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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0333.PDF
8 February 1952 145 Loads may range from 1,343 lb of snuff and three tons of frozen food to half-a-ton of ice-cream mixture, one ton of cottage cheese and ten guinea-pigs. Seven huskies were flown from Nome (on the Bering Straits opposite Siberia) to Fairbanks for last February's Winter Carnival Dog Derby. The flight over 500 miles of tundra took three hours : with a dog-team it would have taken three weeks—given good weather. Fresh milk is flown on regular delivery schedules 2,200 miles from Seattle to Nome for the school and the Walrus Men's Club. Freight lists at Juneau airport include these items : 690 lb of fresh fruit, 68 lb of French-fried potatoes, 1,000 lb of meat and six barber's chairs; a two-ton shipment of plate-glass, medicine, newspapers, a hamster (small rodent resembling a guinea-pig) and a canary, a light tractor, metal sheets, military equipment and mining machinery. Freight on the "out" services ranges from gold bars to 1,000-year-old ice from Mendenhall Glacier—for sale to night-clubs in New York ! Juneau Airport is as modern in layout as any in the United States. Rates to the airlines who use its facilities are low. In stead of designing the airport and then offering facilities, Juneau City Council requested the interested companies to outline their requirements and these were incorporated in the original plans. After Juneau had spent six years in trying to secure Federal aid in the construction of an airport it went ahead with the actual building in March 1947. Completion of the work in June 1949, at a cost of f 145,000, was reflected in a marked rise in air freight between Alaska and the United States. The boom in Alaskan aviation, however, really dates from American participation in the Second World War. In 1942, flying operations were geared to the war effort: the companies concentrated on military requirements, flying troops and equip ment to the new bases flanking the Alaska Highway and at key points along the coast. Operating on a cost-plus basis, P.A.A. alone carried to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands more than 77,000 Service and other official passengers, and 3,170,000 lb of freight, the latter including a torpedo-boat engine weighing a few pounds short of a ton, a five-ton shipment of plate glass, and crane parts, machine-guns, diving gear, life-rafts and aircraft engines. When the uneasy peace of the post-war years prompted the United States to embark on the extension of its military bases in Alaska and the Aleutians, the passenger aircraft operated by Northwest Airlines were "booked solid with carpenters and air field construction men." The design of the terminal building at Juneau Airport is well in keeping with the impressive "back-cloth" of mountain scenery. The routes originally pioneered by the pilots of Northwest and Pan American, and the small companies they purchased, have been woven into the pattern of world air routes, and from them regular services are stretching ever farther into Alaska—across territory yet to be explored. Companies currently operating are :— Alaska Coastal Airlines, Juneau (Bellancas, Lockheed Vegas, Curtiss Kingbirds, Grumman G21A, Catalinas); Alaska Airlines (one DC-4, one DC-3, one C-46); Alaska Island Airlines, New York and Anchorage (2 Grumman Widgeons, 2 Wacos, 1 Travel Air, 2 Aeroncas); Bristol Bay Airlines (2 Stinsons, 2 Bellancas); Byers Airways (one Cessna Crane, 2 Stinsons); Christensen Air Service (Noordyn Norsemen); Cordova Air Service (1 Norseman, 2 Stinsons, 3 Cessnas, 1 Piper); Ellis Air Lines; Ketchikan (6 Grumman amphibians, 3 Aeronca floatplanes); Northwestern Airlines, St. Paul, Minn; Pacific Northern Air, Seattle; Pan American Airways; Revolution Air Line, Anchorage; Wein Alaska Air Line, Fairbanks. LOG of the ROYAL FLIGHT TO judge from several remarks made to us by people outside aviation, last week's flight to East Africa by Their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh must have done a great deal to popular ize the idea of air travel in the minds of the public. The general reaction to the up-to-the-minute B.B.C. reports of the departure, journey and arrival was ex pressed in such comments as : "Just imagine ! It seems only a few hours ago that they left London Airport in an icy wind—and now they're enjoying hot sunshine 4,300 miles away!" Seldom can the speed, comfort and safety of the modern airliner have been more effectively emphasized. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh left at noon on Thursday, January 31st, the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family going to London Airport to bid them farewell. Sir Miles Thomas, chairman of B.O.A.C., and Sir John d'Albiac, commandant of the airport, were among the officials present. The aircraft was a standard B.O.A.C. Argonaut (four Rolls-Royce Merlins) with modified interior arrangements, eight seats being removed to pro vide a private compartment consisting of two berths and the standard semi-circular lounge at the rear of the cabin. In the forward compart ment, the 24 seats were rearranged to provide three pairs of facing seats and three sleeper seats on each side of the aisle. The modifications were FAREWELL for five months: Their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh wave good-bye to other members of the Royal Family shortly before the B.O.A.C. Argonaut "Atalanta" takes off from London Airport. made in such a way that the accommodation can quickly be re converted for standard use, and then as easily adapted for future special flights when required. An admirably factual record of the journey, based on progress- reports received in the B.O.A.C. operations room at London Air port, was issued by the Corporation soon after the aircraft reached (Concluded on page 147)
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