FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1790.PDF
FLIGHT OCTOBER 28TH, 1948 stellation was brought into Prestwick on a G.C.A. let- down, and that it broke cloud over the airport. Par- mentier, it is reported, informed Control that he would overshoot and do a visual circuit before landing. It is, of course, possible that Parmentier's judgment may have been at fault in coming to this decision, but to us it appears unlikely. Of his skill as a pilot there cannot be any doubt. Perhaps in this connection we may be permitted to quote an instance from personal experience. As long ago as 1934, the Editor of this journal was invited to take part in a circuit of Holland in order to experience the comfort of the DC-2 which Parmentier was shortly to fly in the England-Australia Race with Mr. Moll as co-pilot. Some of the Dutch grass airfields were none too large for the Douglas, and on every occasion Parmentier put the machine down at the very edge so as to get the longest possible landing run. At one place, the tail had only just cleared the canal which bordered the airfield when the wheels touched-down to a perfect three-pointer. The example is quoted to show Parmentier's perfect judgment of speed and distance. ; That flight was, of course, made in daylight, and the approaches were on the whole a good deal easier than those at Prestwick, but Parmentier had in the meantime added largely to his experience, and had accumulated thousands of hours in many parts of the world. He must have weighed-up the circumstances and come to the conclusion that in the prevailing con- ditions a visual circuit was preferable to making another G.C.A. let-down. It is conceivable that this decision is open to challenge. It may be that as a pilot of such long experience Parmentier did not feel too confident in outside aids, having trusted to his own visual judgment CONTENTS Outlook - - - - - - - - 503 Back-to the Beginning 50S Here and There - - 508 Anglo-American Civil Air Relations - - - 510 Fokker To-day 511 Rocket Cameras Record Earth's Surface from 57 Miles Up - - - - - - 516 Photographic Phenomenon - - - ' - 518 Civil Aviation News 519 Cold Weather Operation of Aircraft - 523 Ground-attack Vampires - 526 Correspondence - - - ""»•.•-" ..." - 527 Service Aviation - - - ... - 528 Forthcoming Events page 527 for so many years. Not a few of the older pilot's have that feeling. But even so, there is every reason to believe that the visual circuit would have been quite normal but for the fact of striking the high-tension cables, which the pilot obviously could not see, although he probably knew fairly accurately his location in rela- tion to the ground. Flight has more than once agitated for the burial under ground of these cables. The reply has always been that this is costly, and that there is leakage of electricity. Such excuses may apply to the grid generally, but they are totally inadequate in a case where the cables are sufficiently close to an airport to constitute a danger to circuiting aircraft. At Prestwick there are already hazards imposed by nature in the form of hills. The man-made risk must be removed, not only from the Prestwick area but from the vicinity of any other airport. 28th Meeting of the Gas Turbine Collaboration Committee For the fourth time since the Committee was formed, largely as a result of the inspiration of Dr. Roxbee Cox, de Havillands were the hosts at Hotfield on October 19th and 20th. Much work was completed on the first day, and on the second, the members saw development work now going on, including some which has resulted in more thrust than is available in present R.A.F. equipment. Dr. Roxbee Cox was unable to be present, and is therefore missing from this group. Siddeley Motors • D. L Brown, AD.Eng.R.D.2., M.O.S. ; Cdr. C. M. Hall, NA/D.E.R.D. ; T. G. Newbury (partly covered by Dr. Shannon), Eng.R.D.4. ; Dr. Shannon, Metropolitan-Vickers • W/C. Lees, N.G.T.E. ; Dr. D. M. Smith, Metropolitan-Vickers ; B. W. Millington, Ricardo ; E. S. Moult, de Havilland : C. H. Griffiths, A D Eng R D 4 • O Lawrence Joseph Lucas. : Dr. 1. W. Drinkwater, AD.Eng.R.. M.O.S. ; L. G. Fairhurst, Rotol ; R. H. Schlotel, AD.Eng.R.D.I, M.O.S.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
