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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0320.PDF
318 FLIGHT, 6 March 1953 AIRPORT EQUIPMENT A Summary of the more Important Items and their Uses MUCH is heard in these progressive days of faster arid safer aircraft which are claimed to fly higher and more smoothly with a greater number of passengers than ever before; but it must not be forgotten that an airline is only as good as the ground organization on its routes permits it to be. Basic maintenance arrangements are of paramount importance, and much also depends on the equipment available for quick turn-round of aircraft. Perhaps the most obvious need is for first-class, risk-free refuelling arrangements. Tanker capacities at the present time vary from 4,000 gallons downwards, and separate tankers must be provided for 100-, 108- and 115-octane petrol and for aviation kerosine—not to mention low-octane fuel for light-aircraft operation. Special under-wing pressure refuelling systems are now coming into use, requiring comple mentary tanker arrangements, and Comets are already replenished in this way; similar arrangements are incorporated on Viscounts, but at present the slower and more conservative over-wing method is generally employed. This no doubt is because Comet capacity is 7,000 gallons, whereas that of the Viscount is a mere 1,720. Rate of fuel-flow through each hose of a modern tanker may be as high as 200 gall/min, so control arrangements must be both simple and positive. Furthermore, earthing precautions for aircraft and supply vehicle must always be taken before any transfer of fuel is attempted, otherwise there is a serious risk of fire. Small tankers are used for replenishing oil levels. Turbine power units require special lubricants, a fact which will become of increasing importance as power outputs rise. A third type of tanker is also employed, carrying relatively small quantities of several different materials, such as methanol, windscreen and airscrew de-icing liquids, and hydraulic fluids. From refuelling, a logical step is to fire-fighting technique, and in this category there is a great diversity of equipment available. Modern crash tenders will deliver huge quantities of foam and/or CO2 in very short periods—figures of 3,500 gallons of foam and 2,400 cu ft of gas within one and a half minutes are quoted for one large unit. Trailers are available for small airfields, and there is a whole variety of hand-held or wall-type appliances for every conceivable occasion. The reagent used for putting out the fire may be CO2, foam, methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride or "wet water" (water containing chemicals which increase its penetrating power and fire-fighting effectiveness, and at the same time lower its freezing point so that it remains operative in cold weather). If there is a serious fire in an airciaft, at least one of the crash-tender crew will require to wear protective clothing. The asbestos suits used enable a man to operate amidst burning petrol for three or four minutes: so far as the material itself is concerned, the time could be longer, but human lungs cannot stand the hot air that gathers inside the suit for any greater period. Other asbestos equipment in use includes concer tina hose—for connecting air-conditioning vans to aircraft with minimum loss of heat—and pressure hosing, fot enabling mobile compressor sets to be coupled to fuselages for the purpose of ground-testing pressurization systems. Air-conditioning vans have a very useful future ahead of them in tropical or arctic climates. Many other types of vehicle, beyond those already discussed, are to be found at a modern airport. There must be ground-starter units capable of ministering to a wide range of aircraft. Battery-trollies are still in wide use at small fields, but the modern tendency, where large aircraft are catered for, is to replace these with petrol or diesel units that more readily supply the considerable current required: steady outputs of 600 or so amp, with peak loads rising to 1,000-1,500, may be demanded by a powerful aircraft. Cleaning devices of various kinds are required. Amongst these we can include specially designed aircraft vacuum-cleaners that will pick up pieces of metal as well as dust and dirt without damage to themselves—and possibly magnetic sweepers, such as that described in Flight last week. Again, there must be tractors of all sizes. These may be powered by petrol or diesel engines: they normally have pneumatic tyres, and between them must be capable of economically pulling anything from the lightest baggage truck to the heaviest aircraft. Drawbar-height is often variable, and full lighting is provided. Another increasingly useful vehicle is the fork-lift truck. Being equipped with an elevating mast and forks at the front, this type of equipment can pick up all manner of loads and either stack them on top of each other or load them into aircraft. Weights of up to 20,000 lb can be lifted by the largest trucks of this type. Finally, in the transport line, there are the specially- designed airport coaches, usually built to operators' specifications. We have now examined the main run of mobile equipment likely to be encountered; let us finish by focusing attention on the important static equipment. The centre of this is the control tower, which at a busy airport has three important ground systems to operate—R/T, lighting, and some means of determining the position of aircraft actually on the airfield (navaids in general are discussed on pages 291-292 of this issue). Taking the last first, it is well-known that at the vast airport at Idlewild a ground radar system has been in operation for some time, which has been successful in indicating the positions of aircraft on the ground. This success is doubtless partly due to the equipment itself, and partly to the excellent aerial position high up on the control tower. London Airport beocon (Osram lighting) Experiments have recently been conducted at London Airport with two similar types of equipment. R/T—now almost invariably V.H.F.