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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 2012.PDF
778 FLIGHT, 15 December 1949 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of 'Flight" does not hold, himselj responsible Jor lite views expressed by correspondents in these columns. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. RADAR AIDS IN your leading article "Aids" in Flight of December 8thyou question whether the (radar) industry itself is to blame for the current lack of equipment. In part, it undoubtedly is. Essentially, the matter is one of plain business economics. The construction of domestic radio sets offers a far greater profit margin than do Government contracts for aeronautical radio and radar equipment, plus the fact that domestic radio sets can be planned on a production-line basis—and so reduce costs—whereas aviation work entails such relatively smallnumbers that the '' line '' system cannot be utilized sufficiently extensively to pay. Furthermore, the inspection standard on aeronautical equipment is uneconomically high. The best radio and radar sets in the world can be developed by T.R.E., but they cannot be installed in aircraft until some- body builds them; and until the Treasury relent sufficiently to enable the contract prices to compete with profits from domestic sets, there does uot seem to be much hope for change in the situation. BARRIE ALDBURY. London, W.i. : •_"•'.-' 'HIRE OR REWARD" FOLLOWING the publication in your issue of December 1stof details of a recent prosecution in the Croydon Magis- trate's Court, a number of enquiries have been received bythis Association in regard to the repercussions of this case on members of flying clubs, particularly in view of the extractfrom the submission of Counsel for the defence, which you report as follows : — "In conclusion, he pointed out to the Court the im-portance of the case as a test case, which, if it was found to be proved against Mr. Hoggaerts, would have a con-siderable stultifying effect upon all private pilots, who could not afford to defray out of their own pockets the full chargesinvolved in private flying- This, in its turn, would react very unfavourably upon the activities of private flyingclubs, with obvious undesirable consequences." The Croydon case is, in fact, the second case of this sortto come before a Magistrate's Court this year, and I append 3, circular sent by this Association to all our member clubs onJuly 12th last: — " At York Magistrate's Court recently an ' A '-licensed ownerof an Auster was fined for carrying a passenger and her two children for hire or reward, and also for not having a Certificateof Safety for the aircraft during the flight in question. " The facts were that the owner intended flying to Germanyan business. He heard from an acquaintance that a lady was mxious to go to Germany with her two children to join herhusband who was working there. The owner got in touch with the lady and agreed to take her and the children for a sum ofmoney which was paid before the flight commenced. " It was agreed at Court that the flight would have takenplace even if the passengers had not travelled, and that it was an isolated case, i.e., that the owner did not make a practiceof collecting a contribution for the passengers he carried. Never- theless, the Magistrates held that the flight was for hire orreward and that therefore the aircraft became a public transport aircraft, needing a Certificate of Safety for the aircraft and a' B' Licence (or Commercial Pilots' Licence) for the pilot. " It must be emphasized that the conviction arose out of thefacts of that particular case, but it does raise the important subject of possible proceedings when expenses are shared." Members of flying clubs are protected under the Order, in so far as club aircraft are concerned, with regard to sharingexpenses amongst fellow members, but once a passenger is carried who is not a member of the flying club, then the sharing ofexpenses might constitute carriage for hire or reward. It is not possible to lay down a rule of what constitutes carryingfor hire or Teward, because each case depends on its own facts, but as a general principle owners are advised not to makebargains with passengers, and clubs should endeavour to ensure that where there is any sharing of expenses for the hire ofclub aircraft the persons so sharing are members of the club." In view of the prominence which you have given to the extract from the Croydon Defence Counsel's