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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2033.PDF
464 FLIGHT, 5 October1951 CIVIL AVIATION . . . a factor in aircraft design, B.O.A.C. and the aircraft manufacturerswere continually looking for upholstery materials that were light, proof against flames and tropical vermin, capable of absorbingsound but not water, durable, washable, and suitable for simple mounting and dismounting for repair. The Corporation, he said, relied considerably on colour in itsefforts to achieve an appearance of warmth and spaciousness. Lighting was important, too, for under varying conditions ofoperation the shades used for colouring could be critical not only of the appearance of the cabin but also of women passengers'complexions. Chairs and Interiors: As the overall design effects would beobserved mainly from the passenger's chair, which was almost the centre of his world for the duration of the flight; this item had tobe pleasant to look at and comfortable to relax in, with amenities such as paper stowage, reading light, ash-tray and the steward'scall-bell correctly, yet unobtrusively positioned. Good interior design of aircraft, both in general and in detail,could not be produced with assurance straight from the design drawings. Hence—and particularly for civil aircraft—the aircraftindustry had developed to a high degree the use of relatively cheap, quickly made and full-scale mock-ups in wood, paper andcardboard. In them the layout, furnishings and operation of the interior could be examined, modified and finally approved by thepurchaser. But even with these techniques, he continued, the designer's limits were so close that final approval of every detailcould be given only after inspection of, and flight in, the first fully furnished aircraft. External Colour Schemes: The last stage in aircraft design wasthe external colour scheme and exterior markings. These, at least, were entirely in the operator's hands, and were subjects towhich they could apply their own requirements, including the white cabin tops. B.O.A.C. also controlled directly the little thingswhich, carried in the aircraft, added to the interest of the journey. These included cutlery; specially designed crockery and drinkingware (which can only be fashioned after proper time and motion studies in the aircraft); the gay menu cards and souvenir certificates,the folder of route maps, note paper and cards, and pamphlets. Each had to keep the passenger content in his chair, but each mustserve a useful purpose. The whole of this range called for imagina- tive and practical design. Dr. Plesman s Lecture 1 ID R. PLESMAN said that industrial design meant more than"the mere aesthetic or commercial frills sometimes employed to give one's product a pleasant shape or appearance." It shouldbe rooted not merely in the organization of industrial firms but in the nation's culture as a whole. The first half of this century djs.played amazing technological progress, but this was a restless development without any lasting style. By consciously promoting igood industrial design we could help to shape the character of'' present-day society and give our century a face and a soul.K.L.M., he said, was founded soon after the first post-war civil aircraft exhibition in 1919, the success of which was largely due to the aptitude of its architect who subsequently built K.L.M.'s head office, as well as many booking offices. In 1920 no aircraft had been specially built for civil aviation and converted war machines were chartered. Not till 1921 did K.L.M. first use its own aircraft and even then did its utmost to achieve a pleasant interior. During the next fourteen years 12 different types were put into operation one of them winning first prize at the Paris Show for the best interior decoration. Since 1935 K.L.M. had used standardized American material, limiting its own design influence to colour schemes: but now that aircraft were getting bigger and bigger it could again influence their interiors. The speaker then described how K.L.M. had concerned itselfwith good design in the building of its booking offices throughout the world—also its board rooms, canteens, offices, hangars, work-shops and rest-houses. "We exercise," he said, "a great deal of taste in our publicity—in posters, advertisements, presents andmedals—and even in sculpture on our building." The company spends some £650,000 a year on making it known that K.L.M.stands for "fast and comfortable transportation." Dr. Plesman then emphasized how important it was to see that the inspiration of the pioneers was infused to-day into a much bigger organization of 11,000 employees. A genuine industrial design policy was not something that could be limited to a section of the personnel, nor was it solely a weapon in the hands of a com- mercial department pursuing a limited objective. The result of a sound industrial design policy could not easilybe measured in currency, but K.L.M. had come to feel that it did pay. Apart from commerce, too little attention was given to theinfluence that