—is provided not only for com munication with aircraft, but for giving instructions to ground vehicles. These are the crash tenders and other mobile equipment; and aircraft-marshalling staff are often instructed by "walkie-talkie." Finally, we come to the lighting scheme, which at large airfields is extremely complex. Two systems which have been agreed to by I.C.A.O. are the Calvert and the A.L.P.A.: the former, which has been installed at London Airport for some time past, may briefly be described as follows. Essentially it comprises a long, sloping row of lights situated on the final phase of the approach as a continuation of the centre line of the runway. At right angles across this long line are several bars of lights; there is a threshold bar across the end of the runway; and along both sides of the latter further flush-lights. In normal visibility, all the approach lighting is red, the landing bar green, and the runway lights white. A high-intensity low-visibility system is, however, provided on the same stands, the difference being thar the approach bars are then normally yellow sodium lamps, and the long centre-line white. Taxi-ways have latterly been marked by two rows of blue lights, but a single set of bluish-green ones down the centre is a new recommendation. The whole system is controlled from the tower with the aid of a form of illuminated diagram—a plan of the field which may be up to 300 sq ft or more in area. A flashing identi fication beacon, and red obstruction lights, complete the picture. SOME SUPPLIERS OF GROUND EQUIPMENT Air Conditioning, De-Frosting, etc., Vehicles and Servicing Equipment.—Bryans Aeroquipment, Ltd., Sir George Godfrey and Partners, Ltd., M. L. Aviation Co., Ltd., Rollason Aerocessories, Ltd. Aircraft Weighing Equipment.—Kenton Equipment, Ltd. Airfield Equipment (GeneraL.—R. K. Dundas, Ltd., Essex Areo, Ltd., S. Grahame Ross, Ltd., the Pyrene Co., Ltd. Control-tower Equipment.—International Aeradio, Ltd., Short and Mason, Ltd., Thermionic Products, Ltd. Fire-Fighting Equipment.—Airfoam Fire Protection, Ltd., George Angus and Co., Ltd., Bell's Asbestos and Engineering, Ltd., Coventry Climax Engines, Ltd., General Fire Appliance Co., the Walter Kidde Co., Ltd., Merryweather and Sons, Ltd.. the Pyrene Co., Ltd. Fork-Lift Trucks.—Conveyancer Fork Truck Co., Coventry Climax Engines, Ltd., I.T.D., Ltd., Mathew Bros., Power Jacks, Ltd. Ground Starter Equipment.—Lincoln Electric Co., Ltd., M.T.E. Control Gear, Ltd.. Murex Welding Processes, Ltd., Petbow, Ltd., Peto and Radford, Westinghouse Brake and Signal Co., Ltd. Hangars, Airfield Buildings, and Associated Equipment.— Bellman Hangars, Ltd., Boulton and Paul, Ltd., Chamberlain Industries, Ltd., Essavian, Ltd., Structural and Mechanical Development Engineers, Ltd., Surrey Concrete, Ltd. High-Pressure Hosing.—Bell's Asbestos and Engineering, Ltd., Skyhi, Ltd. Maintenance Rostra, Passenger Steps, etc.—Aero Controls, Ltd., Barnards, Ltd., Merryweather and Sons, Ltd., Moss and Sons, Ltd., Reynolds Tube Co.. Ltd. Marine-base Equipment.—S. Grahame Ross, Ltd., Vosper, Ltd. Mobile Cranes, Jacks, Lifting Equipment, etc.—Brown Bros. (Aircraft) Ltd., Chamberlain Industries, Ltd., Coles, Ltd., Skyhi, Ltd., Taylor and Sons (Manchester) Ltd. Pyrotechnics.—Schermuly Pistol Rocket Apparatus. Ltd., The Y.S.C., Ltd. Radar for Location of Aircraft on Ground.—Cossor Radar, Ltd., Decca Radar, Ltd. Refuelling and Lubricating Equipment.—Flight Refuelling, Ltd., Steel Barrel Co., Tecalemit, Ltd., Thompson Bros. (Bilston) Ltd., C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., Wayne Tank and Pump Co., Ltd., Zwicky, Ltd. Refuelling Service.—Esso Petroleum Co., Ltd., Ragosine Oil Co., Ltd., Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd. Remote Control and Telecommunication Equipment.—Auto matic Telephone and Electric Co., Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd. Runway and General Lighting Equipment.—British Insulated Callender's Cables, Ltd., British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., Butlers, Ltd., Chance Bros., Ltd., General Electric Co., Ltd., Harley Aircraft Landing Lamps, Londex, Ltd., St. Helens Cable and Rubber Co., Ltd. Short-Range Radiocommunication.—Marconi, Ltd., Pye, Ltd., Redifon, Ltd. Snowploughs.—J. J. Johnston and Co., Ltd. Sound Equipment.—Ardente Acoustic Laboratories, Ltd., Central Rediffusion Services, Ltd., Communication Systems, Ltd., Redifon, Ltd., Tannoy Products, Ltd. Toilet-servicing Equipment.—Air Service Training, Ltd. Tractors, Baggage-Trollies, etc.—Bamards, Ltd., David Brown Tractors, Ltd., P. C. and C. K. Chase, Ltd., Lansing Bagnall, Ltd., Mercury Truck and Tractor Co. Vacuum Cleaners.—British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co., Ltd., New Welbeck, Ltd.
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