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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1772.PDF
536 FLIGHT, 20 October 1949 LOS ANGELES HELICOPTER MAIL SERVICE Account of First Years Operations : Speed-up of Postal Services AREPORT on what must be oneof the world's first establishedhelicopter services engaged ex- clusively in the collection and delivery of mail has been made available by the Air Postal Transport Office, San Francisco. It covers the operations of the Los Angeles Helicopter Mail Service over a period of one year from October, 1947, to September, 1948. (A description of the B.E.A. helicopter mail service appeared in Flight, March iOj 1949.) The operating company in question was Los Angeles Airways Incorporated, and their equipment consisted of five modified Sikorsky S-51S, whose payload capacity had been increased from 745 to 1,000 lb. The company's regu- lar staff of 30 included seven pilots. The service, known as A.M. 84, was divided into segments A, B and C and a further shuttle service in Los Angeles itself. As will be seen from the diagram reproduced above, the routes were laid out somewhat circuitously in order to serve a larger number of cities than would have been possible with a number of direct routes radiating from Los Angeles. Schedules were arranged to meet the first deliveries both morning and afternoon of the cities served. In planning routes and landing sites residential districts and public parks were avoided, and in all route op»rations and schedules safety of operation was the primary con- sideration. The majority of landing grounds in cities were municipally owned property, most of them being loaned free of rental, thereby reducing considerably the overall operating cost of the service. The most suitable size of "heliport" was found to be a square 200 x 200ft. Night flying operations were not undertaken until the latter part of the year due to lack of equipment, but land- ing and "heliport" lighting arrangements were being improved and it was hoped to institute night flying sche- dules at a later date. There were surprisingly few- delays due to mechanical defects during the first year's operation and, in fact, the few interruptions to schedules which did occur were caused mainly by adverse weather conditions. The accompanying table showing percentages of completed flights, gives some indication of the Telation between summer and winter achievements. Mr. C. M. Belinn, president of the operating company, in a separate report commented that he believed 1951 would bring forth a type of twin-engined helicopter of approximately 10,000 lb gross weight, capable of operating Mail Revenue Regularity of Month Carried (1b) Miles Flown Percentages October, 1947 48,100 9,853 86.52 November 46,414 12,501 98.00 December 77.IW 14,551 97.40 January, 1948 54,772 15,195 85.00 February 65,210 16,509 98.30 March 77,773 20,039 99.58 April 76,455 18,395 95.29 May 155,672 26,530 97.66 June 176,344 26,441 96.87 July 191,199 26,032 96.99 August 269.564 24,963 91.87 September 272,981 26,465 88.88 Total load carried in the twelvemonth period was 1,510,670 Ib. BERNARDINO LOS ANGELES AIRPORT . COMPTQN* !';$ <? WICMINGTON" " ,- HUNTIN6TOI 'CV, - BEACH Areas served by Los Angeles helicopter service. Three distinct routes, segments A, B and C are flown, together with a local shuttle service in the city itself. on only one engine at a cruising speed of 120 m.p.h. This,, he hoped, would obviate the necessity for the detours in flight tracks, required at present in order to avoid the possi- bility of forced landings in built-up areas. He thought that as the size and speed of helicopters increased, the operating cost per ton-mile would decrease to a point where such a method of conveyance could be favourably com- pared with that of any other type of vehicle, and that this fact, coupled with increasing air mail loads, would result in what would be virtually a helicopter conveyor system between large airports and municipal centres. He emphasized the need for adequate roof-top landing plat- forms to eliminate the cost of a mail-messenger service and generally to speed up deliveries, and concluded by saying that the one year's successful operation of Route A.M.84 involving as it did over 40,000 landings and the carriage of some 1,750,000 tons of mail, was surely proof of the need for more spacious helicopters capable of transporting mail, passengers and cargo at the same time. The case for helicopter mail services would, indeed, appear to have strong justification considering the apparent success of this particular undertaking, which, at the end of the period under review, was serving 44 cities directly, and from which some 131 satellite offices were benefitting. It is estimated that the bulk of the \\ million tons of mail was advanced in delivery from four to nineteen hours, and that an approximate total of 93 million letters was carried. The main operating statistics are shown in the following table: — September, Toted 1948Pound-miles .................... 5,586,963 Mail carried (1b) 273,959Hours flown 430 Post Office designated mileage ...'. 29.194 Miles flown 27,367 Average performance factor, mileage 88.58 Average performance factor, trips . . 89.34 for year 41,461,400 1,864,904 3,920 241,601 244,681 92.43 94.18 FOG PREDICTION A PAMPHLET explaining a method by which radiation fog-prediction diagrams may be constructed has been pub- lished* by the Meteorological Office. In the work which led up to the production of this monograph, occasions of widespread fog in south-east England were plotted against the square of the wind shear (measured as the difference t>etwieen wind speed at the surface and the gradient wind) and the hydrolapse, and it was found possible to distinguish three regions—of wide- spread fog, local fog and no fog. Prediction of fog by this diagram was improved by adding a supplementary diagram, introducing depression of dew point below dry bulb. A similar diagram was constructed for Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It was also found possible to relate the time of formation of fog, in hours after sunset, to the same factors. T* Meteorological Stationery Office. Office Professional Xotee, No. 100. Price 4d, 28
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