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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0046.PDF
Crowded into one of the hangars can be seen five Dakotas and many andllary pans. The company carries a large stock of Dakota spares. AIR WORK . . . . contract basis the, larger overhauls, and even the respon- sibility for elementary training of pilots, owing to the expense in the upkeep of the aircraft. Similarly the British Airline Corporations have found it more economical to contract-out certain necessary modifications and the larger overhauls. All the British European Airways Corporation's Dakotas are sent to Gatwick for the periodical C. of A., and if necessary for conversion to the Corporation's own specifica- tions for passenger or freight-carrying aircraft. The same applies to B.O.A.C. Dakotas and those accepted for the Ministry of Supply for distribution. The R.A.F. frequently requires Dakotas to be converted for V.I.P. work, or for paratroop or normal passenger-carrying purposes in Trans- port Command. Dakotas which have been returned by U.N..R.R.A. have required overhaul and conversion, and the removal of the military camouflage to reveal the normal shining fuselage favoured by civil operators. I saw at Gatwick, in the hangars, on the tarmac and on the airfield, 35 Dakotas in various stages of repair, con- In the left foreground is a Reechcraft Traveller receiving a final check, at Langley private owner and charter aircraft are undergoing repair version, modification and overhaul—there seemed to be Dakotas everywhere. At that base the company has done 253 scheduled overhauls in six months. On Ministry of Supply, B.E.A.C. and B.O.A.C. contracts alone at Gatwick 500,000 hours are being worked each week, and that goes on for 51 weeks of the year. In addition, the company is responsible for servicing the 18 aircraft in the M.C.A. fleet. Maintenance Overseas Such is the maintenance responsibility to scheduled airlines and other users of medium-heavy aircraft at home, but Airwork also maintains and operates a fleet of aircraft for overseas purposes. At Abadan, for example, there are five Rapides and two Doves which are flown for the Anglo- Iranian Oil Company; at Haifa there are nine Rapides and three Doves for the Iraq Petroleum Company; and at Kuwait a Rapide is flown for the Kuwait Oil Company. Four Doves fly scheduled services from Khartoum for Sudan Airways, Airwork being responsible for the technical, management of the airline; in Shell Mera, Ecuador, then*;, are three Grumman Goose amphibians, two DC-3S, twl Bristol Freighters and two Ford Trimotors employed in the transport of food, machinery and other supplies from established airstrips to survey parties in the interior for the Shell Company of Ecuador. All these commitments involve the estab- lishment of maintenance bases overseas with qualified staff. During the past six months in the whole organization about 60 Certificates of Airworthiness have been completed on all sizes of aircraft, and at the maintenance depots at Gatwick, Blackbushe and Langley 1,959 daily inspections were made. In the Middle East 2,700 and in Ecuador 1,500 daily inspections were carried out in the same period. Such dispersed maintenance respon- sibilities require a high proportion of skilled workers and Airwork employs a particularly large number of licensed craftsmen, At Gatwick there are about 550 employees, of whom about 28 are fully- licensed. At Langley there are 200 employees, at Perth 60, at Booker and Blackbushe 80, and in Ecuador 20 plus local labour; in the Middle East there are about 35 English In this hangar and conversion.
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