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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0459.PDF
22 February 1952 203 Following the M.C.A. announcement, which was made last Monday, B.E.A. stated that the sum involved for them would be approximately £100,000 per year, which they could not at present afford; the charge, therefore, would have to be passed on to the passengers. A similar announcement was made by B.O.A.C, who stated that the cost in-a full year would be between £30,000 and £40,000. The total number of passengers concerned will be more than 2^ million in the current year. There will be no charge for passengers in transit who continue their journey without a break. No mention is made of charges for aircrew or of "season" landing- cards for regular air travellers. A. Cdre. G. J. Powell—managing director of Silver City Airways, Ltd., whose main base of operations is Lympne— expressed some strong views on the new imposition. In past years during the summer months, but now all the year round, his company's aircraft make short-duration, high-frequency ferry services across the Channel, and, therefore, the additional charge per passenger is likely to have a relatively greater effect than in the case of the Corporations' medium- and long-distance flights. The Air Commodore feels this to be unfair to the "small-fare" passenger. He adds that Lympne—a State-controlled airport— is probably "one of the worst in the country," although it is probably the only one that makes any money. It has no passenger facilities and is "a mass of tumbledown huts." His company paid about £20,000 last year in aircraft landing fees. London to Castel Benito Record AN English Electric Canberra B.2 (Rolls-Royce Avons) last • Monday, February 18th, flew from London Airport to Castel Benito in Tripoli, North Africa, a distance of 1,469 miles, in 2 hr 43 min 48$ sec, at an average speed of 538.13 statute m.p.h. The flight was timed by the chief timekeeper and the official observer of the Royal Aero Club and, subject to official confirma tion, will establish a new point-to-point world class record. On October 25th, 1949, a de Havilland Comet, undertaking a similar routine flight, covered the distance in 3 hr 23 min. The Canberra has gone to Tripoli for experimental work under the research and development programme of the Ministry of Supply. The pilot was S/L. L. C. E. De Vigne, D.S.O., D.F.C., A.F.C., a Ministry of Supply civil test pilot, and the navigator was F/L. P. A. Hunt. In August last year a Canberra flew the Atlantic from Alder-grove, Northern Ireland, to Gander, Newfoundland, in the record time of 4 hr 18 min 24.4 sec. Congestion at New York's Airports NEW YORK is in the throes of what may be called an airport crisis following the closing-down of one of its busiest airports, at Newark. Four principal airports in the region of the city of New York are involved, with some 1,000 movements daily. It will be remembered that a third serious accident in a period of two months, bringing the total of fatal casualties to 118, occurred recently at Newark, and as a result of unexpectedly strong pressure from people living in the surrounding heavily built-up areas, the airport was closed down pending Congressional investigations and a report from an airline committee under Captain Rickenbacker. As a result of Newark's closing, the traffic at La Guardia and other airfields has increased considerably, and this has brought public complaints from new areas. It has therefore been decided that the daily movements at La Guardia shall be limited to about 450 and all international flights handled by Idlewild. The American Services are co-operating by limiting their movements into New York, and private pilots are being diverted elsewhere so far as is possible. It is reported that the present congestion is having repercussions on several outlying airfields. To Put the Record Right . . . Last week, in giving details of some important reappointments among higher executives of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd., we published a portrait of Sir William G. Verdon Smith. The photograph intended, however, was that of his son, Mr. William R. Verdon Smith, who, with Mr. George S. M. White, has been appointed a managing director of the company. We print a portrait of Mr. W. R. Verdon Smith herewith. SEND-OFF: H.E. Ahmed Abboud Pasha's Sealand (see below) shortly before its departure for Cairo. Left to right are : Mr. W. Hambrook, sales controller of Short Bros, and Harland, Ltd.; Rear-Admiral Slattery, man aging director; Mr. A. W. Peacock, the purchaser's agent; Capt. S. Omar, personal pilot; and Mr. R. Flaxman, assistant designer. Sealand for Egypt IN America there is a demand for what might be termed the "little airliner"—a smallish twin, luxuriously appointed and with good one-engine-out performance on the light loads it would normally carry—for use as a privately owned "executive transport." A similar requirement quite often arises in Eastern countries, and we have more than once heard the Short Sealand suggested as being well suited to such roles. It seems appropriate, therefore, that a particularly attractive "luxury" version of the Sealand has recently been completed for His Excellency Ahmed Abboud Pasha, director of the Khedevial Mail Line (Agency), Ltd., of Cairo. Registered SU-AHY and christened Nadia the machine left the United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 13th, on its delivery flight. The interior layout is designed for six passengers and the seats are capable of being reversed to face either forward or aft. The walls and ceilings of the cabin are lined with blue natural hide, and dark turquoise silk damask curtains embroidered in pink have been fitted to the cabin windows. Crew accommodation is for pilot and co-pilot, dual controls being provided, and a toilet compartment is fitted in the forward cabin. Special fittings include leading-edge fuel tanks to bring the total capacity up to 185 gallons (this is the first example of leading-edge tanks on Sealands—their com paratively short range had previously been the subject of adverse comment); provision for air circulation and conditioning; and anti-glare protection for the pilots. Mr. D. Tanton, the manu facturers' staff pilot, and Capt. S. Omar, personal pilot to the new owner, undertook the delivery flight. France Gets Sikorsky S.55 Licence THE President-General Director of S.N.C.A.S.E., M. Georges Hereil, recently signed a contract for the construction of, initially, two hundred S.55 helicopters under licence from the Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation. Final assembly and most of the construction will be done in France, although Italy, and possibly Germany, will co-operate in the manufacture of sub-assemblies. Viking Accident in Sicily A VIKING en route from Bovingdon to Nairobi struck the slopes of Monte Rosa in Sicily at a height of about 3,500ft during a storm last Saturday evening. Thirty-one people on board —26 passengers and crew of five under Capt. A. W. R. Perry— were later reported to have lost their lives; some reports said that 34 bodies had been found. The aircraft had taken off from Nice after lunch to fly the leg to Malta, and after its non-arrival had been reported, an R.A.F. Lancaster based on Malta reported seeing wreckage on the mountain. A last signal had been received as the Viking left Sardinia at 2,200ft. Hunting Air Transport, Ltd., the operators of the aircraft, have made daily air-trooping flights to Malta since August last year, using 34-seat Vikings, and have been operating similar aircraft on the routes to South Africa since 1947. They have been making other regular flights in connection with the groundnuts scheme from 1948 onwards, and also flights to East Africa. In all these services, there has been no previous fatal accident.
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