FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1227.PDF
FLIGHT, 29 June 1950 771 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS" ^928,500 to be obtained by assessments from I.C.A.O. member nations, £36,428 by appropriation from its capital fund and ^28,571 from the general fund reserve A further sum of £67,137 will be obtained by income from casual revenue. Operational expenses for 1951 will be distributed among con- tracting states, on the basis of a newly sanctioned scale. The choice of Montreal as I.C.A.O.'s permanent headquarters was the subject of some discussion in the latei stages of the Assembly. On June 17th, a motion that the headquarters be moved from Montreal, because soft-currency countries could not afford to maintain delegations in the dollar area, was defeated only because the necessary two-thirds majority was not secured. Eighteen delegates voted for the proposal and only twelve against it. It was also decided that the next full-scale session should be held in 1953; interim assemblies, however will meet in the intermediate years. (A further report of the Fourth Assem- bly's activities will appear in a forthcoming issue.) RPCORDING CONTROL. CONVERSATIONS A MULTI-CHANNEL magnetic-tape recorder designed togive continuous recording of conversations between pilots and airport control officers is announced by Thermionic Pro- ducts, Ltd., Morris House, Jermyn Street, London, S.W.i. The equipment, it is stated, is capable of recording simulta- neously 14 different conversations on a single magnetic tape less than Jin in width and, since it is fully automatic, eighthours' continuous recording is possible without attention. The complete apparatus is mounted in three 7^-ft relayracks. The first rack includes two tape-transport mechanisms and the master-recorder control panel; the second rack con-tains a third tape-transport mechanism and the complete electronic unit for the entire recorder. In general, only tworecorders on the first rack operate, but the mechanism on tl*e second rack takes over if any fault develops in the first twounits, or if these units are not reloaded after a run. On the third rack is a tape-transport mechanism for play-back purposes, with a speaker located at the top of the rack The power supply for the playback unit is identical to thatfor the recorders and in an emergency can be used to drive them. Each reel contains about 4,800ft of tape, which can be usedrepeatedly after removal of previous recordings by means of the permanent-magnet "erase head" which is employed. The number of recording heads supplied with the equipmentdepends upon the number of independent recording channels specified; each head produces a magnetic sound track 0.030min width. A single reel of tape gives a recording period of four hours, so that, for eight hours' continuous recording, aswitch-over mechanism is used. A feeler arm riding on the surface of the tape on the supply reel closes a switch whichstarts the second tape-drive mechanism approximately five minutes before the first reel is exhausted. Thus, recordingsare made by both units during a five-minute overlap to ensure absolute continuity. BREVITIES THE Minister of Civil Aviation, Lord Pakenham, hasappointed Mr. K. J. Willoughby to be his assistant private secretary. Other M.C.A. appointments which have been announced are those of Mr. G. H. Baer to be private secretary to the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Frank Beswick, M.P., and Mr. W. A. Penn to act in the same capacity for Sir Arnold Overton, the Permanent Secretary. ......... * * * • P.A.W.A. is planning to introduce Stratocruisers on its New York-Buenos Aires route on July 5th. When approval has been received from the governments concerned the service will be operated on a twice-weekly basis in addition to the existing service. * * * It has now been announced that the de Havilland Dove hasbeen granted its American C. of A. This aircraft has already evoked considerable interest in the executive-aircraft market,and an intensive sales campaign can be expected. The price (approximately $60,000) compares favourably with that ofthe Dove's nearest American counterpart, the Beech Model 18. * * *Addressing the Aviation Writers' Association in Montreal recently, Mr. G. R. McGregor, president of T.C.A., said thathe would be surprised if the company's deficit ($4,000,000 in 1949) were not substantially reduced this year. T.C.A.'spassenger traffic was stated to have increased by 100 per cent from 1947 to 1949. * * » From July 1st, to August 31st, B.E.A. will operate an experimental service linking Perth and Renfrew and connect- ing at the latter point with services to the Western Isles, Dublin and London. Mr. Peter Masefield, chief executive of B.E.A., has said that although this service will not be profit- able, the Corporation has agreed to provide it because charter companies refused to do so. * * * Tasman Empire Airways, Ltd., celebrates its tenth birthday this year. It was on April 30th, 1940, that the Empire class flying-boat, R.M.A. Aotearoa. made the first regular passenger carrying flight from Auckland to Sydney. This 1,342-mile route is now being flown with Solents which have made pos- sible a reduction in flight time from 9J hr in 1940 to less than 6£ hr for present services. * * * Speaking recently in New York, Mr. C. R. Smith, president of American Airlines, made very clear the attitude of his com- pany towards jet airliners. He considered that it would be as long as five years before jet aircraft would fly on scheduled services. " Present high operating costs of both pure jet and turboprop versions," he said, "will involve fare increases. American Airlines have no present intention of purchasing air- craft of either type." A 21 On June 15th, a BO.A C. Stratocruiser landed at ShannonAirport with what is believed to be the largest number of adult passengers (80) ever to cross the Atlantic in a land-plane. The aircraft had been specially chartered to carry two American youth groups to Britain. * * * It is understood that proposals have been made to convertAir Ceylon into a national air corporation which would take over all activities of the company. Details are now beingfinalized ; it is possible that the conversion will be completed before the end of the year. * * * The U.S. National Safety Council has stated that 1949 wasone of the best years in U.S. airline history from the safety standpoint: some 35 airlines accumulated a total of nearly6,000 million pacsenger-miles without fatality. T.W.A., whose network serves 70 cities in 14 countries, contiibuted 3,441million to this total. * * * 'Owing to a shortage ol shipping space the War Office hasasked the M.C.A to place tenders for charter aircraft to carry troops from the Middle East to the United Kingdom betweennow and September. Apart from a trooping contract for West Africa, no other War Office charters are being operated atthe present time. * * * President Truman accepted an invitation to dedicate theFriendship International Airport during the opening cere- mony conducted on June 24th. An outstanding feature inthe planning of this airport, which is four times the size ol La Guardia Field, is its "zoning law" which prohibits theconstruction of any buildings or power lines within four miles of the runways. * * * Compiled primarily for the benefit of the non-scheduled charteroperators, a new edition of the Shell Petroleum Company's fuel availability lists has now been published. It incorporatesa summary of duties and taxes payable at airfields throughout the world on gasoline and engine oils; the lists, now in folderform, are obtainable on request to either the Shell Petroleum Company, Ltd., St. Helen's Court, London, E.C.3, or Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., Shell-Mex House, London, W.2. * * # In its first year of operation, the Egyptian Aircraft Engineering Company (in which B.O.A.C. is a shareholder) overhauled 40 engines and completed eight Cs. of A, in addition to other overhaul and repair work. In conjunction with International Aeradio. Ltd., the fully equipped radio overhaul and test shops give 24-hour service at Egypt's three major airports. The company's clients, it is stated, now include the Royal Egyptian Air Force and many of the larger Middle East operators During a recent visit to Cairo, Sir
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
