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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1908.PDF
506 FLIGHT OCTOBEK 3OTH, T947 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. THE METEOR IV ; - 'w ; Premature Publicity reference to the absence of a Meteor IV jet fighter-*- from the recent air weapons demonstration on the West- down Kange prompts me to recall that this mark of Meteorhas been publicized as a "standard R.A.F. fighter" ever since G/C. "Willie" Wilson secured the record in one of thefirst of its type nearly two years ago. Who is responsible for this apparently deliberate misinforma-tion—the R.A.F., the Ministry of Supply or the manufac- turers? REACTIONARY. AIRCRAFT FOR HONG KONG AIRWAYS , Why Not Buy British ? DEFERRING to your report of Hong Kong Airways having*-v received two aircraft out there for services between Hong Kong, Shanghai and Japan, being a Chinese business man andengineer, I am very interested to know whether these aircraft are of British manufacture or American? I have been givento understand they are Dakotas. Surely during the present critical export drive of thiscountry, there are aircraft manufactured in this country with an equivalent or superior performance, suitable for the servicesout there, such as the Vickers Viking and Avro York. What chance is there of any sales of British aircraft andmachinery, when the chosen instrument (Hong Kong Airways, a subsidiary of B.O.A.C.) uses American goods, especially in acountry where competition is severe? VEN LAI. THE FLYING BOAT Some Brice Arguments AnsweredA PROPOS the article under the above heading in your issueof October 9th, 1947, just when Captain David Brice tries to put a damper on the rapidly increasing popularity of thelarge flying boat, his first and strongest point against the boat is disproved by the very thing happening which he says isimpossible—the landing in mid-Atlantic of a Boeing boat, in a gale, and the rescue of its passengers! Had this happened toa land machine, it must have ended in total disaster. I would refer Captain Brice to an article which I wrote forFlight of January 27th, 1944, where many of his arguments against the boat are already answered. In particular, hisstatement that rivers generally must be ruled out as suitable alighting places is surely refuted by experience. Has he everbeen to the Medway, where most of the big flying boats, both civil and military, were built in days gone by? They, over along period of years, had to do their prototype and production- testing from very restricted waters above the bridge. I donot suggest that this part of the Medway would be suitable as an operational base, but it does clearly prove in how narrowa rivei a flying boat can be safely manoeuvred—even without reversible airscrews. There must be many an area of waterlarger than this which would always be available for emer- gency landing; and they must certainly be safer for the 100-ton, or even the 200-ton flying boat than almost any existing airfield would be for a land machine of similar size. Again, take the relative cost of sea and land bases, andconsider what is happening at Filton, where houses and roads are being scrapped—when both are badly needed—to prepare asuitable runway for the Brabazon. A flying boat of similar size could be taken off on its first flight at a fraction of thecost. Captain Brice, in his article, cites the difficulties of findingsvitable bases between this country and Singapore for (presum- ably) the 200-ton flying boat, and mentions about six (alreadyavailable) sheets of water on the route on which a boat could land. I would be surprised to learn of even one suitable landairfield with long enough runways capable of carrying the 200- ton land machine.Another poiut is raised by Captain Brice when he says '' that the points of contact of a landplane are few and that oleo legslift the fuselage clear of most obstructions." Does he imagine the laige landplane can, in an emergency, land on scrub andbushes? No, Sir, it can only land on its prepared runway where there are no such obstructions, and where the surfaceis capable of withstanding the concentrated weight. His very next sentence reads "a flying boat hull provides a lot of area both below and directly above the water line."This particular point is very much in favour of the boat, as the area of contact goes up as the weight and size of thecraft increase, ensuring thai; the landing loads per unit of area remain reasonably low; whereas, in the case of the landplane,all the weight has to be taken on the landing wheels which! being retractable, are in themselves a major engineeringstructure. To sum up, there is a. place for both types in the scheme ofthings, but the larger the craft the more heavily the scale* are weighted in favour of the flying boat. W. P. KEMP^ ^ WHY NOT A EUROPEAN CENTRAL FLYING SCHOOL? The Question of Professional Competence RECENTLY I.C.A.O. has made certain recommendationswith regard to operational limits for airfields. It has been suggested that '' Aerodrome Authorities'' should compilea list of such limits for the guidance of Control. With due respect for such an august body as I.C.A.O., itis contended that no '' rule of thumb'' such as they suggest is adequate to cope with a situation which is influenced by somany variants. Circumstances alter cases and, since the case under consideration is governed by weather, type of aircraft,type of airfield, system of airfield approach, pilot ability, and a host of other variables, it would be almost impossible todevise a schedule which did not allow of wholesale misinterpre- tation. Such a schedule, in fact, would be liable to misappli-cation with dangerous consequences. Whether or not to proceed to a given airfield and how toeffect a safe landing on arrival is fundamentally the prerogative of the captain of the aircraft concerned and only he can co-ordinate and assess all the relevant facts necessary to reach the decision.The matter now falls into its correct perspective as quite clearly one of professional competence. The professionalability of an airline captain is ensured by his qualifications for his "B ' licence, his Navigator's Licence and his Instru-ment Rating Card. Surely in this last lies our solution? Why not carry this certification to its logical conclusion and endorsethe Instrument Rating Card for competence down to given limits using specified systems of I.L.S. in the same manneras the " B " licence is endorsed for competence on the type of aircraft? Proof of recent reasonable experience could berequired of the applicant on renewal of the flying licence every six months. The Royal Air Force on any count must be acknowledged asa body with long experience of the practice of flying and fly- ing-training, and their Empire Central Flying School providesan admirable precedent which civil aviation might do well to study. It is suggested that a European Central Civil FlyingSchool should be established which would operate in much the same manner, providing initial training and certification ofcivilian instructors, refresher courses, and possibly, also, travel- ling examination flights. The E.C.C.F.S. could recruit fromthe major European civilian airline companies, and being already an international body could make recommendations forstandards of proficiency, etc., to I.C.A.O. " RESURGAM." FORTHCOMING EVENTS Oct. 30th.—Royal Aeronautical Society . Third British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture. James Bain. Nov. 1st.—Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers : " Aircraft Pneu- matics." H. R. Haerle. Nov. 4th.—R.Ae.S. (Graduate and Student). " Maintenance Difficulties in the Field." M. J. Kemper, M.B.E., A.R.Ae.S. Nov. 4th.—Herts and Essex Aero Club : Annual dance. Park Lane Hotel. Nov. 6th.—Royal Aeronautical Society: " Some Recent Developments in the Landing Gear Field." Capt. R. Lucien, A.F.R.Ae.S. Nov. 8th.—British Interplanetary Society : " Electronics and Space Flight." Arthur C. Clarke. Nov. 19th.—R.Ae.S. (Graduate and Student). " Aircraft Photography." John Yoxall. Nov. 28th.—Royal Aeronautical Society : Joint Lecture with Inst. Me- chanical Engineers. " The Development of the A.S. Type Gas Turbine." W. H. Lindsey, M.A., A.F.R.Ae.S. (Postponed from Nov. 20th.) *^lov. 29th.—Pathfinder Ball, Dorchester Hotel. Park Lane, London. Dec. 4th.—Royal Aeronautical Society : " Problems Facing Civil Airline Operators." N. E. Rowe, C.B.E., B.Sc, D.I.C., F.R.Ae.S. Dec. 6th.—Helicopter Association of Great Britain : " Some Aerodynamic Problems of the Helicopter." H. B. Squire. Jan. 7th —British Interplanetary Society : " The Man-Carrying Rocket.' R. A. Smith.
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