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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 2141.PDF
DECEMBER I6TH, 1948 F 1IG HT 723 STRUCTURALLY COMPLETE : Brabazon I retiring to the special hangar after an afternoon of engine testing. Overhaul Extension for Queen 70 : Long-term Plans for Air Traffic Control in U.S. : Australian Airline Losses U.S. AIRLINE ECONOMIES TNCREASING competition from charter operators is causing-*- a considerable amount of worry among the regular United States* airlines and it was recently stated that the combinedlosses of T.W.A., United Air Lines and American Airlines would have been offset if they had carried all the passengerswho flew on irregular services. These irregular operators are bound by fewer Government regulations and their fares areabout two-thirds of the scheduled charges. United Air Lines have introduced a family fare rate, as reported in Flight,November 25th, in an attempt to reduce losses by increasing the number of passengers; another company proposes toreduce fares by 20 per cent for travellers who buy two or more tickets a month, and overseas branches of the airlinesare offering lower fares between September and May. Some airlines believe that new aircraft to replace the uneconomicalDakotas would reduce considerably the losses incurred and that Government grants are unnecessary.. Mr. W. A. Patter-son, President of United Air Lines, said recently that the problem was more for the Civil Aeronautics Board than forthe airlines themselves. He considered that consolidation of operations would not solve the problem of unnecessary com-petition. Pooling of routes, he said, would lead eventually to the creation of a cartel, a system not favoured in theUnited States, and he claimed that the Board should be held responsible for- the wasteful and destructive creation of newroutes. Although the Board had suggested that the airlines consolidated their activities and reduced uneconomical opera-tions, which admitted there were too many services, it con- tinued to grant new routes. By having to serve 38 smallcities, 40 per cent of the total mileage flown acquired only 8 per cent of the total revenue. Only 49 million dollars insubsidies had been granted by the Government to build up the airline system, compared with 2,250 million dollars grantedto the railways. He also drew attention to 23 million dollars which had been advanced for constructing a single flying boat. SAFETY MEASURES FOR S.E. ASIA TiELEGATES- to the I.C.A.O. South East Asia Regional-L' meeting which opened in New Delhi on November 23rd, as reported in Flight, November 25th, are considering air safetyrecommendations for the flight of international aircraft over the area Recommendations so far include the provision of fill,meteorological services en route, and a system of hourly and half-hourly broadcasts of weather forecasts from airfields. Theneed for establishing more island stations in the Indian Ocean area for upper-air observations has also been recognized.Pandit Nehru, the Prime Minister, in his welcoming speech to the delegates said that he hoped the Conference would result inneater development of air navigation in the region. He said chat a ten yeaf plan for the development of air services in India c 17 had been completed in three years and further plans were being made for training personnel for Indian civil airlines. AMERICAN AIRLINE MERGERS UBJECT to approval by the C.A.B. and the stockholdersof Pan American World Airways and American Overseas Airlines the latter company will be dissolved. According toMr. C. R. Smith, President of A.O.A., the slow revival of trade and commerce and the foreseeable volume of business does notjustify three United States carriers on the North Atlantic route, and P.A.W.A. will take over the services of A.O.A. WhereasP.A.W.A. flies eastward through Europe, A.O.A. services fly to Prestwick, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Hel-sinki. Mr. Juan Trippe, President of P.A.W.A., has said that the two companies carry more than 50 per cent of all Trans-atlantic air traffic. GIPSY QUEEN EXTENSION IN November the Air Registration Board increased the per-missible hours of duty between overhauls of the Gipsy Queen series 70 from 400 to 500 hours. The extension has beenbased on the history of the engine type in service and it is hoped that when more engines have come in and been over-hauled and examined a further extension to 600 hours will be made. The present extension applies to all engines with certainmodifications to the oil feed ferrules, and an inspection of the propeller oil transfer tube seals and retaining washers at 250hours is specified. The de Havilland Engine Co. acknowledge the co-operation and help they have received from the oper-ators of Dove aircraft during this initial period, which for the Queen 70 was a teething time and through which the type mustbe considered to have gone expeditiously. REVERSING PITCH IN FLIGHT A FTER extensive research and flight testing by the Propeller•^"* Division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation at the Caldwell- Wright airport, New Jersey, the company have demonstratedthe use of reversible pitch airscrews on multi-engined aircraft whilst in flight. It was demonstrated that when pitch wasreversed an aircraft may be made to descend safely at a steeper angle. Whereas the maximum rate of descent in multi-engined aircraft is normally about 3,000 to 4,000 feet per minute, with reverse pitch the rate of descent has averaged inexperiments 8,000 feet per minute, and a maximum rate of more than 10,000 feet a minute has been recorded, both ofthese with a forward speed of less than 200 m.p.h. In addition to the obvious advantage of being able to lose height fromhigh altitudes in the event of an emergency, it is claimed that civil operators will be able to develop new let-down pro-cedures, to avoid the present shallow descent starting at con- siderable distances from destination. It is also claimed that
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