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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0120.PDF
82 FLIGHT JANUARY 2OTH, 1949 Civil Aviation News ing services between Manchester and Paris which will shortly be increased to two a day, one flight by B.E.A. and the other b - Air France. • * * The Australian Department of Civil Aviation has allocated ,£436,000 for building 95 radar beacons throughout the Dominion. Experimental equipment has been operating for several months between Sydney and Melbourne, and the system will now be extended to cover all major routes in Australia. • .. • • Accompanying Bristol's Chief Test Pilot, Mr. A. J. Pegg, as pilot of the Brabazon on its first flight will be G/C. H. A. Purvis, D.F.C., A.F.C., head of the Civil Test Section of the A. & A.E.E., Boscombe Down. The other members of the crew will be six Bristol aircraft test engineers, responsible for the aircraft instrumentation, electric and hydraulic services under Mr. J. Radcliffe, and three engineers responsible for operation of the engines under the supervision of Mr. L. D. Atkinson. * * * After March 2nd the Air-India International twice-weekly service London-Cairo-Bombay will again fly via Geneva. As a result of the introduction of permits for passengers travelling between India and Pakistan the traffic on the Bombay-Karachi route has dropped and the service has been reduced to two return flights between Bombay and Karachi each day. One flight is operated non-stop by a Viking and the other by a DC.3 via Ahmedabad. * * « It is understood that American Overseas Airlines, North- West Airlines and Pan American Airways have asked the New York Supreme Court to compel the Port of New York Authority to honour leases granting them landing rights at Idlewild Airport. The Authority has claimed that the leases are unworkable owing to increased costs, but for the airlines the situation has become urgent since the delivery of Strato- cruisers is imminent. FROM THE CLUBS fO Aero Club reports that in 1948 most encouraging *•—' progress has been made with a steady increase in member- ship and enthusiasm. The depression which has been said to affect private flying in many parts of the country has not been apparent at the Cowes Club. Holiday makers and residents have kept the aircraft in the air throughout the year and the types of aircraft which have visited the Club range from the Dakota and Dove to the Aeronca and, it is said, embrace almost every type of light aircraft now in use in Europe. Of the people who flew at Cowes during 1948, 47 members of the Club renewed or obtained " A" licences and approximately 150 members undertook refresher or advanced instruction. Dual flights numbered 800 and solo flights about 700. In recent months the hire of the Auster Arrow at £2. an hour solo has proved exceptionally popular. The high light of the year was the air rally on August 22nd attended by about 5,000 people and no fewer than 60 visiting aircraft from all over the country. ULTRA-LIGHT AT ELSTREE : (Top) A member of the Elstree branch of the Ultra Light Aircraft Association, Mr. R. Parker, has constructed this Heath Parasol, powered by a Blackburne Tomtit engine, being flown by a member, Mr. R. Debenham. The lower picture shows Mr. G. A. Chamberlain in the cockpit of the branch's B.A.C. Drone. He plans to take the members up to solo standard using this machine as a glider. Later an engine will be installed for powered flight instruction. Throughout the winter dancing, darts matches and table tennis have been popular social activities and the programme for 1949 which started with the annual dance on January 8th includes special attractions which are being considered, includ- ing monthly air rallies. If permits can be obtained extensions to the club room will be made during the coming year. Pri- vate charter passengers and freight flights from Cowes airport maintained a high level of activity particularly on the South- ampton and Portsmouth runs during the summer holiday season. • • • : IN a lecture to the Luton Branch of the Royal AeronauticalSociety on Wednesday, January 5th, Mr. Peter Masefield referred to the economic situation of private flying in this country. There were, he said, fifty clubs in the country, mostly in serious financial straits, and the total number of private planes on the register was 708. Before the war there were 62 clubs operating 400 aircraft. He referred also to the pre-war civil air guard scheme in which, at a cost to the public of 2S 6d per hour, 10,000 pilots were to be trained, and also to the Whitney Straight Committee's post-war scheme for training the same number of pilots at a cost of £1 per hour.' One point in his case for private flying was that a healthy light aircraft movement provided a good basis for an export market. Between the wars 80 per cent of orders for British aircraft were for machines weighing less than 5,000 lb. De Havillands alone manufactured 4,000, the majority of which were for export. The light aircraft movement was a great asset to the aircraft industry in times of peace, de Havillands, A. V. Roe, Percivals, Saunders-Roe, Westlands and Miles all gained experience in light aircraft design and construction. • * * AS a result oi the policy to extend activity and to developa broader outlook in the A.B.A.C., the name of the Asso- ciation has been changed to include the Air Centres. Mr. G. H. M. Miles suggested this at the United Aero Clubs' Ball held in April last year, and the A.B.A.C. is now officially known as the Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres. The principle underlying the Air Centre scheme is that the flying and technical side of the organization is divorced from the social side, and where a centre is organized at an airfield an almost unlimited number of clubs and aeronautical bodies may use the facilities offered. The A.B.A.C. sets the standard for technical and training matters with which its member clubs and centres are required to comply, thereby promoting safe and economical aircraft operation. In so far as social and similar facilities are con- cerned the Association desires to leave the local organization to develop in the manner which best suits local needs and to create such working arrangements with the branches of all other bodies as best suits their individual requirements. The date and manner of the introduction of the scheme will be for decision by the individual flying clubs and will depend upon local circumstances. The members of the Council are: Mr. Whitney W. Straight, O.B.E., M.C., D.F.C., Chairman; Mr. G. H. M. Miles, Vice-chairman; Mr. Bernard F. Collins; Lt. Cdr. F. E. Darlow; Capt. H. Duncan Davis, A.F.C.; W/C. B. A. Davy; S/L. J. E. Doran-Webb; Mr. R. A. Gifford, A.F.C.; W/C. W. L. Gordon; Mr. A. G. G. Marshall, O.B.E.; W/C. G. P. F. O'Farrell; Mr. J. G. Rylands; G/C. F. H. D. Fearl, O.B.E.; Mr. L. C. Wheeler. B 20 r\
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