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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0047.PDF
JANUARY 9TH, 1947 FLIGHT 43 i numerically, the millions of passengers carried—the legiti- mate criterion used by all other mediums of transportation.v But where will this digital race lead? To such astro- nomical figures (when supersonic speeds are finally attained), as to make the industry's pretensions the laugh- ing-stock of the public it has duped for so many years. Well, what then? In reprisal, the railroad, steamship and street-railway companies need only adopt the aircraft industry's pet criterion. They need only multiply the number of their passengers carried by the number of their miles travelled, to put themselves away out ahead of the aviation industry in the excess of digits they could thus display. Face the Facts So, after twenty years or more—spent in evading the issue—the aviation industry will find itself just where it i was when it thiew ofi its responsibilities in 1926—and with nothing gained except a bad name. This must not be allowed to happen. Instead, the industry must frankly endorse and adopt the '' passengers carried per fatality'' criterion of its competitors. Automobiles kill 30,000 or more persons every year in the U.S. alone. Does this deter the manufacture or operation of automobiles? Not at all. More automobiles are made, sold and operated every year. The Scientific American figures show that steamship travel is very much more dangerous than street-railway travel. Does this deter people from travelling by steamship? Not at all. Steamship travel increased annually before the war. What it all suggests is that 1he aviation industry need not fear publication of the fact that aerial travel is danger- ous, tt is dangerous, but it is also desirable and a neces- sity in many phases of modern life. It is here to stay, and nothing can prevail against its development and growth. So I would say to the industry: Believe what Mark Twain meant when he said, "When in doubt, always tell the truth." He also said: "Be honest. This will gratify some people and astonish everyone else." The merit of being truthful and honest about the dangers of flying and of frankly admitting its inferior position in any tabular comparison of safety is that this procedure will simultaneously expose the industry's primary need. This, in turn, will enlist the immediate co-operation of scientists, engineers and inventors all over the world. These co- operating forces can be depended upon to remedy defects and to create new types of aircraft which are character- ized by greater factors of safety in design, construction and operation. There exists no incentive for these forces to function now, or so long as fhey are "propagandized" into the delusion that air travel is safe. Such propaganda is a pernicious hurdle placed across the path of progress and must be removed—in the joint interests both of the industry and of the public. I submit the above thought as a resolution. Progress can be initiated by one mind, but it can be materialized only with the co-operation of many minds, all channelled towards the common goal. JOSEPH A. BLONDIN. EMPTY SEATS f A REQUEST was made recently to the Parliamentary Secre-tary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to direct that Government departments should, like private passengers, pay a fine when the notice of cancellation of seats booked for their staff in outgoing aircraft was too short for those seats to be filled. Mr. Lindgren replied that the proportion of seats booked for members of Government departments was small, and as it rarely happened that they were cancelled too late to be resold, he was satisfied that the number of such cancella- tions would not have been reduced had a system of fines been in force. A system of fines may ease some of the losses incurred bythe operators, but the real need is a greater opportunity for filling those seats which are cancelled. The Government areat present allowed until 3 p.m. on the day before departure, before a cancellation notice is necessary. If the aircraft isdue to leave early in the morning there is little hope of finding passengers in time. In addition to this, there are severalservices to the Continent which are run entirely for Govern- ment officials. Cancellation of seats on these services representan immediate loss to the operator. It is surely just that such services should be run on a different basis from the normalpublic schedules. A QANTAS YEAR K/ IN the course of the Qantas chairman's speech at the annualgeneral meeting last month, Mr. W. Hudson Fysh madeseveral interesting points. The first of these was that the company had earned a netprofit of ^54,061 during the preceding year. He also explained the reasons why Qantas Empire Airways had purchased ft.urConstellation 749s with the appropriate spares and equipment. During the conference at Canberra in March the details of thepost-war Australia-England services were settled. It was then '' -ided to operate for an initial period with Lancastrians andlathes, working the route in two sections. By September last year it was expected that Phase 2 could be put into opera-tion, in which both Qantas and B.O.AC, would operate through from Sydney to London in co-operation. Since nosuitable British aircraft were yet available, Qantas had there- fore placed an order for Constellations, which would operateover 2,500-mile stages while carrying a payload of 13,2001b— including forty-four day or twenty-four night passengers. Itwas expected that the Constellation would complete the Sydney-London journey in an elapsed time of sixty hours,including ten hours for ground stops. During last year an agreement was reached between theCommonwealth and the United Kingdom Governments whereby the former would acquire the B.O.A.C. holding in QantasEmpire Airways, and a bill to that effect was now in the Aus- tralian Statute Book. The Commonwealth thus became apartner of Qantas, which would be a hundred per cent Aus- tralian undertaking. Qantas would, in fact, become theaccredited overseas operator for the Government. Qantas were now negotiating with the Commonwealth Government for theinauguration of a service from Sydney to the Philippines and farther north.The entry of the Government into airline operation in Aus- tralia, and the formation of Trans-Australia Airlines had meantthe loss to Q.E.A. of quite a number of its staff—chief amongst whom was Capt. Lester J. Brain, previously Q.E.A. operationsmanager, who had been appointed general manager of the new Government organization. B.EA. CARGO DIVISION >- '• "DRITISH EUROPEAN AIRWAYS are in the process of pur--*-' chasing ten Dakota passenger aircraft and eight Dakota special freight aircraft. The Corporation is forming a CargoDivision in addition to the existing Continental, English and •Scottish Divisions, and its function will be to fly scheduledfreight services within each. The passenger aircraft are for use on the internal routes where traffic is increasing, and also asan "insurance" against the shortage of aircraft generally. The purchases have been made possible by a considerableimprovement in the position with regard to Dakota spare parts. MILES MERCHANTMANI N Flight of November 21st we gave some preliminary detailsof the projected Miles Merchantman freighter. This appro- priately named aircraft might be described as a considerablyenlarged and modified all-metal version of the Aerovan, which is already doing good work in the light freighter field. It will be powered by lour D.H. Gipsy Queen 31s, and withthese will have a cruising speed of about 155 m p.h. and a rate of climb, at maximum power, of 1,100 ft/min. The maximumstill-air range will be 850 miles and the payload about 5,000 lb. It is obviously designed for uses somewhat similar to thoseof the Aerovan, but with a suitably scaled-up performance and hold-volume. The span will be 65ft, and the hold actuallymeasures 18ft x 7ft gin and will be 6ft 6in high. As in the case of the Aerovan, the entire rear of the fuselage forms adoor, and the floor will be stressed for concentrated loads. It will be of the high-wing type, with the tail unit carried ona boom. UNITED STATES-CHINA ROUTES ]/M R. WILLIAM ROBERTSON, of the United States Civil Aeronautics Administration, has been responsible for negotiating an air transport agreement with China. Airlines of both countries have been granted the right of transit and non- traffic stops in the territory of the other. United States air- lines will be permitted to pick up and discharge passengers,
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