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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 2172.PDF
6Q8 FLiG HT DECEMBER I8TH, 1947 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS AIR OMNIBUS : The Silver City Bristol Wayfarer, in nine days' flying between India and Pakistan during the recent evacuation of refugees, carried 1,105 passengers with about 44 Ib af baggage each. On one flight 117 passengers were carried, and in one day 151 men, women and children travelled in the Wayfarer. The aircraft cpervted within its limiting all-up weight of 37,000 Ib. Six Months of Successful G.C.A. Operation : U.S. Airline Operating : / Costs Rise : Italian Airline Routes ^ ^ - AMBASSADOR REPAIRED IT will be remembered that the prototype Ambassador had anunfortunate mishap on November 22nd when a landing wasmade with the starboard undercarriage kg unlocked, with consequent damage to the underside of the fuselage. Therepairs were completed on Saturday, December 6th, but the company had taken the opportunity, during the time the air-craft was grounded, of making several modifications, and they were completed on December 10th. The primary cause of theundercarriage failure has been established, although the exact sequence of failure is difficult to determine. The initial fault,however, was structural, in that the bolts holding one of the jack-supporting tripod legs failed, leaving the jack partiallyfree. Thereafter the uplock was opened, the downlock closed prematurely while the leg was falling, and the hydraulic linewas pulled away. The fact that the aircraft has been repaired and is flying again so soon after the accident indicates thatthe damage sustained was relatively slight. Mr. Errington must be congratulated on his masterly handling of the aircraftin the difficult circumstances, as also must the experimental team which have worked so hard making the necessary repairs.Undoubtedly the high wing design was largely responsible for the avoidance of damage to the starboard wing and engine. SUCCESS OF G.C.A. AFTER some procrastination by the Ministry of Civil Avia-tion last winter of which due criticism was made by Flight, Ground Controlled Approach radar was installed atLondon Airport. A Royal Air Force crew and " Bendix G.C.A. equipment from Prestwick was loaned to the M.C.A. bythe Air Ministry on February 7th, 1947, and arrangements were made for the R.A.F. to train a number of civil crews.At the same time " Federal " G.C.A. radar units were obtained. The first civil crew started training on January 6th, and sincethat date eight complete crews have been trained and a further six are still under training. The Ministry established a G.C.A.Training School at Aldermaston on October 27th, and the first three crews to be trained by that unit completed their courseson December 14th. The first R.A.F. crew was supplemented by a civil crew on May 7th and the M.C.A. took over completeoperation of the equipment at London Airport on July 1st. Up to December 2nd, 1,012 operational and practice G.C.A.approaches had been made since the M.C.A. took over. Experience has shown that captains of aircraft are enthusi-astic about its operation and some have refused to land in conditions of bad visibility without using the equipment. Cer-tain Continental companies have sent special aircraft and airline captains to London Airport for intensive training andlittle language difficulty has been experienced. The authorities have found that G.C.A. avoids stacking and allows approachesto be made in conditions which ^ould be substantially poorer than those in which pilots would use normal instrument ap-proach aids. In fact, the limit is down to about 200 yards visibility and 200 feet cloud base. The G.C.A. approach andlanding takes approximately 10 min., which compares favour- ably with procedures for I.L.S. and S.B.A., which average 15and 8 min. respectively. It has also been invaluable for monitoring aircraft using the other aids, has enabled AirTraffic Control to ascertain the traffic pattern in the Metro- politan Control Zone, and also to check that aircraft are flyingthe safety tracks passed to them. SCOTTISH AIRFIELDS A . CDRE. J. G. MURRAY, Controller of the ScottishDivision of the M.C.A., stated after a recent meeting of the Scottish Aerodromes Board that G.C.A. would be re-installed at Prestwick by the end of this month and that work was to be started on the strengthening of runways at that air-port by n«xt spring, and would be completed by the autumn. He also disclosed that a survey was being made for an airfieldon -"the Isle of Mull and that feeder services would be started from Errol airport/ Perthshire, in the spring. There was noqugstion of an alternative to Turnhouse being found. CONSTELLATION SLEEPERS FOR T.W.A.T O serve its overseas routes, Trans TVorld Airlines haveordered 12 Constellations for delivery between Februarv and June, 1948. These new aircraft will have long-type cabinseats convertible into 20 upper and lower berths and reversible,
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