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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1507.PDF
FLIGHT, 10 August 1950 177 Control buildings with tower, the apron, terminal buildings andlarge hangar are all placed in perspective in this air view. figures are max.. 6,090ft; min., 3,380ft; mean, 4,735ft. Altitude is 3,040ft (926m) and the position is: lat. 17 deg 49 min 22 sec S ; long. 25 deg 49 inin 07 sec E. The town of Livingstone is 3I miles south-east. In daytime the Zambesi River and Victoria Falls provide a fine landmark. On the east side of the hard standing are the control tower and operations block for the new airport. Here are found the usual flying control, meteorological and radio sections, in addition to the airport administration offices^ A fire-fighting centre is also located at this point, and the chief unit of its fleet is a British-made fire-crash tender built to the latest specifications. A few hundred yards away, to the south of the hard standing, is the passenger- handling terminal. For the convenience of in-transit pas- sengers there are 24-hr customs, health and immigration services and a 24-hr restaurant in this terminal building. The lounge and restaurant are divided by a distinctive African mural screen. For those staying overnight or for longer periods an airport chalet is provided about a mile away to the west; it has 48 beds, dining room, lounge and bar. A new luxury hotel is also being built with the aid of the Colonial Development Corporation. This is sited a few miles distant, overlooking the Zambesi River Gorge, and is to have accommodation for 150. There are four other good hotels in the area and just across the border, in Southern Rhodesia, is the Victoria Falls Hotel. Of the trunk routes which are expected to use Living- stone, B.O.A.C.'s Springbok service, run in co-operation with South African, Airways, will be most important. It is to be operated with newly introduced Hermes IVs, one of which will be present for the opening ceremony. S.A.A. at present operate Skymasters on the service, but are to Many will regret the withdrawal, for economic reasons, of theflying-boat services. A B.O.A.C. Solent at rest on the Zambesi. B.O.A.C.'s attractive picture-map provides the background to thecorporation's main services to Africa. New routes to South Africa for the forty-seater Handle/ Page Hermes IV have been accentuated. introduce Constellations at the end of this month. Pan American Airways, Sabena, and K.L.M. each operate trunk services in the area or actually through Livingstone. Another Handley Page transport, making an inaugural visit, will also be present at Livingstone on August 12th, for a 42-seater Hastings of Transport Command, R.A.F., left Lyneham on August 4th to commence a bi-monthly trooping service introduced to save aircrew trainees the long sea voyage to and from Southern Rhodesia. Internal air communications are likely to be expanded considerably during the next few years, for distances are very great between the rapidly expanding communities of Central Africa and surface transportation is often a long and tedious business. Central African Airways already operate services from Livingstone to Johannesburg, Bulawayo, Salisbury, Blantyre, Lusaku, N'dola, Tahora, Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi. Zambesi Airways, Ltd., is the locally based charter company. A steady flow of visitors to the Victoria Falls can also be relied upon to patronize Livingstone airfield and town. Lord Pakenham, Minister of Civil Aviation, will perform the opening ceremony in the presence of H.E. the Acting Governor, Mr. R. C. S. Stanley, C.M.G., O.B.E. (the Governor, Sir Gilbert Rennie, is on leave in this country), and invitations have been sent by the Northern Rhodesian Government to Sir Arnold Overton, Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, Lord Brabazon and Mr. R. E. Harding- ham, to ministers and attaches in South Africa and Nyasa- land, and to representatives of airlines and directors of aircraft companies. A flying display has been arranged to mark the occasion, and will commence when Lord Pakenham orders the first aircraft—a Miles Gemini—to take off. Harvards and Vampires of the Rhodesian Air Training Group and South African Air Force are expected to give individual and formation displays, and civil and military transports—Hermes, Marathon, Constellation, Viking, Hastings, Lodestar—will be demonstrated. f 1
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