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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1392.PDF
io8 FLIGHT, 20 July 1950 CIVIL AVIATION NEWS--. essential, however, that an early liaison should be providedbetween France and the Antilles group (West Indies). The debate brought many pertinent observations on suchtopics as the utilization of French equipment by Air France and the current demands for higher salary scales by certaincategories of aeronautical personnel. The controversial question of incorporating the Secretariat of Civil Aviation ina centralized Minister e de V Air evoked some forthright criticism. The president of the French Ministry of Transportconsidered that, if such a principle was adopted, the military standpoint would always be given priority over that of civilaviation ' Another member declared that such a Combination would be virtually " the death of French civil aviation."Finally it was agreed that the subject was too important to be included in the framework of this particular session, andit was intimated that there would be a special debate. In voting a sum of fr.525,000,000 as a subsidy to AirFrance, tribute was paid to the exceptional progress which, in spite of great difficulties, the airline had made in thetechnical field. The recent accidents to French aircraft in Bahrein were said to have focused attention on the need forre-establishing a central "office of aerial safety," the con- tinued absence of which public opinion generally deplored. VISCOUNT'S TROPICAL TRIALS THE prototype Vickers Viscount landed at Blackbushe air-field on July 10th after completing its tropical and high- altitude trials at Khartoum and Nairobi: it is the first aircraftpowered with turboprops to undergo such tests. Since leaving the manufacturer's base at Wisley on June 5th, the Viscounthas recorded some 67 flying hours in the course of an exhaus- tive programme which included climb trials and take-off testsat Eastleigh (Nairobi), more than 5,000ft above sea level. Preliminary reports from Vickers suggest that the tests havebeen even more successful than was originally hoped. They have shown, among other things," that although the aircraftcan be operated successfully either with or without the aid of water/methanol injection, distinct improvements in perform-ance are obtainable if this method is used. The return flight from Malta on July 10th was made at22,000ft. In transit, the Viscount was flown by Capt. R. IT:/ PLACED ON RECORqr : The three units comprising the Ther-mionic magnetic-tape apparatus—described in flight of June 29th—for recording airaaffai^lfc^conversations. On the rightare the two recording racksanahifh the left is the play-back rack* Thermionic Products, Ltd., Jfbrris House, Jermyn Street,Loncreo, S.W.I, are the maker«w!?F' Rymer of B.E.A., who, it will be recalled, was the first pilotin the world to receive a commercial rating on turboprop- powered aircraft. The actual trials were carried out underthe captaincy of Mr. G. R. Bryce of Vickers Armstrong. Capt. J. Summers was the tour manager. On arrival at Blackbushethe Viscount was still attended by the Valetta which through- out the tour had acted as servicing aircraft. /Meanwhile, progress with the production versions—the 700series—is reported to be well under way, and it is estimated that the first <J*7oo'' may emerge from the workshops forground-running tests within the next week or two. TRANS-TASMAN SERVICES THE New Zealand Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr. StanleyGoosman, announced on July 13th that Tasman Empire Airways have been granted permission to operate services between Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand. Chartered landplanes will be used, but their type is as yet unknown. The decision thus eliminates the possibility of such a service being flown by a privately owned company. It was stated that, although the Government of New Zealand favoured private enterprise for this service, it found itself bound by the existing tripartite agreement which gives T.E.A. exclusive rights to trans-Tasman routes. FIRST SCANDIA DELIVERY ON the completion of its demonstration tour of the UnitedStates the prototype Saab Scandia was delivered to the Brazilian airline V.A.S.P.-Aerovias on June 12th. Four dayslater the second of the six Swedish aircraft on order arrived in Brazil, having flown across the South Atlantic. This machine,incidentally, was the first off the production line. To enable it to make the lengthy sea crossing, eight extra fuel tanks werefitted, and they have now been returned to the manufacturers for fitting into the third Scandia, which is due to be deliveredsome time this month. The remaining aircraft will reach Brazil before the end of November, and it is understood thatthose on order for S.A.S. /A.B.A. will be available in time for next year's summer schedule. BREVITIES UNDER an agreement which has just been concluded inWashington Spanish airlines are now permitted to use the airports of Miami (Florida) and San Juan (Puerto Rico).# * * Fourteen Chelsea pensioners who had never been in an air-craft were given a complimentary flight over London on July nth by the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation. • * * Since mid-June K.L.M. has increased the frequency of Itsall-freight services between Europe and America from one to two flights weekly. The company's freight network alsoincludes services to Copenhagen, London, Switzerland, Istan- bul and Teheran. * # * Swissair has announced the purchase of two DC-6Bs, which are to be used on the transatlantic services between New York and London via Shannon and Gander. Delivery is scheduled for May and June of next year. The DC-6B is five feet longer than the standard DC-6 and has a gross weight of 100,000 lb. # # * The U.S. Export-Import Bank has granted a credit of up toone million dollars to Ethiopian Airlines, Inc., to assist in the purchase of two Convairliners and spare parts for dollars.The aircraft will be used on the company's international ser- vices, and will permit the DC-3S now used on these routes toaugment the services within Ethiopa. * * *On July 6th, at Cardiff City Magistrates' Court, a pilot was fined £5 and ^15 15s costs for failing to take the necessarypre-flight action before entering the Metropolitan Control Zone under I.F.R. conditions, and for non-compliance with bothvisual and I.F.R. rules. This is the first case of its kind. * * #After the article " Conditioning for Profit " in our last week's issue had gone to press it was learned that, in fact, the wholeof the Trans-Canada Air Lines fleet of twenty Canadair Fours had been converted to use Godfrey cabin blowers. The con-version was made on schedule, and the last (20th) aircraft was returned to normal service during the last week in June.Although the superchargers were supplied by the English parent company, the Canadian branch, Sir George Godfreyand Partners (Canada), Ltd., is now well established in Montreal.
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