submission, I would be grateful if, in the interest of members of flyingclubs, you would be good enough to publish the circular quoted above. E. SOUTHERN, Acting Secretary, Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres. London, W.i. NAVAL SQUADRON'S HISTORY WITH reference to the recent article entitled Naval NightFighters which appeared in Flight of November 24th (and which in fact was, amongst other things, a record of the history of 809 Squadron), as a former squadron commander of this unit during the recent war I feel that it should be put on record that the description given of the war-time history of the Squadron is not, in fact, accurate. It is stated that after the Squadron's career in Victorious it was disbanded, and that in 1945 the Phoenix rose again at Nutts Corner and the Squadron embarked for the Pacific. On behalf of some sixty pilots who flew in the Squadron operationally between the time that it left Victorious and the time that it embarked for the Pacific, I feel I must place on record that, after a brief spell of working-up, the Squadron, equipped with Seafire aircraft, embarked in H.M.S. Unicorn to cover the landings at Salerno, and that soon afterwards, in 1944, it embarked in H.M.S. Stalker with a full squadron of Seafires for the Mediterranean, where, in company with ships of that force, it covered the landings in the South of France invasion. It also did a brief operational attachment with the Desert Air Force in Italy, and, furthermore, did many successful operations in the ^3Sgean Sea at the time when the German forces were withdrawing from Greece. Bletchingly, Surrey. H. D. B. EADEN. • [We are glad to publish this amplification of 809's history, but must disclaim responsibility for not having included it in our account; no mention of the activity referred to by our corre- spondent was embodied in the Squadron record from which material for the article was collected.—ED.] B.O.A.C. REDUNDANCIES '"PHE comment which you attribute to B.O.A.C. in Flight J- dated December 1st, regarding the above is apt to give a misleading impression. When the Corporation say they have had discussions with the trade unioas on the matter they do not mean they have had discussions with the trade union representing the majority of their engineering staff, i.e., the Ae.E.A. What they do is discuss the question (and all others) with a group of T.U.C. trade unions which form the so-called '' National Joint Council for Civil Air Transport''. This is a body established in December, 1946, by the Minister of Labour to ensure that only T.U.C. unions would be consulted by B.O.A.C. It is, of course, a fact that the T.U.C. unions concerned are, for all practical purposes, the Government of this country today, and, since the Government controls B.O.A.C., when the latter consults the unions it does little more than go to its employer for instructions. The rank-and-file B.O.A.C. engineer remains, as always, outside and in the dark. Croydon, Surrey. J. H. STEVENSON, .•.•..- . ,.. Aeronautical Engineers'Association. • Dec. Dec. Dec. 1953 Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. 15. 15. 21. 3. 7. II II 14. 18 19 20. 20. 24. FORTHCOMING EVENTS R.Ae.C. : K.L.M. films, " Caribbean Ahead " and " Batavia Air- port " (At Londonderry House.) R.Ae.S. : "Navigational Systems and Instrument Aids," by Dr. D. E. Adams, B.Sc, A.lnst.P., and Dr. A. N. Uttley, B.Sc, Ph.D. R.Ae.S. (Weybridge) : " Round the World in 90 Days," film by William Courtenay, M.M. R.Ae.C. : " Round the World in 90 Days " (Part II), film by William Courtenay, M.M. (At Londonderry House.) British Interplanetary Society : " The Circum-lunar Rocket," by K. W. Gatland and A. E. Dixon. R.Ae.S. (Weybridge) : Brains Trust. Royal United Service Institution : " Higher Defence Organiza- tion," by Lt.-Gen. Sir Leslie C. Hollis, K.B.E., C.B., R.M. British Interplanetary Society (Manchester) : '* Space Stations," by E. Burgess. Royal United Service Institution : " Airfields in a War of Movement," by A. Cdre. T. G. Pike," C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C. R.Ae.S. Section Lecture-symposium : " Acoustical Aspects of Recent Aerodynamic Research " (jointly with Acoustics Group of the Physical Society). Institute of Physics (Manchester) : '* Temperature Measure- ment," by J. A. Hall. London Aeroplane Club : Annual Dinner Dance. R.Ae.C. : " Air Travel through the U.S.A.", film by William Courtenay, M.M. (At Londonderry House.)
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