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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0260.PDF
FLIGHT FEBRUARY 13TH, 1947 rip' CIVIL AVIATION NEWS THE TUDOR POSITION IT has been announced that in the interests of safety theTudor I will not be operated by B.O.A.C. until modifica- tions and further trials have taken place. The single aircrafton which the corporations have been carrying out trial flights, and a proving flight in Africa, has exhibited certain faultswhich are considerably magnified when the aircraft is flown at the all-up weight of 80,000 1b in hot climates, and when takingoff at high altitudes. The defects mentioned are a pronounced tendency to swing at take-off, tail buffeting within certainspeed ranges in turbulent air, and an unexpectedly low A.M.P.G. figure. It is also understood that the cabin heatersare still not working satisfactorily. One of the defects of very large tail-wheel aircraft is theirtendency to swing during the take-off run, and a slight tendency had previously been observed with the Tudor. The makers'explanation of this sudden increase, which has taken the air- craft beyond the. margin of safety, is that the extra flap re-quired for take-off at high altitude in hot climates has blanketed the slipstream over the sail surfaces. It is believed, however,that B.O.A.C. are not altogether in agreement with this ex- planation Tail buffeting, resulting from turbulent air leavingstalled portions of the wing root fairings, inboard engine nacelles and wing trailing edges, also occurs with most aircraft,but in the case of the Tudor, at speeds considerably above the stall. The high fuel consumption, which can be attributedto the increased drag associated with the same source of trouble as the tail buffeting, will be tackled by an aerodynamic clean-up. A further increase in A.M.P.G. should also result from an Tudor position also appears in an editorial on page 155. The modifications necessitated will take at least three monthsto complete, and should they take longer it is doubtful whether it will be possible to complete trials and proving flights intime for Tudors to operate this year. Commentary on the Tudor position also appears in an editorial on page 155. P.LC.A.O. PROGRESS REPORT THE President of the Interim Council of P.I.C.A.O., Dr.Edward Warner, has issued a report on developmentsduring the Council recess. The recommendations of the Cairo conference have not yet been put into effect, and the Presidentviews with considerable alarm delays which have occurred in establishing P.I.C.A.O. procedures in all the regions in whichregional meetings have been held, except the North Atlantic. In the meantime, letters have been sent to the States of theMiddle East region calling attention to certain recommenda- tions of the Cairo meeting for the installation of facilities andthe maintenance of services at particular points in the region. The Communications Division recommended that the new" Q " code, with amendments from the form developed at the Dublin and Paris meeetings and included in P.I.C.A.O. pro-cedures foi air navigation services, should be brought into effect internationally on March 1st this year. Member Stateshave been asked if they can comply with this request. A system of code symbols for the identification of airports hasalso been recommended. At the first two regional meetings a system was developed of identifying airports by groups offour letters, of which the first one or two would give national identification and the remainder the specific place. The UnitedStates has found this system unsatisfactory and proposed three- Tudor Statement : Accident Reports for PJ.C.A.O. : S. Ireland Airport ON THE STEP. : The Golden Hind,which is back in service again on the B.O.A.C. route to Cairo after ashort stay at Augusta for minor repairs. letter groups. As an agreement was not reached, Member Statesare to be asked for their opinion. I.A.T.A. already has an extensive three-letter code of its own, contained in a book ofsome 225 pages and entitled "The General Aviation Code." Over 2,000 three-letter groups already represent place namesas used for reservations and other commercial messages. There is no correlation whatsoever, however, between the I.A.T.A.code and the samples of the three-letter code for identification that were presented through the Communications Division.It was also recommended that the Secretariat should undertake a study of the preparation, production and distribution ofconsol charts by some central agency in the interest of securing suitable and uniform charts. In view of the experience of theUnited Kingdom in the preparation of consol charts, comment has been requested. The United Nations Assembly hasapproved the draft agreement between that assembly and the International Civil Aviation Organization, subject to the con-dition that I.C.A.O comply with the decision of the United Nations Assembly upon the present government of Spain. Theexact effect of the adoption of this resolution and the nature of the steps which the first assembly would have to take inorder to comply with it are open to some questions. The most important indication of co-operation in air naviga-tion facilities was considered to be the Icelandic request for financial assistance in operating the Iceland Loran station.The chief of the Communications Section is inspecting the station in Iceland and will discuss technical requirements forits continued operation, further training of personnel and the basis of the existing estimates of operating cost. At least fiveStates apear to be interested as present users of Loran in the navigation of their aircraft in transatlantic services. Threeof those States have already indicated their willingness to contribute to the continued operation of the Icelandic station.It is understood that Afghanistan and Ethiopia have expressed interest in receiving technical or operational assistance. The general trend of replies from interested States in theEuroean area indicates that an early meeting for reconsidera- tion of the European Traffic Control Division arrangements isunnecessary The Air Navigation Committee has recommended that a meeting in April would have the advantage of beingin a position to take account of the winter experience. In the meantime, all States have been asked to take steps toexpedite the effective operation of their traffic control plans and to conduct discussions on the co-ordination of plans \<&adjacent territories NORTH STAR 'TRANS-CANADA AIR LINES' North Stars, the D.C.4S with-»- Merlin engines, are expected to be in operation on the Atlantic service quite soon. Mr. F. M. McGregor, the com-pany's operations manager, is in this country to complete arrangements for the new schedules. Six will be put on thetransatlantic service, and as more are delivered they will first of all fly on the route from Montreal to Bermuda, and thenon the Canadian domestic services. Mr. McGregor, who is the senior pilot in T.C.A.. personally started the company'sfirst route in 1937 between Vancouver and Seattle, and the following year opened the air-mail service between Winnipegand Vancouver. As announced in Flight of January 23rd, the second production model of the North Star was expected inthis country for demonstration last month.
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