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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0606.PDF
278 FLIGHT CIVIL AVIATION HEUPOST: This photograph, taken at Liege Heli port, shows one of the Sabena Bell AID helicopters on the landing circle, while the company's other helicopter climbs away. Sabena has been operat ing a regular helicopter mail service over a circular route linking the more important Belgian centres since August, 1950. CLEARING-HOUSE CELEBRATION FRIENDS, patrons and well-wishers, joined the manager— Mr. Arthur J. Quin-Harking, O.B.E.—and staff of the I.A.T.A. Clearing House in a London celebration on February 28th to mark its fifth year of operation. Some idea of the great work accomplished by the Clearing House can be gained by the figures for 1951, when the turnover cleared amounted to £61 million, compared with £53 million in 1950 and £13 million in 1947, the inaugural year. Eighty-six per cent of the 1951 figure was settled by "offset" compared with 84 per cent in the previous year. This means that only £60,000 more money changed hands in 1951 to settle an additional turnover of £8 million. Another achievement is reflected in the fact that the Clearing House member-airlines received their settlements in an average of ten days after closure of the monthly clearance. Three noteworthy examples of offset settlement during 1951 were: a North American carrier whose two-way clearance, totalling $1,272,463, was settled by $11,057, an offset of 98.3 per cent; a European carrier whose two-way clearance of £554,807 was settled by £1,711 (99.4 per cent); and an Australian member whose £19,047 two-way clearance was settled by £7 (99.9 per cent). In the absence of the Clearing House, the Australian carrier would have been involved in 24 settlements and collections totalling £10,000 in 17 currencies. NEVER BIG ENOUGH MR. PETER MASEFIELD, chief executive of B.E.A. has something to say about civil aircraft of the future. Writing in the February Shell Aviation News, he remarks: "Civil aviation's future prosperity depends essentially on the types of aircraft available to its exponents, whether they be major scheduled air lines, smaller charter companies, or the sadly-neglected private flyers. The unhappy fact is—and we must face it—that at no time since 1919, when civil flying really began, has the demand for civil aircraft of every type been worse served than it is today." He goes on to say: "There are lessons to be learned from the work of the 1943 Brabazon Committee which has led to the new line of British transport aeroplanes of today. From the Brabazon Committee sprang the requirements which led to the design of the Ambassador, the Viscount, the Marathon, the Dove and, to a lesser extent, the Comet. Lord Brabazon's Committee performed a national service of the first importance. Like almost every pro phet of the future in air transport, the Brabazon Committee which issued its first report in February, 1943, underestimated the requirements from the point of view of size, with the sole excep tion of the Brabazon I, built by Bristol, and even that started as a specification for an aeroplane capable of providing sleeping accom modation for only 25 passengers for non-stop services between London and New York. "The Brabazon II, which was built by Airspeed to Specification E.27 43 as the Ambassador, was foreseen by the Brabazon Com mittee as: 'A 24-passenger twin-engine landplane for short and medium European stages and feeder services on the Empire route.' In the event, the Brabazon II, as B.E.A.'s Elizabethan class aeroplane, has been produced as a 47-passenger aeroplane and there is a clear demand for its further development to carry up to 70 passengers. Similarly the Brabazon IIB, built as the Vickers-Armstrongs V.630 Viscount, came forward as a 27-pas- senger aeroolane. But, by the time it goes into service as B.E.A.'s Discovery Class V.701 aeroplane the Brabazon IIB will have been stretched to carry 40 passengers—with a further tug ahead of it. The Comet has come a long way also from the original Brabazon IV which started out as a high-speed jet-prooelled Atlantic mail- plane. It was later modified into a 60,000 lb 14-passenger land- plane with three D.H.-H.2 jet engines,, and then to a 24 36-pas- senger aeroplane for fast Empire services." Mr. Masefield contin ues : "One of the tragedies of the Brabazon Committee's plans was that the Brabazon III never materialized. It was to be: 'A 90,000 lb landplane for Empire trunk services, powered by four gas turbine propeller engines.' It was to have accommodation for 22 pas sengers and 6,000 lb of mail for Empire routes and 40 passengers and 6,000 lb of mail for European routes. Avro was selected to build this important aircraft and an interesting design round four Rolls-Royce Clyde engines was got out." Mr. Masefield went on to say: "In the 1930s the bulk of the world's transport aircraft had a capacity for between 14 and 21 passengers; in the 1940s the size had risen to a capacity for between 27 and 44 passengers. Now, in the early 1950s the demands are for aircraft of between 47 and 56-passenger capacity. In the 1960s the demand inevitably will be for aircraft offering between about 70 and 120 seats—perhaps more." There may yet be time to develop the Brabazons in time to meet 1965 requirements. LOWER LANDING FEES TT is announced that from May 1st the Ministry of Civil Aviation » will cut landing fees by 50 per cent for aircraft arriving on international flights not exceeding 115 miles in length. Such a reduction should be of assistance to the operators of short-haul services and charter flights between Southern England and the French north-coast resorts. The Le Touquet to Lympne, Cher bourg to Southampton and Ostend to Southend routes all come within the 115-mile limit. INDEPENDENT FLEETS AS mentioned in Flight of February 8th, 30 Dakotas have been **• made available to civil buyers by the Air Ministry. Although it was at first believed that these aircraft were in good condition this does not now appear to be the case, and many will probably be used only for spares. The few serviceable machines are not likely to increase the charter fleets, however, for although these released Dakotas may not be sold abroad there is no such restriction on aircraft of this type already in service. High prices paid by the U.S. for Dakotas may induce independent operators to sell their existing aircraft and replace them from the newly released machines. HELICOPTERS FLY SOUTH THE main base of British European Airways' helicopter unit is to be moved at the end of April from Peterborough to Gatwick. B.E.A. will have the use of a group of offices and half of a hangar in which the three Sikorsky S-51, two Bell 47 and one Bristol 171 helicopters will be housed. This move will facilitate experimental flying in the London Control Area and the London-Birmingham scheduled operations will also be serviced from Gatwick. NEW-ERA FLYING CONTROL THE I.C.A.O. European-Mediterranean Regional Air Naviga tion Conference, now in session in Paris, is considering prob lems set by the operational altitude and speed of jet airliners. The limited endurance of these aircraft may necessitate a complete revision of the present system of airway and airport control. As is now generally agreed, stacking or orbiting would cost so much in fuel that without a new concept of control jet-transport operation could only be undertaken at a loss. With the introduction in the near future of B.O.A.C.'s Comets and, next year, B.E.A.'s turboprop-powered Discovery class, the solution of this problem becomes one of vital importance.
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