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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0247.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 January 1952 109 CIVIL AVIATION . . . regional routes between Johannesburg, Salisbury and Nairobi. The two chairmen also resolved to further the proposal to institute tourist-class services between Africa and London in 1953. B.O.A.C. has stated that the possibility of delay in introducing services—due to the lack of suitable buildings at Kentucky Farm— is appreciated and representations on the matter will be made in the appropriate quarter. On January 14th, Sir Miles left Central Africa for Johannesburg to discuss these proposals with S.A.A. who are, of course,- B.O.A.C.'s partners in operating the Springbok service between Johannesburg and London. LYMPNE AND SILVER CITY AT the time of going to press, Lympne Airport—subject of our **• leading article last week—is still unserviceable for all aircraft of over 8,000 lb weight, as it has been for the past three weeks. This state of affairs has seriously affected Silver City Airways' important cattle contract. For some days Irish cattle already in the area were flown to France from West Mailing, while others in transit were re-routed to Blackbushe and flown to Le Touquet— a 246-mile round trip. It has been estimated that this resulted in a loss of £500 per flight to the company, who have a fixed-rate contract. During the last few days a further batch of 100 cattle has been flown from Southend, and 250 more are on the way to this airport for air freighting. Operations from Southend have been particularly satisfactory, though, of course, the journey is again longer and the company must inevitably show a small loss on this work. Silver City, who are negotiating with the M.C.A., state that they are still urgently trying to arrange to take over Lympne on a man agement basis and are themselves willing to spend up to £30,000 on improvements. The M.C. A. say that as many men as possible are filling in ruts at the airport. KOREAN AIR LINK TO RE-OPEN THE South Korean Government is intending to open an air service between Pusan and Formosa as s6on as Japan grants approval for the use of Haneda (Tokio) airport as a stopping point for Korean aircraft. The Korean National Airline has already submitted to its government a programme detailing its proposed schedules. The Chinese Nationalist Ambassador to Pusan has expressed the opinion that his own government would welcome the project. It is intended that the initial frequency of the service should be two round-trips weekly, on which 24-seat aircraft (presumably Dakotas) would be used. AIR FRANCE FLEET PLANS "MTiWS is now to hand of progress with the construction of the A^ Breguet 763 Provence and SE-2010 Armagnac airliners which are being built for Air France. The company has on order 12 of the former and 8 of the latter type. The 763, or "Deux-Ponts" as it is sometimes known, is intended for use on French metropolitan high-density routes while the Armagnac will probably be used on services in the French Union. Three alternative interior layouts are now planned for the Provence. The first allows for 36 first-class passengers in "sky- lounge" extendable seats on the upper deck, and 48 second-class passengers in removable seats on the lower deck; these seats can be stacked to provide space for seven tons of freight as an alterna tive load. The second version will have 48 first-class Pullman DOUGLAS DC-7: The next step in the evolution of the Douglas "DC" airliner series is this elongated and higher-powered offspring of the DC-6. As reported in "Flight" of January 11th, American Airlines have ordered 25 of them. The power units are to be Wright R-3350 compound engines of 3,250 h.p. each. The cruising speed will be 360 m.p.h, and up to 95 passengers will be accommodated. seats on the upper deck and 48 second-class seats (or six tons of freight) on the lower deck. The third arrangement, which is to be that incorporated in the first few production aircraft delivered, will have a "tourist-class" layout (something between the first and second classes)—59 seats on the upper deck, and 48 (or five tons of freight) on the lower deck. This version can be quickly modified to seat 69 second-class passengers above and 48 (or 4.3 tons of freight) below. The eight Armagnacs in production for Air France are said to be making satisfactory progress. At the moment, the first three are undergoing flight trials, and the other five are in states ranging between 95 per cent and 65 per cent readiness. One of the three prototypes is to be lent to the French company, T.A.I., for experi mental freight services between Paris and Dakar; after satisfac torily completing 400 hours on these duties the Armagnac will then be cleared for passenger services. PRESTWICK IMPROVEMENTS A FTER meeting the Scottish Advisory Council in Edinburgh **• last week, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Mr. J. S. Maclay, announced that work is to be put in hand immediately to improve facilities at Prestwick and Renfrew airports. It had been decided, he said, to add a 1,000ft compacted overrun to the existing 7,000ft main runway at Prestwick. This would make the runway suitable for all civil aircraft which are now either flying or on the drawing boards of any country. Negotiations are now in progress for a contract for work on the overrun which will probably take about six months to complete. Mr. Maclay suggested, also, that the problem of diverting the present Ayr-Kilmarnock road could be solved by constructing a short temporary stretch of road parallel to, and a little to the west of, the existing road which would then be lowered so as to form part of the overrun. Road traffic would be controlled as at present. Reference was made also to plans for constructing new terminal buildings at Renfrew, where work on minor improve ments is to begin immediately. The chairman of the Advisory Council, Sir Patrick Dollan, expressed satisfaction with the Minister's proposals, with which the Scottish Aerodromes Board is also in agreement. DEUTSCHE DECCA AS time goes on the ambit and performance of the Decca • Navigator system is steadily extended. Last week, on January 17th, the latest addition to the system coverage, the new German chain, was formally opened by Dr. Seebohm, the Minister of Transport in the Federal German government. The ceremony took place at Diisseldorf amid a distinguished company, and a feature of the occasion was a series of demonstration nights by the M.C.A. Decca-equipped Marathon; many of those present flew in the aircraft and gained first-hand experience of the aid. Brigadier John Lingham, C.B , D.S.O., M.C., Land Com missioner for North Rhine, Westphalia, said he wished to welcome whole-heartedly the European and Ameri«an representatives who were present; he drew attention to the high degree of co-operation which existed between the Decca Company and their German licencees, Telefunken Gesellschaft. Mr. E. R. Lewis, chairman of the Decca Company, gave a brief outline of the historical development of the system, and said that the German authorities were quick to realise its potentialities. In January last year a contract was placed with Telefunken, and to have got the chain in operation in 12 months was a very fine piece of work. In the meantime, the French Government had placed a contract with the Societe Francaise Radic&ectrique for the construction of the French chain, and when this is completed, Decca coverage over the greater part of Europe will be achieved. Dr. Pohontsch, a senior director of Telefunken, thereafter followed with a brief explanation (for the benefit of his compatriots) of how the system worked. Sir Norman Guttery, K.B.E., C.B., Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, then said that Decca was today fitted to over 1,000 ships under the flags of 13 countries, and he thought that no single invention had done more for the safety of life at sea. Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill, C.B.F., K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Chief Aeronautical Adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said that the system had always made it possible for a pilot to determine his position accurately at any time, but the latest development, the Flight Log, enabled him to set his required course or fly intricate holding patterns with comparative ease, since his track was being steadily traced and recorded on a special chart in front of him. The necessity for a captain of aircraft to know his exact position became more and more important every day, whether he was fixing his position for accurate aerial photography or approaching an international airport in bad conditions; whether he was flying to Berlin and must not stray outside the strict corridor limits; whether he was flying a jet-propelled aircraft which, because of high fuel consumption, could afford no delays, or a slow helicopter approach-
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