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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1475.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2123. Vol. LVI. THURSDAY, I SEPTEMBER, 1949. EDITORIAL DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH. M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE, S STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I. ; ^-; Telegrams : Fitghtpres, Sedist, London. Telephone •• Waterloo 3333 (60 tints). Branch Offices : V :.; - COVENTRY " P-10, Corporation Str«*c " ~ . "." Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry S2I0. BIRMINGHAM, 2. , : / King Edward House, '-'-> • . » New Street. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 Una). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deonsjote 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2 26b, Renfield Street. Telegroms : Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone : Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home : Twelve months, £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 10s. 6d. Overseas : Twelve months, £2 18s. 6d BY AIR : To any country in Europe 'except Poland). Twelve months, £5 Is. Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d. Canada and U.S.A. Six months, $16. I ii i li i « issue: Marking an Anniversary 240 242 National Gliding Contests Putting Canada on the Map - . - - 252 English Electric Canberra 254 Guide to Farnborough - 257 Proving the Prince - 264 First Order for the ViscountI T is difficult to foresee just how far-reaching will be the effect of ordering Viscounts'. The implications of this decision on the part of such important operators as the two Corporations are tremendous, and courage was needed to take the decision. It is well known that potential foreign buyers have been waiting for a sign from the home market that operators have faith in turboprop-powered airliners, and particularly in the Viscount. This has been given and the atmosphere of uncertainty that must have been felt by both airframe and engine manufacturers has now been dispelled. It must be recorded, however, that such a feeling has never been allowed to interfere with the production and development effort. It may be assumed, also, that the Cor- porations believe that operational problems, particularly those associated with the high fuel consumption of gas turbines, are on their way to being solved. The orders, moreover, confirm that the Corporations are anxious to be the first to provide the added comfort and speed which new types of British airliner can offer to passengers, even though this may at first entail considerable extra work, worry and expense. This is in no way a reflection upon the Viscount itself but applies to the introduction of any new type of aircraft or engine. In the early nineteen-fifties B.E.A. will also have at least one other completely new aircraft and engine—the Ambassador with two Centauruses—to manage. New engines, with their unavoidably short period between overhauls—usually about 300 hours—and the resultant lowering of aircraft utilization, are necessarily a source of anxiety to an operator struggling to top the red. For this reason it is believed that B.E.A. would prefer their proposed Rapide replacement to have Queen II engines like the Rapide itself, for these units have given long and satisfactory experience between their 1,000-hour overhaul periods. Multiplication of aicraft and engine types and introduction of several new ones in quick succession is something the Cor- porations must try to avoid. As we mentioned last week, a small order for a new, specialized aircraft to replace the Rapide is not likely to be an economical one, but a modified version of an existing machine with simple, well-tried engines might prove a much more practical proposition. Sir Hew Kilner, Vickers' managing director, recently paid just tribute to the Min- istry of Supply for its support of the Visconnt when "no one else wanted it." It will be remembered that two years ago, after close liaison with B.E.A. during design stages, the aircraft was turned down. The M.o.S., risking severe criticism, never- theless ordered two prototypes immediately, and Vickers had sufficient faith to build a third. Their courage has now been suitably rewarded. Flight, too, is proud to have played some small part two years ago by its editorial support of the Viscount and condemnation of the Corporations' decision not to place an order. i1 A Matter of Markings TO those of our overseas guests at the S.B.A.C. Display whose interest willcentre on the latest types of civil transport aircraft, it will, perhaps, seem anom-alous that the Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount and Armstrong Whitworth Apollo should display the tricolour roundels and flashes associated with purely military machines. The explanation, of course, is that both aircraft are Ministry of Supply- property. Judged superficially, the matter may seem a trivial one, but the possible psycho- logical" effect must not be overlooked, for the types concerned have been widely publicized as airliners of the future. While no one would seek to minimize the credit due to the Ministry for its sponsorship, it is, in our view, important that the Viscount and Apollo should appear at Farnborough bearing civil registrations. Such a trans- formation has already proved aesthetically beneficial in the case of the Brabazon I, and general abandonment of military markings on civil prototypes will help to emphasize that Britain is out to capture world markets in all fields of commercial flying.
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