FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1313.PDF
AUGUST 1947 FLIGHT '45 CIVIL AVIA First Weather Ship Completed: Pilots Licence Changes ; Swedish Policy for Airlines SABENA SIDELINE : At the Brussels show last month Sabena made some ver/ effect/ i-e formation flights with Skymasters and Dakotas. FIRST WEATHER SHIPB Y the l.C.A.O. agreement signed in London last OctoberGreat Britain is to be responsible for maintaining two weather observation ships in the Atlantic in positions6o°oo'N 2o°oo'W, and 53°5o'N i8°4o'W, and to assist Norway and Sweden in maintaining another in position 66°oo'N andi2°oo'E. The agreement provided for the scheme to be in full operation by July ist this year, but preliminary arrange-ments and the conversion of the ships has taken longer than was expected. As announced previously in Flight, the U.K. have chosenFlower Class corvettes on account of their seaworthiness and relative economy of operation, and also the availability ofseveral of the type in good structural condition at relatively low cost. Conversion has been completed on the first ship,H.M.S. Marguerite, christened Ocean Weather Ship Weather Observer on July 31st by Mr. Noel Baker, and which left theLondon Docks the following day to be at the southern British station after seven days' sailing. The ships, when in position,will provide stations for making meteorological observations of surface and upper air conditions and supplement the surfaceobservations provided by merchant ships on the normal trade routes. Incidentally, as an indication of the service providedby the selected British ships, there were 2,552 reports made in the eastern part of the North Atlantic by them during lastMay. Navigational aid will also be provided to aircraft and ships by W/T. and by bearings from a Eureka beacon. The ships are equipped to provide an air/sea rescue service. GOING UP ; Launching a met. balloon from the weather ship after inflation in the special construction. TUDOR IV TRIALST HE first Tudor IV delivered to B.S.A.A. and which leftLondon on July 23rd for trials in the West Indies returned on the 29th. 11,714 miles were covered in 37\ hours. Theaircraft was flown at 2O,ooof<; for several hours and pressuriza- tion worked efficiently. The engines worked perfectly through-out, and we understand that the crew were satisfied that no modifications will be necessary to the airframe. It was unfor-tunate that insufficient petrol prevented the flight home from Bermuda being made in one hop, and a refuelling call wasnecessary at the Azores. The Tudor behaved well under all the climatic conditions experienced during the trials, and theCorporation intend to adopt it and hope to start operations with three of the type in September NEW AIRWAYS CENTREB RITISH EUROPEAN AIRWAYS have acquired, under a28-year lease, the ground floor and basement of Stafford Court, a block of shops and fiats in High Street, Kensington.The Corporation will use the premises as the arrival and de- parture point in London for all B.E.A. passengers and freight,and for the companies for which the Corporation acts as an agent. The premises will, therefore, replace Airways Ter-minal for all B.E.A. passenger handling in London. Consider- able modification will be necessary to the building, whichalready consists of two separate units. The larger unit will ;ict as a departure point and will be divided into ten bayscapable of handling about 40 or 50 aircraft de- partures each hour. There will also be waitinghalls and a buffet in the basement. The smaller unit will deal with arrivals only. Stafford Court may be reached easily by busand underground, but the service from London to Northolt by special coach will be continued asar present under the administration of the L.P.T.B It has been obvious for some time thatAirways Terminal, Buckingham Palace Road, was inadequate for the amount of traffic, and it fshoped the move to Stafford Court will take place early in 1948. The B.E.A. booking centre willeventually be transferred to Dorland Hall, in Lower Regent Street. PILOT LICENCE EXAMINATION'S N August 26th the system for examiningapplicants for pilots "B" licences will be slightly amended. There are to be some conces-sions which, although not of a drastic nature, are important and show a realization of the practicalneeds in commercial flying. The present examina- tion requires all applicants to commit to memoryrules and regulations which are seldom needed. Much of the legislation is required only for com-mercial purposes and there is no necessity for every captain to memorize details, and a knowledge ofwhere the regulations may be found is all that is necessary. The new scheme will require in the tech-nical examination on Aviation Law (Specific Subjects) a brief supplementary oral test tobe taken on the rules of the air, and a detailed
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
