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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1028.PDF
JUNE 2ND, 1949 FLIGHT 657 QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT A SKED to consider a reduction in postal rates for parcels-£*• sent overseas by air in view of the differences between air-mail charges and surface-mail charges, the Postmaster-General pointed out that second-class mail, which included samples, could be sent by air at reduced postage rates to thewhole of Central and South America and the West Indies. He hoped shortly to provide similar facilities to Canada, theU.S.A. and Mexico, and to extend them to Commonwealth destinations on the Empire routes to South Africa, India andAustralia by about the end of the year. When it was pointed out that a parcel to Australia on which a charge of nd wasmade for ordinary transmission by mail would cost 33s by air, the P.M.G. said he would like to remedy the situation as soonas possible. The Parliamentary Secretary to the M.C.A. informed the House that no increase was to be made in landing chargesfor joy flights during 1949, but the whole question of landing charges for such flying would be subject to review at the endof (he year. Whereas the Ministry encouraged joy-riding to create airmindedness, he thought that it was not favourablyregarded by people residing in the vicinity of airfields. Reference was made to the recent London visit of the Solentflying boat when Mr. Lindgren was asked if consideration was being given to a seaplane base on the Thames. He repliedthat regular flying-boat operations on such a busy waterway would be impracticable. When further asked whether anyfurther action was being taken to give effect to the Pakenham Report—dealing with the selection of a suitable site for amarine base—Mr. Lindgren said is was not an urgent matter at present because the S.R.45 was the only new flying-boatinvolved in the immediate future and the report was not at present being proceeded with. BREVITIES FROM July 1st B.S.A.A. will operate through Panama, whichis to replace Barranquilla as a port of call on the route down the west coast of South America to Santiago, Chile. » # * Airtech, Ltd., have announced that their depot at Bovingdon Airport is now available twenty-four hours a day for full ser- vicing facilities. '•-•;.•. ••"•"•.: * # * •' ' "x' During the first three months of 1949, B.O.A.C. carried2,357 passengers oil its North Atlantic routes, an increase from 19 to 30.2 in the average number of passengers carried on eachflight as compared with the figures for the same period in 1948. The total payload carried on the route during thethree months amounted to nearly 370 tons, an increase of 21.4 per cent over the 1948 figure. * • * * Lord Pakenham, Minister of Civil Aviation, recentlyvisited Wisley Airfield, Surrey, and flew in the Vickers Vis- count. He was accompanied by MT. G.'S. Lindgren, Parlia-mentary Secretary to the M.C.A., Sir Arnold Overton (Permanent Secretary), Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bow-hill (Chief Aeronautical Adviser), and Sir Hew Kilner, deputy chairman of Vickcrs-Armstrongs, Ltd. * # • A plan to nationalize the two civil airlines in Pakistan has been reported from Karachi. Under a scheme now being con- sidered by the Pakistan Government the two companies— Pakistan Airways and Orient Airways—would be merged into one nationalized corporation known as Pakistan Airlines, with the Government holding 51 per cent of the shares. A number of Convair airliners, one of which is already operating with Orient Airways, would probably be purchased from America HELIPORT NO. I : New York's first commercial helicopter base began opera- tions recently at Pier 41 on the East River. The " heliphibian " is a Bell Model 47 fitted with floats. In order to handle increased traffic on their routes to NorthAfrica, Air France recently opened a new central booking office in Oran. During 1948 they carried 55.814 passengers betweenOran and the airports of France, compared with 7,486 in 1938 and 761 in 1935. Similar increases in the amount of freightcarried on these routes have also been recorded. * * * Capt. J. W. Burgess, a New Zealander, has been appointedflight captain in charge of the B.O.A.C. Line which will fly the ten Boeing Stratocruiserd when they are put into serviceon the North Atlantic routes. Capt. Burgess joined Imperial Airways in 1935 and was seconded to Tasman Empire Airwaysas chief pilot from 1939 to 1945. * # * Closely following the announcement that Qantas Empire Air-ways have equipped a Lancastrian as a breakdown-assistance aircraft comes the news that Q.E.A. Constellations have,during recent months, suffered various mechanical troubles, with resultant delays at the terminal airport of Sydney andon the routes. No public statement has been made, but the difficulties are generally attributed to a scarcity of spares, andof dollars with which to purchase them. * * #Published by the Travel Association on behalf of the Inter, national Union of Official Travel Organizations, a report oninternational travel statistics obtained from 46 countries states that the volume of movement between the chief Europeancountries during 1947 exceeded seven million persons, com- pared with approximately twelve million before the war. ManyEuropean countries reported that nearly 20 per cent of their tourist traffic was airborne. * • • Brig.-Gen. Sir Osborne Mance, K.B.E., C.M.G., D.S.O., hasbeen elected president of the Institute of Transport for the year commencing October 1st, 1949. Also elected were:Vice-presidents: E. Davidson, Sir Robert Letch, V. A. M. Robertson, C.B.E., M.C, A. B. B. Valen-tine, J. S. Wills, W. Donaldson Wright; hon. treasurer, S. Kennedy; hon. librarian, C. T.Brunner. Past-presidents who will also serve on the council are: R. Kelso, Sir Frederick HandleyPage, C.B.E., D. R. Lamb, R. Stuart Pilc'her, C.B.E., F.R.S.E., T. W. Royle, c.v.o., M.B.E., SirWilliam Wood. • * *A complete G.C.A. unit, with sound-recording gear and an operating staff of five, was flown tothe Paris Aero Show, for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in a Dakota of Trent Valley Aviation,Ltd., and it was returned to London after the Show, with six M.C.A. personnel, in a Dakotaoperated by British Nederland Air Services, Ltd. The overall cost is reported to have been some£50 cheaper than if surface transport had been used; moreover, since the equipment was delicate,the consignors were very probably spared the breakage losses common to surface transport. * * • It is reported from Ottawa that Mr. HaroldWilson, President of the Board of Trade, who is at present visiting Canada, has advocated the intro-duction of an air shuttle service to fly machinery parts to Canada. A proposal to this effect will bemade to British manufacturers as one way of meet- ing U.S. competition in Canada, and to giveCanadian buyers assurance that British replacement parts will be quickly available. The p 11
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