atGander and Rineanna between " engines off " and " chocks away." The time from touchdown to take-off is not quoted,for it depends upon several factors beyond the company's control, the chief ones being that B.O.A.C. captains sen- Chocks away (Scheduled) Airborne Sat course 2244 2100 2254 2255 OUTWARD LONDON TO JOURNEY RINEANNA Hourj G.M.T, Engines off Landed Overhead 0113 0106 0030Static time on (round. 1 hr. 18 mm. Chocks away (Scheduled) Airborne Set course Chocks away (Scheduled) Airborne Set course 0331 0030 0342 0346 1541 1130 1551 1551 RINEANNA Engines off Landed Overhead Total time (Scheduled) Flight time Time on course(Scheduled 1 hr. 15 min.) to GANDER 1332 1325 1325Static time on ground, 2 Total time (Scheduled) Flight time Time on coursehr. 9 min. GANDER to LA GUARDIA Engines oH Landed Overhea 2051 2041 2035 Total time (Scheduled) Flight time Time on course hr. 2 2 2 1 10 9 9 9 5 5 4 4 min.29 15 12— 35 01 45 41 39 10 15 50 44 Darkness quickly falls as the Constellation climbs fromGander on its long, ocean flight., sibly believe in the need for a very thorough pre-take-offengine run up and check on their new Constellations, and depending upon wind direction, weather and congestion atthe airport taxying from the runway and marshalling to the gate may take from five to twenty-five minutes. Effi-ciency in handling in this case is indicated by the speed and simplicity with which passengers are fed, the freightloaded or discharged, and the paper work dealt with. Over- long delays on the ground obviously not only reduce thegreatest advantage of air travel, namely, speed from place to place, but nullify the constant efforts of aircraftdesigners to find a few more m.p.h. cruising speed. Commentary and Flight Diary After rushing round London, arranging dollar credit andtrying to get a passport renewed and an American visa issued quickly by two hopelessly inadequate and under-staffed departments, all requirements were eventually met,
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