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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0170.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY 30TH, 1947 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS S. Pacific Air Transport Council* s Meeting: New Ulster Company FLAGSHIP : The B.O.A.C. Tudor I"Elizabeth of England" flying to London Airport for the chris-tening by H.R H. Princess Elizabeth on Tuesday, January21 st. FUTURE PROSPECTS TO say that there was a certain gloom at Portsmouth lastFriday evening might perhaps create a false impressionof what was, in fact, an interesting discussion. The Ports- mouth Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society had arrangeda discussion on the future prospects for civil air transport, and had invited as the opening speakers Sir Frederick IlandlcyPage, who is President of the R.Ae.S. ; Mr. N. E. Rowe, Director of Research in the B.E.A.C. ; and Mr. W. Tye, ChiefSurveyor (design) to the Air Registration Board. At the end of the evening many felt that there was little tolook forward to in British or international civil aviation during the next five years or so. As in so many other recent publicdeclarations, the thiee speakers stressed the need for safety, but they had Httle to offer as practical suggestions or in outstanding developments Sir Frederick Handley Page struck a note which might well be remembered by many during thepresent adolescence of air transport operation : civil aviation must not be over-sold. There is too great an emphasis beingplaced on the necessity for speed, and, consequently, there is greater progress in that direction than in the other manyrequirements. Cheaper travel must also be one of the great aims of civil flying, but, as Sir Frederick pointed out, it mustbe gained by cuts in the cost of operation and not in the cost of manufacture of aircraft. Mr. Tye contributed to thesearguments by reference to accident statistics which, he said showed that the aircraft were seldom to blame for crashesMost accidents were caused by deficiencies in equipment or to human cnor. It was a question, however, whether aircraftof the future—in fact, those that are at the moment on.the drawing board—would maintain that standard. One of thedifficulties experienced by the Air Registration Board in pre- paring airworthiness standards for the future was that, whereasdevelopments in engine design were normally forecastable, rapid developments in aircraft construction and design we'renot. Mr. Rowe concerned himself mainly with the long-termchoice of future types of aircraft. Selection was made difficult by the lack of operating data, for the pre-war figures wereunreliable and present conditions in Europe made it almost impossible to forecast the future requirements. Internationalairport organization, for example, must largely affect the size of aircraft and overloaded terminals would cause bottlenecksAirlines must, therefore, have diverse types of aircraft to cope with this possible overcrowding, but there must be a minimumnumber of types, otherwise difficulties would arise in mainten- ance, pilot-training and traffic organization. Mr. Rowe felt that much of the future of air transport depended upon the flexibility of movement that it would provide in the future. Thi-s, he claimed, could only be obtained byfrequency, which would enable the public to fly on a railway ticket arrangement instead of by pre-reservation" of seats. Wemust not forget, he said, the connection between journey time and frequency ; that is, the shorter the journey the higher thefrequency demanded. Two types of aircraft which were specially mentioned byMr. Rowe were helicopters and special cargo carriers. The former lie considered to be in their infancy, and ia any case,with a future only where their unique qualities were essential to the task. Rather than develop helicopter services fromairports to cities, Mr. Rowe thought it was better at this stage to develop efficient surface transport. Air cargo carriers,as distinct from passenger aircraft carrying freight, would need to be economical in operation, robust, cheap to maintain,and capable of carrying various types of cargo in all climates and at all heights. Mr. Tye considered that, owing to the re-equipment of airoperating companies, the present stage in the development of flying aids, and the shortage of aircrews, the safety factorwas at a low level. He felt, however, that time would im- prove the situation. The future trend in technical develop-ments would be efforts to speed up the retraction of under- carriages and the feathering of airscrews, and to improve thepilot's rudder control. Mr. Tye is a great advocate of pas- sengers sitting with their backs to the direction of travel fromthe point of view of additional support to the body in the event of a crush. Summing-up, Sir Frederick Handley Page referred .to thedisadvantage at which this country found itself at the end of the war, owing to the concentration on the building ofmilitary aircraft. The country's effort for that period, he was quite sure, WAS not fully appreciated, for during thoseyears of effort Great Britain was losing experience and time in the manufacture and operation of civil transport aircraft.He still considered, however, that the greatest improvements must come from the operators. The Portsmouth Branch of the Society must be congratu-lated on organizing such a successful meeting and on giving it such excellent support. The Mayor of Portsmouth,Councillor Winnicott, attended, and Mr. Townsley, President of the Portsmouth Branch, presided. It was unfortunate thatMr. E. C. Green, the chairman, owing to illness was unable to attend. N.CA.CC yf THE first meeting of the National Civil Aviation Consulta-tive Council was due to take place on Monday last Pi 3 p.m. at the Ministry. Normally the Council will meet -iprivate, but, on this occasion, the Press were invited '' attend. The proceedings cannot be recorded in this issue of Flight,but it is known that the agenda included an opening state- ment by the chairman, Lord Nathan; an explanation by SirHenry Self of the working machinery of civil aviation, and details of some typical civil aviation problems by the vice-chairman, Mr. Lindgren. There was, of course, to be a genera' discussion on all the items. It will be remembered that'tin-Council has been appointed by the Minister to enable him t • consult with representatives of bodies interested in civil avia-tion. The Minister can alter or enlarge its membership, changeits terms of reference or end its activities altogether. It is. therefore, quite distinct from the Air Transport AdvisorvCouncil, which .is a statutory, independent, quasi-judicial bo'l ••' to be established'by Order in Council.
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