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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0279.PDF
277 FLIGHT, 6 March 1953 THE CONSTRUCTOR'S VIEWPOINT Executives of Five Nationalities state their Opinions for "Flight" From WILLIAM M. ALLEN, President, Boeing Airplane Company. THE intention of the Boeing Airplane Company to design and build, with its own funds, a prototype jet transport, was one of the important decisions made by the company during 1952. We are of the opinion that we can build a test vehicle which will enable us to demonstrate to the military the principal characteristics of a com bination tanker and jet transport and, at the same time, demonstrate to the airlines the principal characteristics of a production jet airliner. From the standpoint of military security, we feel that the development of a jet tanker and transport is essential. Further more, it has long been our view that American manufacturers should develop commercial jet transports as soon as it was econo mically feasible to do so. The prototype will be a large, new type, jet-powered airplane incorporating many engineering advancements Boeing has deve loped and proved over the past several years. It will be a demon strator model, the basic design of which will be adaptable to two production models : first, a versatile military airplane for aerial refuelling of fast jet bombers and fighters, and for cargo and troop transportation fitted to the tempo of jet-age military tactics; second, a high-speed, economically operating airline transport for passengers and cargo. Design and manufacture of the prototype will require an ex penditure of company funds in excess of 15 million dollars. We are entering a field in which we will have severe competition. The undertaking follows naturally, however, from our experience in the application of jet power to large aircraft. Designing, building and flying the B-47 Stratojet bomber and the new B-52 eight-jet Stratofortress heavy bomber have given Boeing an unparalleled background of experience. It has included, for example, 14,500 hours of jet wind-tunnel research and more than 5,000 hours of test and research flying. The Boeing Company is taking positive steps to apply this wealth of experience to advancement in the field of air transportation. From SIR WILLIAM G. VERDON SMITH, Chairman, Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. THE spectacular performance which the gas turbine has conferred on air travel has indirectly led to a great deal of unrealistic prophecy as to the form commercial aviation will take. By common consent, an immense future is envisaged for commercial aviation. One should not, however, lose sight of the fact that the operative word in the term is "commercial." If this sort of aviation is ever to be a profitable business, it warrants businesslike handling. The governing principle for the commercial form of aviation must surely be that which rules all other trading enterprises: how much is to be had in return for a given expenditure. For airlines this means the revenue they can expect from the operation of given types of aircraft: a matter of the prime cost of the aircraft plus spares, the amortization period, the performance capacity of the aircraft, and its operating costs. These are the direct factors; others, such as route applicability, traffic potential, competition and so forth, are indirect factors which also have to be taken into consideration. The gas turbine has made great speeds possible and has smoothed away fatiguing vibrations; it has outmoded the piston engine. But it is erroneous to identify the gas turbine exclusively with the jet aircraft. By using a turbine engine to drive a propeller, the smoothness of the turbine is retained, together with the great power it gives for small size and weight, while the fuel consumed is drastically reduced. We at Bristol have proceeded with the development of the turboprop engine because we have long been convinced that the economy it offers cannot be disregarded by airlines. In order to show the ability of the turboprop it is obviously necessary to measure it against a competitor, and the competitor everyone is interested in today is the jet airliner. The one quility the jet aircraft has in advantage over the turboprop is speed. But the speed difference between them is not, in fact, so large as many people imagine. Certainly it is not enough to offer the traveller a great attraction in the way of time reduction, particularly if he has to pay more to travel in the jet aircraft, and as time goes on the speed difference between the two types will diminish. Inherently, the turboprop consumes much less fuel than the turbojet, so for a given range the turboprop aircraft need carry less fuel, or for a similar fuel load has a greater range. For the same payload and range performance, therefore, the jet aircraft must necessarily be larger and heavier than its turboprop counterpart, with all that this entails operationally and financially. It can, in fact, be claimed that the direct operating costs of the turbo prop airliner are roughly half those of a turbojet aircraft for the same payload/range . performance. On a hard *y^\ jf \f commercial basis, this J9 V/J /'/. ^ Zj \y- must inevitably tell. r '.V. ^/t/W^n~ £A»w« • From JOHN J A Y HOPKINS, Chairman and Managing Director, Canadair, Ltd. TOURING its 50 years of rapid growth, the -'-' aviation industry has remained as young and fascinating as ever and it seems that there are inexhaustible possibilities for further improve ments and perfection. Canadair's contribution to this development has thus far been largely in the field of aircraft production, and we take particular pride in our record of meeting delivery commit ments. During World War II, we built more than 350 Canso amphibians. In the post-war period, we converted approximately 350 Douglas C-47S to commercial DC-3S before we entered into the building of some 70 four-engined airliners of the North Star and Argonaut types. Since the outbreak of the Korean War, our facilities have been entirely at the disposal of the Canadian Government for the building of military aircraft of several different types. In addi tion, an important extension to our programme may develop as a result of studies that are presently being made of a large four-engined aircraft, suitable for long-range reconnaissance work. Throughout this post-war period, Canadair has not lost sight of the civil market. During 1952, we made a thorough investigation of the short-haul market and have subsequently come to the conclusion that there is a substantial air traffic potential on these routes that is still waiting to be exploited. To meet these and other demands, it is essential that any new type of aircraft, if it is to be successful, should represent technical and economic progress. In addition, timing on a project of this nature is very important. Aircraft designers, to a certain extent, have to be clairvoyant wffen it comes to meeting the demands of the future and having aircraft available for delivery when they are needed by the industry. As a result of the company's survey into the requirements of the short-haul operators, our engineers have designed a conven tional twin-engined, 32-passenger aircraft capable of meeting this specific demand of this type of operation. Our world survey has also shown that a good commercial aircraft lives much longer than is usually assumed. Airlines do not scrap a machine just because new and improved types become available. They either modernize them, retire the aircraft to less important services or sell them to some other operator. Filling all these requirements is no small order for a private company, but we believe that Canadair, with its modern production facilities and experienced personnel, will play an im portant part in the growth of future air transport. .anadair, with its modern production
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