FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1549.PDF
176 FLIGHT Commercial Aviation Commentary By ALLEN GALE No. 4 of a New Series A RECOMMENDATION by the court which enquiredinto the Dakota accident at Mill Hill suggested thatfurther study should be given to the question of co- pilots taking off and landing airliners. Certain sections of the Press saw fit to sensationalize this issue and many people must have received the impression that B.E.A. was lax in its acceptance of the principle that co-pilots should be allowed to fly passenger aircraft during the critical moments of take-off and landing, especially in bad weather. There is no doubt, of course, that the captain is better equipped to fly an aircraft than are his junior crew; and it *•" could be argued that since this is the case it is better if he fly it at all times except during en route periods, leaving the training of ist officers to the appropriate department. But the problem is not one for such easy solution. No amount of circuits and bumps on training can really simulate the conditions obtained in actual airline operation. Take-offs and landings around the same airfield tend to become so routine that a pilot measures his approaches by the surround- ing landscape. He puts his wheels down at the cross-roads and his flaps down at the local, and if he is at a certain height when passing over a certain elm tree he knows that his approach is good. Such methods lead to good work in the school but not necessarily on the routes. The real hard work comes when the things that have been learned have to be put into practice in conjunction with other factors involved in airline operation. There is no substitute for experience here and the only way to teach a man to handle an aircraft properly on the air lanes is to let him fly on them. It is generally recognised today that co-pilots must be kept in practice insofar as handling the equipment is concerned and captains are being urged to allow them not only to fly under good weather conditions but to allow them to carry out actual instrument approaches, if necessary, taking over for the landing when visual contact is made with the ground. Under this policy there is no doubt that the co-pilots are becoming much more experienced than were their counter- parts of ten years ago. It contributes greatly to the all-round efficiency of the airlines, since it means that a fully-qualified man is available in the event of sickness overtaking the cap- tain; that he can be of more value to the latter, because of his greater appreciation of the problems involved; and that he can fall back on a sizeable degree of practical experience when it comes to his turn to assume the status of commander. There is one point here which might well be studied by aircraft designers. It is accepted practice to equip all but the smallest transport aircraft with dual controls. For some reason, however, this arrangement has not been carried for- ward where nosewheel-steering is concerned, and in all the cases of which I know only the captain has such a control. It should not be difficult to fit an additional wheel which could be operated by the co-pilot; and if this were done at least some of the necessity for pilots to change seats in the cir- cumstances discussed above would be avoided. T WAS interested to hear that the Howard Hughes HerculesA is to be rejuvenated. It will be remembered that this 400,000-lb flying-boat originally came into being because of the dream of a certain Mr. Kaiser that large aircraft could be built as quickly and cheaply as the Liberty ships which were produced in the U.S.A. during the war and which, undoubt- edly, made a great contribution to the battle of the Atlantic. He and Mr. Hughes sold their idea to the U.S. Government and work was begun on the first, which was to be made of wood with a view to conserving vital strategic materials. After the war ended this giant was credited with making one short hop with Mr. Hughes at the controls, and thereafter it appeared that the final development of the machine was shelved for lack of funds. To date, it is estimated that some £xi million has been spent on this project, none of which has had to be diverted to the construction of special runways. The Re- construction Finance Corporation, which has provided the funds for the new development programme, has specified that the Hercules must be in the air by next September: so flying- boat protagonists—especially those who support our own Princess programme—may not have to wait long before additional ammunition becomes available to support their claim that there is a place for the giant flying-boat in our establishment of transport aircraft. • • • /"\NE feels a certain sympathy with the charter companies ^"^ in this country who, if the current negotiations for an increase in salary of all Corporation pilots are successful, wilj likewise be faced with a serious increase in operating costs, t Compelled by law to offer conditions of service not lesi attractive than those of the Corporations—and, incidentally! also compelled by law to have nothing like the same oppor- tunities for planning and stabilization in their personnel requirements—the charter companies are viewing the future with some concern. True, they can pass any salary rises on to their customers in the shape of higher rates; but their chief bugbear is first to find the customers—and higher rates will inevitably mean a harder search. At the moment there are signs that the Government is turning a kindlier eye on these concerns and there are rumours that they are going to be awarded official contracts or, at least, given a fair chance to bid for them in a proper competitive market. If this is the case, one can presume that officialdom will also look kindly on the rates quoted for such flights, especially as regards the clause which calls for an increase if and when the Corporation pilots' claims succeed. But this may not apply where other charterers are concerned. Of course, all British companies will be in the same boat— or the same aircraft—but a lot of competition in this field comes from abroad and will not be affected by salary altera- tions on this side of the Channel. It looks like one more headache for those most patient of all firms in our civil-aviation set-up. ""THERE are reports that some new attempts are being made •*• in the U.S.A. to develop a cheap and efficient method of fog dispersal for airport runways. As most people are aware, a scheme ("Fido") was introduced during the war and, from all reports, worked pretty well. It operated on the principle of heating the appropriate mass of air with the aid of numer- ous petrol-burning jets to a temperature above the local dew-point so that the fog dissolved in the immediate vicinity. However, the number of jets required to provide clearance for a 6,000ft runway was colossal—and so was the cost. Because of this, and although two such installations are available for civil aircraft landing in this country, as far as I know there is practically no record of any pilot making use of them. Now a firm in the U.S.A.—spurred on, no doubt, by the claims of the rain-makers—is carrying out trials to see if fog can be dispersed by seeding the fog-bank with chemicals. Present reports say that tests carried out on cumulus clouds were satisfactory but that on stratus formations they were disappointing. Since cumulus denotes instability in the atmosphere and the most favourable conditions for fog formation require stability it would not seem that much pro- gress has been attained as yet. Also, there is the awkward fact that the ideal situation for fog is one that includes a gentle breeze—about five knots—to provide the necessary mixing of the air. Once the fog has formed there is not the same need for the wind, but it is often present nevertheless. It would seem, therefore, that a nicely-seeded patch of air—assuming such a thing to be possible—might drift away before any pilot could make use of it, at least in the right place.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
