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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1703.PDF
274 FLIGHT, 7 September 1951 CIVIL AVIATION THE COMET VISITS CALCUTTA A RECEPTION party 2,000 strong greeted the B.O.A.C. Comet **• on its arrival at Karachi last Friday after (subject to official confirmation) it had broken the record for the flight from London by some 3 hr 10 min. The pilot was Capt. A. Majendie. The record was previously held by s»/L. Neville Duke in a Hawker Fury. Tfte elapsed time tor the Comet's 4,525-mile flight from London was 12 hr 13 min, including a 92-min stop at Cairo. On Saturday the machine Hew on to Ahmedabad and in the afternoon reached Delhi, a distance of 800 miles in 100 min. On Sunday it was scheduled to visit Allahabad (the alternative to Delhi) and also Calcutta. The aircraft was due to return to Karachi on Monday, and on Tuesday was scheduled to leave on its return flight to London via Karachi, Basra, Cairo and Rome. When it reaches London Airport this machine will have completed about 75,000 miles of development flying in the hands of B.O.A.C. One of the purposes of the Calcutta flight was to test the standards of ground facilities and available runway lengths at airports which Comets are likely to use in service. We learn, incidentally, that work is now well in hand on the Avon-powered versions and that the first machine should fly this year. Also, B.O.A.C. may shortly take delivery of their hrst Comet (the one being used on development nights is on loan). As three machines should have been delivered by December, it seems likely that regular services will be introduced in the early part of the new year. THE BRABAZON AT PRESTWICK 'T'HE visit of the Brabazon I to Prestwick on August 28th •*• apparently created, what was an unprecedented amount of public interest for an event of this nature. Several thousands of spectators braved heavy rainstorms to watch its arrival from the main gates of the airport. Having flown direct to Prestwick from Filton, covering the 380 miles in about 1 hr 23 min, the Brabazon landed with no apparent difficulty on the 3ooft-wide runway in a crosswind of 25 kt. A series of demonstration nights on the Wednesday, when a number of Scottish V.I.P.s were to have been carried, had to be cancelled because of weather, but later in the afternoon it was found possible to fly over the lower estuary of the Clyde. The Secretary for State for Scotland, Mr. Hector McNeil, was among the passengers. After landing in a cross-wind which was gusting up to 28 kt, "Bill" Pegg, who was piloting, said that although he was perfectly comfortable, he would have been happier taking-off into wind. Locally this was taken to mean that he agreed with the opinions of B.O.A.C. and the Scottish Advisory Council that a new secondary runway is essential for Prestwick if the successors of the Brabazon are to make regular calls there when they eventually go into service on transatlantic services. Incidentally, we learn from Bristol that the 4i-hr flight, recently referred to as being the longest the Brab had made, was actually the longest "passenger-carrying" flight. On test it was airborne for 9 j hr on August 17th, when it hew to the Orkneys and back. j ELIZABETHANS ON THE PARIS RUNH OW much better late than never was left to be judged by a full complement of passengers on the final proving night to Paris last Saturday of B.ls.A.'s Elizabethan flagship. Lord and Lady Douglas, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Maseneld, and others of B.E.A. were the hosts to senior officials of the Ministries and manufacturing companies (Airspeed and Bristol), including Sir George Cribbett, deputy-secretary, M.C.A., and Mr. S. Scott- Hall, Director-General of Technical Development, at the Ministry of Supply. 1 Tne night, made mainly in heavy rain, went according to plan. \ The take-off weight with 48 passengers, captain, first officer/navi- gator, radio operator, steward and stewardess, was 51,500 lb (1,000 lb under the maximum), and the outward flight plan, for example, called for an on-track climb to 15,500ft in about 20 minutes, by which time the coast had been reached. A short period of cruising at about 250 m.p.h. was followed by a let-down to Le Bourget. Chock-to-chock time was 1 hr 20 min. On Monday, September 3rd, an Elizabethan started in general service, and on October 21st scheduled services will commence | with this type. Comfort is of a high order, and the large, air- § conditioned cabin is tastefully furnished with three seats to port and two to starboard of the aisle. ASSOCIATES FOR AER LINGUS ? IN a statement published last week the