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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0097.PDF
and ;/•••< ;-;'•"."•: : ' AIRCRAFT ENGINEER • first Aeronautical Weekly in the World ~ ^ ; 1 " Founded 1909 No. 2143 Vol. LVII. THURSDAY; 19 JANUARY 1950 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C." ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON, B.A. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORStT HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I. Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices : COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry. Telephone Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2. King Edward House, New Street. Ttlegrarra : Autopress. Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3. ('. • 260, Deansgate. Telegrams : lliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 fines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams : lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone ; Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas : Twelve month-, £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 10s. 6d. U.S.A. and Canada, $10.00. BY AIR : To any country in Europe (except Poland). Twelve month;, £5 Is. Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d Canada and U.S.A. Six months, SI6. ^ ii this issue: Mignet the Undaunted - 64 Physical Fitness - - 67 Radio for Light Aircraft - 75 West-Country Auxiliaries 80 Airfields in a War of Movement - - 83 London Airport Ground Traffic - 85 Caging the Bird IN spite of speed limits, no-parking signs, one-way streets and petrol rationing,about which all of us grumble on occasions, the owner of a motor vehicle enjoysreal freedom of action. All that he needs are Road Fund and driving licences, an insurance certificate and perhaps a radio licence; with these, and not forgetting a little book called the Highway Code, the roads of Britain are his. Until recently much the same could be said of private flying, although there were rather more formalities at "parking areas." In the coming months, however, the amateur pilot's freedom of action is to be progressively restricted in the interests ot safety and the orderly control of the increasing commercial air traffic. However willing we may be to acknowledge, in princitjje, the necessity for this closer control, we must recognize that within a year or so its effect will be to banish from large areas of *the home skies all but highly qualified pilots in well-equipped aircraft, par- ticularly at night and when visibility is bad in daytime. So high is the standard of instrument-flying required to obtain an Instrument Rating that it will be virtually impossible for the average club-trained pilot to qualify and distinctly difficult for those who were trained in the Services. This is not the whole extent of the new problems of the light-aircraft pilot, how- ever, as may be judged from a description and discussion (on pages 75-79 of this issue) of the official radio requirements. The scale of essential equipment repre- sents, apart from loss of payload, an initial outlay of about £400, with perhaps £50 more for installation and formalities. This is now the law, ignorance of which will bring no bliss. " That does it! " as Stewart MacPherson would say, for the resources of most owners and small operators have already been reduced to small change. The weight of the full radio communication and navigation equipment—V.H.F., S.B.A., cables, aerials and headsets—should not be more than 50 lb; so, if batteries and generator with sufficient capacity are already fitted, the additional load, though serious, is not prohibitive. It represents, in fact, about seven gallons of petrol, or approximately one hour's flying. Thus it seems that many people will have to "recognize the situation without supporting it," as the current diplomatic cliche goes, and resign themselves to being fair-weather pilots. This is not, in fact, so bad as it may seem, for it must be admitted that most non-professional pilots prefer to stay on the ground in bad weather anyway, and would never fly on instruments unless some very good reason necessitated it. The rub comes when it is imperative that one should get back to base at dusk or in deteriorating weather, and the track to be flown entails passing through a controlled area or zone when Instrument Flight Rules are in force. This is not to say that in such circumstances- instrument-flying will actually be necessary. Considered from a wider viewpoint, of course, the outlook is far less depressing. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is putting a great deal of money and effort into improving traffic control and navigational facilities, and this will be to the ultimate advantage of all pilots, commercial and private alike. Complete V.H.F. coverage for the British Isles is on the way, and provision is being made for increased use of radio range and medium-frequency non-directional beacons. The equipment of all the principal airfields for V.H.F. radio-telephony is already virtually complete. In the coming months experience will show how the numerous regulations can b" interpreted in practice, and how much, in fact, they will interfere with, or some- times aid, the non-professional pilot. The fitting of V.H.F. radio costing a great deal less than the £400 mentioned for full-scale equipment may prove to be suffi- cient to obtain clearance for the majority of flights that a pilot of a light aircraft will wish to attempt. It is also to be hoped that flying-control staffs will be able to offer private pilots the same sympathetic and helpful treatment which is so much appreciated to-day: this, at least, will go a long way towards softening the blow.
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