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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0684.PDF
466 FLIGHT APRIL 2IST, 1949 Certified Airworthy checked and loose equipment stowed in the aircraft. A final quality check is then carried out. In addition to C. of A. work, the conversion of ex- Service Dakotas (i.e., DC-3 or C-47) to civil guisg forms the bulk of Field's activities at Tollerton. The normal Lonversion sheme takes about six to eight weeks, but in the conversion to a different layout of a civil "type with a current of A. (e.g., freighter to passenger), the time re- quired is only two to three weeks. The formalities attendant upon ex-Service Dakota con- versions are rather interesting. No matter whether the machine is bought from the R.A.F. or the U.S.A.A.F., when converted to a civil type it is, effectively, an Ameri- can export and, as such, must satisfy the C.A.A. stan- dards as well as those of A.R.B. Consequently, whilst the conversion is being executed, the C.A.A. representa- tive in this country, Mr. Rostoe, makes inspections to satisfy himself that all the latest modifications are incor- porated and official requirements met. Mr. Rostoe will not issue an '' export permit'' until the aircraft fully com- plies with the required conditions and, in turn, the A.R.B. and M.C.A. will not issue a C. of A. until the " export permit" is issued: this is, of course, a safeguard for the American Department of Commerce. After this, the A.R.B. make their inspection and, should the aircraft be the property of a foreign company, the national inspector- ate concerned will also make their survey, unless, of course, the A.R.B. are requested to act for the foreign authorities A particular case may be cited to illustrate the inter- national'formalities which may have to be complied with. In this instance, the aircraft was an ex-R.A.F. Transport Command Dakota, which was bought by a French operat- ing company; this concern paid the United States Govern- ment for the aircraft, as it was Lease-Lend property. The aircraft having been bought, Fields were requested to col- lect it from Prestwick and to carry out a conversion scheme and C. of A. schedule. Before this could be done, Fields had to contact the French Bureau Veritas and Ministry of Transport in order to ask that these authorities should request the British Ministry of Civil Aviation to issue a permit to fly the aircraft from Prestwick to Tollerton. This rigmarole having been brought successfully to a conclu- sion, and the requisite permit to fly issued, the aircraft was prepared for flight and collected. About twenty Field conversions of ex-Service Dakotas have been made at Tollerton in the last two years, during which period six C. of A. renewals have also been done, some of which have entailed considerable internal modi- fication in addition to the work required under the C. of A. schedule. Dakotas are by no means the only aircraft to \FHght " photograph. Most types of aircraft instruments can beTfOpdhJ in workshop-laboratory at Croydon. Cylinder re-conditioning is carried out c process, the finished units being fed into a stock pool- be seen at Tollerton. In point of fact, at the time of om visit, four ex-B.E.A. Vikings were undergoing modifica- tion and C. of A. renewal for Hunting Air Travel, who will use them for charter work, one of the more important transport contracts this company having recently nego- tiated being in connection with the African groundnut scheme. A good deal of work is also concerned with C. of A.s for the smaller aircraft types, ranging from Rapides down to Proctors. We saw three Dakotas, four Vikings, 14 Proctors, and a Gemini in the hangars. Croydon Capacity- Having dealt with the airframe side of the company's activities at Tollerton, we might now with advantage review the similar scale of work which is undertaken at Croydon. In addition to being the company's head- quarters, Croydon accommodates the engine, airscrew and accessory divisions, whilst also providing 24-hour service for commercial operators and private owners, and day-to- day maintenance, daily and routine inspections, housing, cleaning, minor repairs and modifications to airframes. Here also is the central provisioning store from which spares can be rapidly despatched to any part of the world. As previously noted, when an aircraft comes in for C. - of A. renewal, the engine, airscrew and accessories, etc., will more often than not be despatched by road to Croy- don for reconditioning, unless, of course, they happen not to be due for such treatment. However, it is not only units from aircraft undergoing C. of A. conversion that* come in to Croydon. Referring back to the initial example of a Dakota owned and operated by clients of Field's in the Middle East, and which comes to the com- pany for C. of A. renewal, it may well be that the owners would take the opportunity of using the aif craft to deliver a couple of spare engines to Croydon for reconditioning, so saving transport costs. This is a normal thing when a com- pany have their own float of spare engines, but the more usual method is for engines to come in by road and sea. Before going on to review the sequence of the work ea-: tailed in engine reconditioning, there are one or two com-; mercial aspects which warrant attention. For unit's coming in to Fields from abroad—whether aircraft or engines or both—a temporary import licence is required and, as a_ natural corollary, when the work is finished and the air-* craft and/or engines are ready to be returned, an export licence is necessary. Furthermore, Field Aircraft Services, Ltd., are required to deposit a bond to cover the value of the " import," the amount being assessed by consultation between Fields and H.M. Customs, the figure usually being determined on the basis of the value of tfie finished job. * "or Pratt and Whitney 1830/93 and 1830/90C engines, "Ss used in Dakotas, Fields have three sr.hemes to offer cus- tomers : — R 22
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