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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2077.PDF
49O FLIGHT 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. No Place for the AmateurI HAVE read with even greater interest than usual your editorialin the September 28th issue under the cross-heading "A Place for the Amateur," which stresses the bad effect, of official dis-couragement of private and sporting flying. Whilst you refer to the tax concession on petrol I regret you didnot mention the unfairest thing of all, namely,, that this does not apply to the genuine private owner who refuses to do any wanglingon the business or club motive and is rewarded by having to pay the full price of 4s. per gallon. Is it any wonder that only a smallbody of these people now exist who, with some bitterness, reflect that in the Welfare State the "vermin" class have to choose betweenbeing fiddlers or fools? Efforts have been made through the Royal Aero Club to getthis modest concession, but without either success or explanation for such discrimination. Perhaps it is another step towards theCommunistic way of life that nobody should own anything ! There is a saying that "Character is destiny," which seems par-ticularly applicable to this misled nation in recent years. London, W.i. H. W. H. MOORE. Honouring Test Pilots AS a member of the public who travels many miles to see airdisplays, and one who occasionally has an opportunity to fly _ for an hour in Austers from club airfields, I write to make a* suggestion. At the S.B.A.C. Flying Display I recalled that my previous visit to Farnborough was for last year's R.A.F. Display;and that my clearest memory of that event was of the late Trevor Wade's performance in the P. 1081. On "S.B.A.C. Sunday" thatmemory was especially vivid and I was very glad to hear Charles Gardner mention in his opening remarks the test pilots who areno longer here to fly. There are memorials to those pilots who have died in war-timeand continual reminders of their service. I, and I am sure many of those who have been privileged to see these other pilots,would like to know that their services to render flying safer may receive a fitting memorial. Guildford, Surrey. F. E. BURDETT. UtilizationY OUR two recent articles—"This is Utilization" (August 17th)and "Keeping Them Flying" (September 21st)—were of great interest to me, especially as I have kept some brief records ofthe total flying hours logged by certain types of transports operated by specific airlines. Regarding the amazingly high utilization figures achieved bycertain Australian operators with their DC-3S, DC-4S and, more recently, the Convairliners owned by T.A.A., may I take theliberty of pointing out that no DC-3 belonging to Australian National Airlines logged the huge total of 45,000 hr in its lifetime.The maximum figure achieved by any Australian operator is, how- ever, pretty close to this figure. A DC-3 registered VH-ABR andnamed Kanana, owned by A.N.A. (and still going strong, by the way), had logged 39,000 hr up to September 1st this year. It waspurchased new by this airline in November 1938, and has carried approximately 224,000 passengers to date, plus an unknown ton-nage of air cargo ! VH-ABR's yearly average works out at around 3,000 hr. Two other DC-3S operated by the same company,VH-UZJ and VH-UZK, achieved 37,000 and 34,200 hr respec- tively before going into honourable retirement. An old DC-2, owned by A.N.A. and named Bunbana, logged the impressivetotal of 29,000 hr between September 1936 and the same month exactly ten years later, when it was retired. It seems quite prob-able all these remarkable figures will be eventually exceeded by Australian DC-4S in years to come. I have a number of interesting utilization statistics issued bycertain American operators but none of them is so good as the Australian figures quoted above. The chief reason, I think, is thatthe "useful life" of a DC-3iS considerably lower than the equivalent figure for the same type operated by airlines in other countries. If the old logbooks of some veteran DC-3S, and even JU52S andD.H.89S could be inspected, they might yield some very impressive figures.Finally, I feel I cannot end without brief reference to the magnificent performance put up by B.O.A.C.'s six 049 Constella-tions when these aircraft were operating all the Corporation's North Atlantic schedules. From April 1947 to April 1948, thesix aircraft averaged approximately 2,900 hr apiece, whilst the following year (April 1948 to April 1949) it was only slightly lower—2,700 hr per aircraft, this being due to the transfer of the main- tenance base from Canada to the U.K. According to Dr. Hall L.Hibbard (chief engineer of Lockheed's), these figures have not been exceeded by any other operator flying Constellations on itsinternational schedules. And that's something on wnich any airline can have good reason to congratulate itself! Prestwick, Ayrshire. DENNIS M. POWELL. Backward-facing Seats WITH regard to "Facing Which Way?" it might interest Mr.B. J. L. Haimes and other readers of Flight to see a quotation from an article in the British Medical Journal of September 22nd,1951. In this, Dr. Donald Teare, M.D., M.R.C.P., makes an analysisof the causes of death of the victims of the B.E.A. crash at London Airport on October 31st, 1950. After describing the nature of theinjuries, he says, "These injuries were, in my opinion, caused by acute flexion of the body over the safety belt. A similar mechanismcould well have accounted for the findings in the eight who died from . . ." [here other causes are specified] "It would also appearthat had these travellers been seated with their backs 'to the engine' and supported by cushioned upholstery these particulartypes of injury might have been avoided." Such is the evidence Mr. Haimes requires. London, W.C.I. A. B. KENNARD. Sackcloth and Ashes Dept. You're right about the Mamba, Double, But then there comes the finger trouble : 'Tis not a Gannet there, my son— Please correct, to Y.B.i! Keynsham, Somerset. GRAHAM E. MARTIN. [The slip in the picture caption on page 415, September 28th—"one of those things," but none the less inexcusable—was spotted just too late, and a correction appeared last week. Wederive comfort from the fact that many of the numerous letters on the subject include such remarks as "Flight so seldom makes imistake of this kind." No more protests about this one, please! —ED.] FORTHCOMING EVENTS Oct. 13. Oct. 21-28. Oct. 24. Oct. 24. Oct. Oct. Oct. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. 25. 30. 31. 3. 6. 14. 23. Aerauco Association (College of Aeronautical and Auto- mobile Engineering, Chelsea): Annual Dinner. Aero Club of Algeria: Tour of Algeria.R.Ae.C: Jubilee Ball. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Rugby v. Oxford Uni- versity Greyhounds (away). R.As.S. Graduates and Students Lecture: "The A.B.C. of Stability," by K. S. Lawson. Society of Instrument Technology: "Materials for Instrument Manufacture." by E. B. Moss. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Boxing v. Oxford Uni- versity (away). Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Fencing v. Cambridge University (home). R.Ae.S. Graduates and Students Lecture: "Design Costing," by Mr. Bunnett. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Rugby v. R.A.F. XV (home). Helicopter Association: "The Giant Helicopter," by O. L. L. Fitzwilliams, B.A. Nov. 24. Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers: Main Lecture: "Func- tioning of a Manufacturer's Servicing School," by D. W. Richardson, M.B.E., A.F.R.Ae.S. Nov. 24. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Rugby and Squash v. R.N.C. Greenwich (away); Soccer and Rifle Shooting v. R.M.A. Sandhurst (away); Old Cranwellians Dinner (Lon- don). Nov. 27. Society of Instrument Technology: "Visual Presentation, by K. F. H. Murrell. M.A., F.R.P.S. Dec. 1. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Boxing v. R.M.A. Sand- hurst (home). Dec. 5. Royal United Service Institution: "The War in Korea, with Special Reference to the Difficulties of Using our Air Power," by W/C. P. G. Wylteham-Birnes, D.S.O., O.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C. Dec. 5. Royal Air Force College, Cranwell: Rugby and Squash v. R.M.A. Sandhurst (home). Dec. 21. Institute of Navigation: "Meteorology and Navigation," by Lt. Cdr. P. G. Satow. D.S.C., R.N.
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