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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1727.PDF
and- AIRCRAFT ENGINEER Editorial Director Editor Assistant Editor - Art Editor - G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. C. M, POULSEN MAURICE A. SMITH. D.F.C. (W/NG COR., R.A.F.V.R.) JOHN YOXALL FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE W)RLD •• FOUNDED WO9 Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Fligbtprei, Sedlst, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (50 lines.) COVENTRY: BIRMINGHAM,!: MANCHESTER. 3 : GLASGOW, C2: 8-10, CORPORATION ST. N'^Gw E D WsAj DR ^ °EU|E> 2^0, DEANSGATE. 26B, RENFIELD ST. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry. Telegrams : Autopress, Birminjham.' Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telegrams : Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Coventry 5210. Telephone: Midland 7191 (7 lines). Telephone : Blackfriars 4412. Telephone: Central 4857 SUBSCRIPTION RATES : Home and Abroad : Year, £3 10. 6 months, £1 10 6. Registered at the G.P.O. as a Newspaper No. 2024. Vol. Lll. October 9th, 1947 We Outlook Thursdays, One Shilling Discriminatory Restrictions THE abolition of the basic petrol ration for motoristshas been heavily criticized in all quarters. Thedislocation of transport, and the genuine hard- ships it will cause, have been pointed out; its futility has been indicated, and there is still no sign that alternative schemes suggested for the conservation of petrol will even be considered. Most of the arguments raised by car owners would be equally true of aircraft. It should be realized, in addition, that pilots in flying practice are an asset to the country, and they become more important daily as the flying hours of the Services, and now the Corporations, are gradually restricted by cost, demobili- zation of aircrew, the increasing shortage of ground staff, and so forth. It appears that clubs are to be allowed a small quantity of fuel for flying instruction, and we must be thankful for the little which is better than none at all. It is to be hoped that keen members will be able to find a way of getting to their airfields, and that the aircraft petrol allowance will be sufficient to enable clubs to carry on at least at weekends. Whether the ration will be large enough to permit the occasional cross-countries and pilot navigation flights which are essential to a pilot's training remains to be seen. The cutting down of fuel allocations to charter companies, alone of commercial operators, is discriminatory and even spiteful. However, a cut in fuel consumption by some of the Corporations will, it seems, be involuntary. In this connection, the official refusal to allow a charter company to try to run, as a private venture, a useful service which a Corporation has aban- doned as uneconomical, is not only a miserable dog-in- the-manger attitude but seems to indicate also a fear of being shown up. Even engineless flying will be severely handicapped, although it has recently received plenty of official en- couragement. Not only do the tug and winch launchings take fuel, but more particularly the transporting and re- trieving of the gliders requires the aid of road vehicles. This fuel rationing has gone too far. It is as stupid to chain up and muzzle an industry, fighting in every way to make good in the international market, as it would be to chain and muzzle dogs fighting a bear. An Expensive ExperimentA NYONE who likes to be shocked, and who is pre- pared to pay the modest sum of 6s for the privi- lege, should obtain from H.M. Stationery Office a copy of the Sixth Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Estimates just published. In these days of national near-bankruptcy, the fantastic figures for expenditure on civil aviation since it became national- ized disclosed in the Report are almost unbelieveable. So vast is the range of subjects covered by the Report that it is impossible to comment in one issue on more than a few of the many aspects which demand attention —very close attention. One is the appalling muddle for which the door is at present left wide open with the system of ordering now in force. If there is one thiog which, more than any other, could help towards greater efficiency and more rapid improvement in aircraft, it is the closest possible collaboration between manufacturer and user. Under the present scheme there is only a com- plicated contact between them, and the interposition of too many departmental middlemen makes rapid and clear decisions almost impossible to achieve. Small wonder, therefore, that the word most frequently heard in relation to civil aircraft is " delay." The unfortunate manufacturer has to cope with the idiosyncrasies of two Government departments: the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and with the three Cor- porations which are the ultimate users of his product. The Report adds nothing new to the subject of British civil transports but merely reiterates the old story of the handicaps imposed by the fact that manufacturers were busy on military types during the war, and that the Corporations consequently are having to operate com-
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