British Independent AirTransport Association expressed its concern at the difficulties now experienced by travellers to Ireland from this country. They say that the capacity of both surface and air transport facilities has proved inadequate to meet the demand, and that frequency of existing services must be increased if unimpeded communica- tions are to be maintained. B.I.A.T.A. has therefore suggested to the Minister of the Eire Department of Industry and Commerce that Aer Lingus should be encouraged to adopt an arrangement similar to that now operated by B.E.A., under which independent operators run associated services on those routes which the Corporation is unable, or does not wish, to provide further capacity. This, maintains the Association, would enable many more people to take advantage of air travel. It is thought that, if a similar scheme were adopted by Aer Lingus, the larger companies could provide additional flights to meet the substantial demand for air transport to Dublin from such towns as Cardiff, Leeds, Newcastle and Blackpool, in addition to those in Scotland. THE CORPORATIONS' YEAR OF PROGRESS THE annual reports of the two Corporations have deservedlybeen well received, reflecting as they do a considerable all-round improvement in results achieved in the face of a number of difficulties beyond the control of their managements. Last week we published preliminary summaries of the financial state- ments ; this week some enlargement follows under the main headings contained in the extensive printed reports. British European Airways Corporation.—In last week's financial summary, the improved overall result for1 B.E.A.—a reduction in losses of 28.2 per cent—£979,267 for 1950-51 as compared with £1,363,594 for the previous year—was recorded. In round figures, just under a million passengers were carried, together with over 10,000 tons of freight and 5,250 tons of mail. From April, 1950, to the end of November, 1950, the first eight months of the financial year, the Corporation in fact achieved a small profit; the whole of the loss was incurred during the four winter months December to March. The load factor achieved for the year was 58 per cent, or very near to the factor of 63 per cent which was required to break-even on operating costs. The year ended with the Corporation short of both aircraft and crews in spite of the purchase of four Vikings and of twelve C-47S for rebuilding as Pionairs. The situation was aggravated by the delays in the delivery of the Elizabethan class (Ambassador) aircraft. Utilization of Vikings throughout the summer was at the rate of more than 2,200 hours per annum, and of Dakotas 2,000 hours per annum, and it is thought that on the short-haul routes it will be difficult to improve upon these figures. They represent a 25 per cent increase in the average annual rate. On the subject of-new services, the report states that the most important expansion during the year was the opening of the stop- ping route to Cairo from London by way of Nice, Rome, Malta, Tripoli and Benghazi, linked with shuttle operations to Sicily and Tunis. Connection is made with B.O.A.C. 's West African services at Tripoli. Early in the year B.E.A. withdrew from the London-Lisbon service, handing it over to'B.O.A.C. on June 2nd. This service is a very profitable one and to relinquish it cost B.E.A. some £25,000 for the year. A London-Barcelona service was opened on October 22nd; it has proved a success and is now operating to a frequency of five services a week. A London-Milan service was also inaugurated, with good results. A new high frequency of twelve scheduled services a day on the Paris route was achieved, and during the summer months fifteen services a day were operated in both directions. In spite of the high revenue earned on the Paris route results are not yet satis- factory. For a number of reasons, some of which are listed below, such a short-Stage route incurs high operational costs. A substantial expansion of the services in Germany was undertaken early in I95X- The report states that one of the most encouraging aspects of the expansion of the Corporation's business has been the develop- ment of freight traffic, and B.E.A.'s six Dakota freighters have been kept hard at work. Big developments are foreseen. Regarding B.E.A.'s British internal services, the following factors are given as adversely affecting economy: (ii The require- ment to operate socially essential routes on which poor traffic was offering; (2) the very short distances to be flown (average stage 118 miles); (3) fuel tax; (4) mail rates at some 28,6 per cent
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