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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1915.PDF
FLIGHT, n July 1952 400 350 300 ~250 O O o 2~200 d 150 2 2 g IOO SO 3.568,673 2.5Q7.Q24 1.247.690 LOAD FACTOR SO PER CENT LOAD TON- MILES INCREASE 43 --' PERCENT'' ,' AVAILABLE TON- | MILES FLOWN 2.067.657 INCREASE 66 -'PER CENT LOAD FACTOR 58 PERCENT LOAD TON -MILES 1950/51 1951/52 (Left) The develop ment of independent scheduled services during the past' two years makes an en couraging picture. (Right) Although the independents' com bined fleets have not expanded, wider use of four-engined air craft has increased the total all-up weight by 25 per cent. NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT ISO, IOO SO ALL-UP 53 WEIGHT OF FLEET 300 200 O o o o ^- 100 APRIL 1951 1952 APRIL 1951 1952 CIVIL AVIATION . scheduled services went up by 19 per cent to nearly 12,000,000 during the year, and the total weight of cargo carried was 19,172 tons—a 200 per cent increase on the previous year's figure. By far the most impressive development was in the field of trooping. In the year ended March 31st, 1951, the independent operators carried 3,300 troops to the Middle East; last year their trooping services carried 55,000 men to a variety of destinations, including Malta, Gibraltar, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Southern Rhodesia and several points in the Middle East. Elsewhere in this issue is reported the start of the new Lancashire Aircraft Corporation trooping service to the West Indies, and last week companies submitted tenders for yet another service—to Singa pore. Although independent operators welcome the increased business brought by trooping contracts, they are now pressing for longer-term contracts (comparable with those given to the ship ping companies) which would enable them to obtain capital for new aircraft better suited to medium- and long-haul high-density operations. They point out that if such concessions were granted they could tender considerably lower rates. No reference was made to the prospect of U.K. domestic ser vices being taken over by the independents, and the present policy of B.I.A.T.A. reflects growing interest in overseas routes— both "C"-rate passenger services on Colonial routes (as demon strated by the Hunting/Airwork Safari to Nairobi) and scheduled all-freight operations. COMET IN JAPAN L AST Tuesday, July 8th, a B.O.A.C. Comet, piloted by Capt. A. M. A. Majendie, was due to land at Tokyo—the farthest point east yet reached by the de Havilland jet airliner. The Comet left London Airport last Thursday and arrived at Calcutta on Saturday, the remainder of the flight being made via Okinawa, Fukuoka (S. Japan), and Nagoya (C. Japan). Before completing this 23,000-mile proving flight the Comet will call at Saigon (French Indo-China), returning to Britain on July 15th via Singapore, Rangoon, Colombo and Bombay. Subject to satisfactory completion of a series of proving, train ing and development flights, B.O.A.C. intend to open regular Comet services between London and Tokyo early next year. MORE DC-7 ORDERS FIFTY-EIGHT Douglas DC-7 transports are now on order, following the announcement by United Airlines of their inten tion to buy 25 of these faster, larger and more powerful versions of the DC-6B. Powered by four 3,250 h.p. compounded Wright Turbo-Cyclone 18s, the DC-7 will have an estimated maximum cruising speed of 358 m.p.h. and a maximum range at 20,000 ft of just over 5,000 miles; the 109ft fuselage, 3ft longer than that of the DC-6B, will accommodate 60-95 passengers according to seating arrangements. Other purchasers of the DC-7 are American Airlines (25), Delta Airlines (4) and National Airlines (4). These orders, together with deliveries or orders for 352 DC-6s and DC-6Bs, are claimed by Douglas to constitute the greatest commercial trans port programme in aviation history. Of the 410 transports (the seating capacity of which has been worked out as 28,887), 3°8 are for U.S. carriers and 102 for overseas airlines. The "overall com mercial backlog" of the Douglas Aircraft Co. is now given as nearly £85,000,000. THE DOOLITTLE REPORT O N February 20th, following a series of three fatal airliner crashes in the New York-N.E. New Jersey area, President Truman appointed an Airport Commission consisting of Mr. James ("Jimmy") Doolittle, vice-president of the Shell Union Oil Corporation; Mr. Charles Home, Administrator of Civil Aero nautics, and Dr. Jerome Hunsaker, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The task of the Commission, with Mr. Doolittle as chairman, was to study the location and use of American air ports, bearing in mind the safety and welfare of people living near airports as well as defence requirements and the economic import ance of the aviation industry. The Commission was asked, as a matter of urgency, to present its report within 90 days. In the course of its study, the Commission consulted 264 indivi duals and received statements from 42 organisations, and personal visits were made to some 30 airports. The report—which was presented to the President on May 16th —has now been published as a 116-page book with the apt title of The Airport and its Neighbors. Although some chapters are of mainly domestic interest, the book deals with an international problem, and contains many useful recommendations. The Commission urges that new airports should be developed according to recommended standards, and that existing airports should, as far as possible, be brought up to these standards. The dominant runways of new airports should be protected by cleared extensions at each end at least | mile in length and 1,000ft wide— areas free from housing or other obstructions, and to be considered as integral with the airport itself. In addition, there should be fan- shaped zones at least two miles long beyond the cleared extensions; in these areas the use of land would be controlled to eliminate the erection of places of public assembly within the zone, and to restrict residence to the more distant parts. The report recommends adoption of single or parallel runways, which, by contrast with existing systems, would reduce the area of extensions and "cleared zones" by 40 per cent. Simultaneously, it advocates further development of cross-wind landing-gear and advises the establishment of more liberal cross-wind take-off and landing limitations for existing transport aircraft. As evidence of practicability, the report quotes successful tests made with a specially equipped C-54 in 40 m.p.h. crosswinds. Multi-direc tional airports, it suggests, could pension-off their extra runways as the aircraft requiring them became obsolete. Assuming that landing speeds of 120-130 m.p.h. will be used in about 15 years' time, the Commission recommends that inter continental or transcontinental airports should have runways 8,400ft in length, with the possibility of extension to 10,000ft if later required. Designers, states the report, should concentrate on developing airliners able to operate from such runways—at least, for operations within the continental limits of the U.S.A. There is a proviso that super-airports—perhaps six in number— might be required with runways longer than 10,000ft and capable of supporting loads heavier than 300,0001b. Some of the Committee's recommendations on other aspects of the airport problem can be summarized as follows. Air-traffic- laws and regulations should be clearly defined to avoid confliction; in certain areas of high density, positive control should be applied at all times, regardless of weather; minimum manoeuvring ceil ings and visibilities in congested terminal areas should be raised, although straight-in instrument approach minima are considered satisfactory; installation and adequate manning of radar traffic- control systems should be given high priority. Airport certifica tion: the Civil Aeronautics Act should be amended to require
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