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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1670.PDF
3C8 FLIGHT SEPTEMBER 25TH, LARGEST FLV/N.G BOAT: The civil version of the Short-San Shetland which was launched a: Rochester on September /5th and flown fot the first time two days later. After further flying tests it will be handed over to B.O.A.C. to be used as a flying test-bed. Equipment Tests on Interim Aircraft: Foreign Travel Ban: Meteorological Discussions: Installations at Gander B.E.A.C. AND THE CURRENCY BAN MR. GERARD d'ERLANGER, chairman of B.E.A., hasexplained the serious set-back experienced by the Cor-poration due to the Government's ban on tourist travel to the non-sterling areas. Although the figures of financial losseswere not available, it was revealed that 85 per cent of passen- gers to the Continent had been lost through the currencyembargo During the past twelve months of operation B.E.A. has beendeveloped to cater for an ever-increasing expansion, but now the whole outlook has changed, and the organization, includ-ing 7,000 personnel, will have to be cut,~and Continental ser- vices revised. The Scottish and English Divisions of theCorporation are to be amalgamated with a. pooling of the staff of each Division. It is probable, however, that the crisis mayaffect the internal services favourably and people may be driven to using air transport because of the shortage and con-gestion of surface forms of transport, so that the domestic lines may return some, if not all, of the losses incurred on theContinental schedules. In order to cut losses the company is also contemplating adevelopment of routes to sterling areas such as Malta, Cyprus and Gibraltar, although the difficulties of accommodation inthese places have first to be overcome. Research and development for the future are progressing, andsuch problems as high level flight and the regular use of heli- copters are being investigated. It is hoped that Miles Mara-thons will replace Dakotas on B.E.A. routes by 1949, and that Viscounts will replace the Vikings now in service by 1951. INTERIM AIRCRAFT SOME instances have lately been cited by the Ministry oiSupply to show how experience gained by the use otBritish interim aircraft will assist in the development of en tirely new designs. By the use of interim types manufacturersire enabled to test equipment on regular operations and gain valuable development experience. Were American aircraft Uibe used this experience would not be forthcoming and new equipment would have to be tried in advanced new designssuch as the D.H.106, of which aerodynamic and airframt problems are already sufficiently difficult without adding incidental teething troubles. It is disclosed that the radio equipment WT.19C0, STR.12intercommunication systems, etc., developed for the Hermes- will be installed in the D.H.106 and the Apollo. Again, inthe case of pressurizing equipment, the filters, blowers, silencers, valves, heaters, controls developed for the Tudors will be usedon the Apollo. From the airframe aspect, it is particularly important that the technique of sealing the cabin should bethoroughly mastered before application to the new designs. In the same way, it is hoped that the new British autopilot(Mark IX) will have been thoroughly tested on interim types before fitting to the D.H.106. COMMONWEALTH AIR FREIGHT NETWORK T ONDON Aero and Motor Services, Limited, of Stanstead-L< Airport, Essex, has been amalgamated with Skytaxies, Limited, the holding company of Alpha Airways of SouthAfrica. Three operating companies, L.A.M.S. (England), L.A.M.S. (Africa), and L.A.M.S. (Australia) will now be con-trolled by Dr. Graham Humby, who is appointed governing director for life of the amalgamated concern. The operatorsare expecting to begin flying their Pacific freight routes from Sydney, Australia, during October, and they will also operatefrom the Alpha Airways airport near Johannesburg. L.A.M.S. will continue to operate converted Halifax bombersas the main aircraft of their three flights. The Halifaxev^ve already flown more than half a million miles while engagelWair freighting, chiefly in Europe, and have proved themselves efficient and economical. BO AC. PAYLOAD FIGURES A CCORDTNG to statistics released by B.O.A.C., the com-^*- pany's Speedbird service across the Atlantic from America to U.K. led all others in passenger payload averages duringthe summer period April to August. From April 7th to August 23rd B.O.A.C. Constellations departing from La Guardia Air-port for England carried more passengers per flight than either Pan American Airways or American Overseas Airways. June\vas the busiest month for trans-atlantic air travel out of New York. During this period B.O.A.C. averaged 39-6passengers per flight whilst its nearest competitor averaged 37. and in July B.O.A.C. averaged 33.1 passengers and its nearestcompetitor 32.7 From April 7th to June 14th, a period of limited transocean travel, B.O.A.C. carried on the average 1.6 passengers as against its competitors' averages of 3J-3 ind 30. August was considered the " light" month for trans-
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