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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1148.PDF
FLIGHT, 15 June 1951 715 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; the names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. Biplanes over London T>EOPLE should look long and lovingly at the biplanes, such asA Rapides and occasional (and rather naughty) Tiger Moths which fly over London and other big cities, for it will not be manyyears before such aircraft are seen only at air shows, struggling off the ground with apparent difficulty, and classed as museum-pieces.In the days just before (and even during) the 1914-18 war I saw several Bleriots over central London, and I have seen, and flownin, many Avro 504k biplanes over the same area. Will people in another 20 years roar with laughter at theamusing antics of a Rapide, which may be one of those which are now taking sightseers from London Airport or Northolt every fineweek-end to see London, and especially the Festival grounds, from the air ? London, S.W.3. GEOFFREY DORMAN. Facing the Tail ^ reference to the letter from your correspondent "A.D."of Los Angeles (June 1st), and in view of the frequency with which the Air Registration Board is misquoted on this subject, youmight like to print the actual text of the United Kingdom proposal to I.C.A.O. This proposal was initiated and supported by theAir Registration Board, and was as follows: — "Proposal. In order to give guidance to Member States it isfelt desirable that I.C.A.O. should recommend that:— 'In aeroplanes with accommodation for more than six passen-gers, passenger seats intended for occupation during take-off and landing should, as far as possible, be rearward-facing so asto provide maximum protection in the event of a crash or emergency landing. When forward-facing seats are installed,they should be so arranged that the space in front of each is clear of obstructions against which the occupant's head mightstrike should he pivot forward against the restraint of the safety belt.' "It is suggested that consideration be given to defining the'clear space' referred to above. It might take the form of an arc of 'X' radius about the intersection of the seat and seat back.Medical statistics suggest that the average height of a seated man (chair level to top of head) is 36m with a normal range of ±3in.The arc described by the head will approximate to this seated height plus any allowance considered necessary for looseness ofthe belt. "Discussion. The U.K. is completely convinced that a very realincrease in safety in crash conditions can be provided by rearward- facing seats. The following seem powerful arguments in theirfavour:— '(1) It is known that many casualties have been due to injuryto the head striking hard objects when the body pivots forward about the safety belt. This is totally avoided, up to the strengthof the seat, with rearward-facing seats. '(2) Allied to the above is the shock and confusion caused tothe passengers by the distinctly unpleasant experience of being restrained violently by a safety belt. This does not aid clearthinking just when it may be particularly necessary in the few seconds before the fatal fire all too frequently associated withcrashes. '(3) Medical evidence has shown that the support afforded tothe human body by a rearward-facing seat allows a very high deceleration to be accepted without sustaining internal injuries.'(4) If with forward-facing seating one passenger towards the rear of the passenger accommodation takes some of his weighton his arms on the seat ahead, or does not use his safety belt correctly, it will overload the seat ahead and may cause it to failbelow the design crash acceleration. This may then initiate a series of failures embracing all the seats ahead. This possi-bility is completely avoided with rearward-facing seats.' "The U.K. does not believe there to be any insuperable diffi-culty or great weight-penalty in designing rearward-facing seats of either the fixed or adjustable types for the strengths associatedwith the proposed acceleration values. It is appreciated that there might be a serious waste of space in very small aeroplanes withoutseparate passenger and crew accommodation, hence the arbitrary minimum of six passengers suggested. Face-to-face (i.e., Pullmantype) seating has much to recommend it from the passenger's point of view and, provided safety belts are correctly used by theforward-facing passengers, does provide an absence of obstructions likely to cause head injuries. "In these circumstances, the U.K. has phrased its proposal so as to give the maximum freedom for seating arrangements con-sistent with achieving an improved safety standard and, in particu- lar, discouraging high-density forward-facing layouts which it canonly consider to be quite unnecessarily hazardous." From the above, it will be observed that the Air RegistrationBoard did not propose to impose a restrictive standard on I.C.A.O. members who might not wish it, but rather that an I.C.A.O.recommendation should be published which would attract atten- tion to how greater safety may be obtained and unnecessaryhazards avoided. Whilst it is the Board's business to strive for reasonable safety,it is at all times anxious to avoid unnecessary restriction or regimentation of the passenger. To put this matter in the right perspective, it is believed that,whereas crash casualties would be reduced by turning the seats round, this reduction could not amount to a large percentage ofthe total. In these circumstances, the Board feels that where there is no great hardship in installing the seats to face backward, andwhen people can be educated to believe this, seats should be so installed. The Board does not believe, however, that it should beso rigid that its requirements prohibit a passenger who knows he wants to face forward from doing so. London, W.C.2. R. E. HARDINGHAM, Secretary and Chief Executive,Air Registration Board. Desert CrossingsA FTER many years of faithfully reading your so-interestingi- magazine, I have been badly impressed by encountering "Angola by Aerovan" (May 4th), the diary of a delivery flight downthe West African coast. In it the author writes in a very personal way about his contacts with the Agadir Flying Control on Febru-ary 18th this year. As the CO. of the Naval Air Station Agadir (twin-engineconversion unit and navigation school) I have more than a feeling that the "facts" shortly reported in the diary are considerablydifferent from those which truly obtained. Mainly, isn't it strange to see a British aircraft captain of soundexperience thinking that "everything is O.K." when intending to fly from Agadir to Villa Cisneros with a light twin-engine aircraftthrough an officially declared "desert area," without any W/T. radio equipment (only an R/T. V.H.F. set on board), and withoutany desert equipment, emergency rations, flares—all items covered by international regulations? And Mr. Martin Cherryforgets to write that, in addition to the above failures, one passenger was not on the list. I very much applaud, too, the brilliant way the author turnsmention of these little gadgets (which are, unfortunately, serious things in Flying Control language) into officious behaviour by, ashe says, "some French Air Force lieutenant"—who was, in fact, the Naval Lieutenant Air Controller certificated in charge of thelocal Flying Control, under my command. All that is fun—but is it really? And above all, is it fair?Remaining your faithful reader. Agadir, French Morocco. M. F. CLAVEL, .'••«« Capne. de Corvette. June June July June June June June June July June July July July July July July July July July July July 15-18.15- 1. 23.24. 24. 27-28. 30- 1. 30-2. 1. 4-11. 7-8. 7-8. 14. 14.15-18. 15-22. 16-20. 19-21. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Royal Danish Aero Club: International Rally. Paris Aero Show. R.Ae.C: Festival of Britain National Air Races, Hatfield. International Rally, Pisa, Italy. Northern Heights Model Flying Club: Gala Day, Hawker Airfield, Langley. Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences: Annual Summer Meeting, Los Angeles. Cognac International Rally, France. R.Ae.C.: Members' Deauville Rally. International Rally, Savona, Italy. F.A.I. Committee Meetings, Brussels. R.Ae.C.: Members' La Baule Rally. International Wakefieid Cup Model Contests, Finland. Bristol Corporation: Air Race Meeting. S.M.A.E. Festival of Britain Model Championships, Wembley Royal Danish Aero Club: Rally. Aero Club of Italy: International Air Week. Aeronautical Union of Jugoslavia: International Parachute- Jumping Competitions. Daily Express and R.Ae.C.: International Rally and "Fifty Years of Flying" Display and Exhibition.
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