art could have upon man. On this wider plane the speaker concluded his remarks. COMMONWEALTH JET PROBLEMS MORE than 100 delegates from all parts of the British Common-wealth met in London last week to examine in detail some of the problems of air-traffic control, ground organization, and othertechnical matters which are expected to arise when turbine- powered aircraft are brought into regular service on Empire routes.Held at the Royal Empire Society Hall, Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C.2, the conference opened on September 25th, andis due to end today, October 5th. The delegates were welcomed by the Permanent Secretary to the M.C.A., Sir Arnold Overran. In his speech, he said that the use of jet aircraft on Common-wealth routes would be of immense value in preparing for their introduction on other trunk services. Aircraft such as the Comethad many attractions to offer the passenger in the way of high cruising speeds and their implicit reduction in passenger-fatigue,and reduced noise and vibration levels. In order to consolidate such an advance, it was necessary that accurate decisions shouldbe made promptly, both on the ground and in the air. Thus the reliability of traffic control, meteorological and communicationsystems became even more important than at present, for other- wise payloads would have to be sacrificed. During the afternoon of the opening day, A/Cdre. Sir FrankWhittle gave an explanatory lecture, illustrated by slides and a film, on gas-turbine propulsion. Commenting on the currentairline scene, Sir Frank thought that during the next five years, air traffic throughout the world would probably be doubled and,in some areas, trebled. There were indications, he said, that the main traffic would be over stage-lengths of under 1,000 miles, andthere must be not only high speed, but high service-frequency. He thought it was unfortunate that an aircraft such as the Brabazonwas not designed for short stage-lengths, as this would have eased the traffic-control problem. He stressed that due advantage must be taken of the jet aircraft'sability to get off the ground quickly. Its pre-take-off check could be completed within three minutes, and it was important that itshould not be delayed at holding positions on the perimeter. In general, he thought that the traffic-control problem tendedto be over-stressed. It was, nevertheless, important, he said, that the incidence of "random arrivals" should be drastically reduced,if not eliminated. Such delays, he thought, were often due to "mental indigestion" on the part of the controller who wasattempting to handle four or five aircraft at the same time. Sir Frank said that, during his recent tour of airports which the Comet is likely to use when it goes into regular service, he had found that by far the greatest deficiency at present was the lack of information on high-altitude weather. This presented "a most depressing picture." There were rarely route forecasts for heights above 20,000ft, and little was known about high-altitude airstreams which, being often of considerable velocity, could be of great assistance in reducing fuel consumption over given stage-lengths if the optimum height at which to fly were known before take-off. He quoted one instance of upper winds at Nicosia, Cyprus, which were discovered by radio sonde to have a velocity of 250 m.p.h. at 40,000ft. Sir Frank expressed the opinion that there was a pressing need for a world-wide international meteorological organization which could be responsible to some such organization as I.C.A.O. After the opening day, the remainder of the conference was held in closed session. COMET "STACKING" TRIALS AS an essential part of its precision timing trials before being- introduced on B.O.A.C. routes this year, the Comet recently carried out a two-hour holding procedure over the Epsom radio range and the inner holding stack at a time when London Airport was experiencing a fairly heavy flow of traffic. The Comet was brought down from its cruising height and operated to within one minute of its scheduled time. It finally left the range after two hours' flying at various altitudes. The trials, which proved fully satisfactory, are designed to prove that high-speed turbine-powered aircraft are capable 01 being accurately controlled in time and space, and can thus be readily fitted into the traffic patterns at international terminals such as London. . f It has now been announced, incidentally, that later versions 01 B.O.A.C.'s Comets are to be fitted with Ekco airborne searcn radar. The unit has a high-frequency beam, scanning through an angle of 75 deg/sec. The searcher can be used in both the hori- zontal and vertical planes so that, when not employed to give early warning of approaching storm-filled clouds, it can bf use as an automatic map reader. From 40,000 to 50,000 ft it is ciau?v. that a ship 25 miles away can be picked up on the screen., wnu a small dinghy can be seen when five to six miles distant. *° complete installation weighs about 175 lb.
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