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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0418.PDF
28O FLIGHT, 2 March 1950 HERMES HEREWITH : As reported on this page, B.O.A.C. has taken delivery of its first Hermes IV ; the aircraft was handed over at Radlett airfield on February 22nd. The line-up suggests that the manufacturers are anxious to deliver more Hermes at once. CIVIL AVIATION NEWS B.O.A.C.'s FIRST HERMES THE first aircraft of B.O.A.C.'s order for 25 Hermes Mk. IVswas delivered to the Corporation at the makers' airfield at Radlett on February 22nd, and the same afternoon it was flown to the B.O.A.C. base at Hum. As stated in the article, "Hermes IV in the Air" on page 285, the first batch of air- craft will be taken over for crew training, familiarization and operational development flights; they will then be introduced on the African routes, where they will replace the Solents at present flying on the South and East African services and the existing York flights to West Africa. As reported in Flight of February 9th, all tests for the nor- mal C. of A. (temperate conditions) have now been completed. One aircraft is at present undergoing engine-cooling tests in tropical conditions at Khartoum, which it is hoped will be com- pleted within the next two weeks. When the full Certificate of Airworthiness, covering operations in both temperate and tropical conditions, has been issued, the remaining aircraft will be handed over at regular intervals as they are completed. BELGIAN ORDER FOR COMETS? SABENA'S South African manager, M. Bourgois, is reportedto have stated that his company has placed a provisional order for six D.H\ Comets for use on African routes. No con- firmation is forthcoming as we go to press; neither, however, is the report denied. It is known that there have been some discussions between Sabena and de Havilland. Sabena operates several long-distance routes (mostly with DC-4S and DC-6s), including one from Brussels to the Belgian Congo via Cairo, and another from Amsterdam to South America. The report indicates that Comets might be used on the 6,000-mile Brussels- Johannesburg route, possibly making stops at ElizabethviUe and Libenge in the Belgian Congo. l.A.T.A. ACTIVITIES THIS year's I.A.T.A. annual general meeting is to be heldat San Francisco, from October 16th to 20th. It will be the first time the general assembly has met in the United States. Succeeding Dr. Albert Plesman as president of I.A.T.A. will be Mr. Warren Lee Pierson, chairman of the board of T.W.A., who was elected at the association's l;ist general meeting at The Hague in September, 1949. The major U.S. airlines will act jointly as hosts to the visit ing heads of the international member-companies. The meeting will deal with such matters as the determination of general air- line policy and the establishment of budgets and will also approve the selection of personnel [or the airlines' joint activi- ties in financial, legal, technical, traffic and other fields. Other I.A.T.A. groups, including the executive committee, will hold preparatory meetings shortly before the general assembly. The Traffic Conference, which will make recommendations on inter- national fare structure and conditions of carriage, will hold its main session in May. while the Technical Conference, to be held in the same month, will review the technical policies of the world's international airlines and their relations with suchbodies as I.C.A.O. Meanwhile, in London, I.A.T.A. has announced that inter-line transactions by the 36 airline members of the London Clearing House totalled some $167,000,000 during 1949 ascompared with $124,000,000 in 1948 and only $52,000,000 in 1947 (which, it will be recalled, was the first year of thearrangement for international traffic clearing). In a recent statement, Sir William P. Hildred, director-general of I.A.T.A.,said: "The sustained increase in I.A.T.A. Clearing House transactions reflects the growing extent and importance, ofscheduled international air-traffic throughout the world." Sir William considers that the 1949 figures were particularly im-pressive in view of the period of financial uncertainty which resulted from devaluation. ITALIAN CHARTER RESTRICTIONS T attitude of the Italian authorities in refusing to grant -*• clearances for charter freight-carrying aircraft using Milan is causing some concern among British operators. For some time such aircraft have been taking bulk-loads of penicillin into Milan and returning with textiles, a combination whereby favourable reductions in freight rates have been made possible to shippers. In recent months the only aircraft which could offer the required rates and provide the required capacities were Halifaxes, chartered on the open market through the medium of the Baltic Exchange. It was a few weeks ago that the operators began to experience difficulties in obtaining clearances from Italy. The Italian authorities required that four days' notice of a flight should be given, and followed this by a stipulation that aircraft should not arrive in Italy directly from London, but should make one stop en route. Two flights were made under these circum- stances in spite of the diversional flying and extra landing fees necessitated by a stop at Zurich. On a third occasion a Halifax had actually fixed a load of textiles from Milan, but on arrival the aircraft was refused permission to load its cargo. Although outward and return cargoes have since become available; all clearances for such flights have now been refused without any reason being given. B.E.A., who sometimes per- form charter flights to and from Italy, are said to have experi- enced the same difficulties in obtaining clearances and permis- sion to emplane cargoes on a charter basis. The refusal is considered by the British companies to be ;i violation of the International Air Transport Agreement. It is understood that the M.C.A. is attempting to investigate the Italian objections through the British Embassy in Rome. T.W.A. ATTACKS MERGER TRANS-WORLD AIRLINES have reiterated tl.eir request to .the C.A.B. to veto the proposed purchase of A.O.A. by P.A.A. According to a statement issued by T.W.A.. thrresult of such a merger would be that the company would be forced out of international operations Of the passenger totalcarried by the three companies on transatlantic services in t) i
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