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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2269.PDF
612 FLIGHT ENTEBBE OPENS Uganda's Magnificent Land-and-water Airport THE extended land-and-water airport at Entebbe,Uganda, was formally opened last Saturday, Novemberioth, with ceremony befitting its importance both in situation on international routes and in relation to its future use by civil and military jet aircraft. B.O.A.C.'s Comets, of course, will be the first civil users in this category. Entebbe is on the direct route from Europe and the Middle East to the Rhodesias and South Africa, and it also serves the internal routes linking important East African centres with the Belgian Congo and West Coast territories. Militarily, it is of importance because it lies on the route between the Middle East and South Africa recently surveyed by the R.A.F. for jet aircraft. Outstanding advantages of the Entebbe site, which lies alongside Lake Victoria, are consistently good weather and unobstructed approaches. Its history goes back to 1928, when Sir Alan Cobham put down his Short Singapore on the lake during his great survey flight round Africa. Entebbe was used on the Cairo-Cape air- mail service in the nineteen-thirties, and subsequently by Imperial Airways. It then grew slowly but steadily until 1945, when the major reconstruction and enlargement programme commenced. The two 900-yd grass landing strips have now been replaced by two bitumen-sealed runways, one of them 3,300 yd in length— the largest in Africa. The terminal buildings are in keeping with the scale of the project, which, in all, has cost some £350,000. So far as the water base is concerned, Lake Victoria offers runs of many miles, and will be ideal for such ultra-large craft as the Saunders-Roe Princesses. Watched by 40,000 people, mostly natives in colourful dress, Saturday's opening ceremony was performed by Uganda's Acting Governor, Mr. H. S. Potter, C.M.G., who characterized the development of the site as "an act of faith by the British Govern- ment in the future of air transport of freight and passengers and in the future of Uganda." The Commissioner of Transport for East Africa, Sir Reginald Robins, C.M.G., O.B.E., M.L.A., said that East Africa—Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika—was "one big Situation of the new airport and its approaches. economic unit," and that the airport would benefit all three terri- tories. When Mr. Potter had declared the airport open, the Union Jack was broken from the control-tower mast-head and a flight of R.A.F. Vampires, on a survey flight from Suez to South Africa, took off to give a brilliant aerobatic display. Among civil aircraft to be demonstrated were a B.O.A.C. Hermes IV, B.E.A. Viscount, Ethiopian Airlines' Convair (with R.A.T.O.), and the Viking of Crewsair, Ltd., in which a number of the visitors to the ceremony had been flown out from England. Both on this and the following day, the guests were treated to an elaborately organized programme of sight-seeing trips by coach, launch and civil aircraft to places of interest and scenic beauty. Among those who had accepted invitations to the opening were A.V-M. Sir Victor Tait (B.O.A.C.), M. Raymond Dupr6 (Air France), A. Cdre. L. T. Pankhurst (A.O.C., East Africa), Sir Alfred Vincent (East African Airways), Capt. Stacey Colls, R.N. (Director of Civil Aviation, East Africa) and Capt. Dudley Travers (one of the first Imperial Airways' pilots to use Entebbe). The Editor visited Entebbe for the ceremony, and his impres- sions, together with an account of some air tours he is now making in the Belgian Congo, will be published in our pages on his return. U.L.A.S. CELEBRATES OF the 17 University Air Squadrons now in existence,that of the University of London is one of the oldest,for it was formed in 1935 (those of Oxford and Cambridge had been inaugurated in 1925). London's great university, with its multiplexity of colleges spread over a hundred square miles of the Metropolis, has some problems of a kind unknown at the more compactly situated seats of learning; equally, however, the same circumstances provide some first-rate recruit-material for the Squadron, especially as science, engineering and other modern studies play so large a part in the University's curricula. And certainly the necessary enthusiasm is there, as was clearly apparent at last Friday's U.L.A.S. annual dinner (and a very good dinner, too, if we may say so), held at the Park Lane Hotel, Lon- don. Some 130 members and guests attended, with Air Chief Marshal Sir Leslie N. Hollinghurst, K.C.B., K.B.E., D.F.C., Air Member for Personnel, as senior officer present. Others who had accepted invitations included Major-General P. H. Mitchiner, M.D., C.B., C.B.E., M.S., L.R.C.P., F.R.C.S., T.D. (chairman of the University's Military Education Committee); A. V-M. D. Macfadyen, C.B., C.B.E., Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Policy); A. V-M. W. J. Seward, C.B., C.B.E., A.O.C. No. 61 (E) Group; A. V-M. C. A. Stevens, C.B., C.B.E., M.C., S.A.S.O. of Home Command; and Sir Robert Watson-Watt, C.B., LL.D., D.Sc, F.R.S., the distinguished radar expert. Envoys from the Squad- ron's friendly rivals included W/C P. Baldwin, CO. of Cambridge University Air Squadron, and S/L. J. F. J. Dewhurst, D.F.C., C.F.I, of Oxford University Air Squadron. To the U.L.A.S. CO., W/C. A. V. Rogers, A.F.C., fell the duty of proposing "The Guests." Reviewing a good year's work, he said that "still harder" flying tasks had been set and target figures not only reached but exceeded. A great deal of this success was due to the help and co-operation of the University authorities, par- ticularly the Military Education Committee. One of the officers of that committee was Professor G. T. R. Hill (of Pterodactyl fame), without whose presence—he had been a member of the Squadron since 1935—a U.L.A.S. dinner was unthinkable. W/C. Rogers recalled that at this year's summer camp at Leuchars the Professor had landed without using flaps, thereby incurring the customary fine of two-and-six, which was duly paid—by cheque. Replying, A. V-M. Seward recalled that he himself could claim a connection with the University by virtue of the fact that in 1927 he took a post-graduate course in meteorology at Imperial College ("in those days we G.D. officers had to get promotion somehow, so the only way was to specialize"); he then went to look after the weather in Iraq, where his forecasts were either "hot" or "cold". After an enigmatic but loudly cheered reference to a certain altitude record and the Festival Skylon, the Air Vice-Marshal went on to say that he had been greatly impressed by the Squadron's turn-out at the badge-presentation parade and by their formation flying at the summer camp. He next quoted the flying total for the year (January to October): 11,604 sorties and 5,563 hours, all without a fatal accident. U.L.A.S. were thus slightly below C.U.A.S. in the number of sorties, but up on hours. Probably the fact that the Squadron's airfield at Booker was not too easily reached had something to do with this ratio. The Air Vice-Marshal concluded: "The Service wants young aircrew of your calibre for its future leaders. Today, messing and other expenses are being strictly kept down, and the Royal Air Force can offer a professional career that compares with any." The story of the unit's progress from the time it was formed in 1935 with an establishment of 25 was related by Col. P. Crowden, O.B.E., D.Sc., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., T.D., in proposing the toast of "The Squadron." The replv was by a member, F/O. W. H. Walter (Royal Veterinary College), whose cheerfully libellous speech, since it carried the privilege of neither Parliament nor Court of Law, had better go unrepeated in these circumspect columns, Later, at S.H.Q. at South Kensington, we heard more about the U.L.A.S.—for instance, that by the time its members are ready for National Service they have done between 150 and 200 hours' flying, and can therefore go straight into an F.T.S.; that during the past year 20-odd cadets who have been with the Squad- ron for only that period have obtained their Instrument Ratings; and that the recently established Fighter Control Unit could do with more members—some people feel that women should be made eligible; there are plenty in the University, they say, who would be capable of learning this specialist job and carrying it out efficiently-
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