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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0647.PDF
641 FLIGHT, 22 May 1953 EXPORT MODEL: Now un dergoing pre-delivery chetks at Hatfield is F-BGNX, the first of three Cornet Series 1As for Air France. This fleet— the last Ghost-Comets to be built—will enter service this summer on routes between Paris and the Middle East. CIVIL AVIATION HUNTING ORDER VISCOUNTS AN order for Vickers Viscount 700s—the first to be placed by **• an independent airline—was announced on May 15th by Mr. P. L. Hunting, chairman of the group of companies bearing his name and director of Hunting Air Transport, Ltd. The announcement was made in Newcastle at a ceremony marking the inauguration of the airline's twice-daily Dakota service between Bovingdon and Woolsington Airport, Newcastle. The number of Viscounts was not officially stated, but a report that Huntings had ordered three at a cost of £900,000 is believed to be correct. The company's present fleet consists of eight Vikings, four Dakotas and three Yorks, which are employed on a wide variety of regular and non-scheduled services. Hunting Air Trans port operate the "colonial coach" Safari service to Nairobi in con junction with Airwork, Ltd., and, as mentioned above, have just opened a new internal ser vice. This is the first of a number of new routes serving traffic centres in north-east Eng land and Scotland. Tomorrow, May 23rd, services are due to begin on the Newcastle-Glasgow, Newcastle-Paris and Newcastle- Luxemburg-Basle routes and in augural flights from Newcastle to Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg and Cop enhagen should take place within the next few days. In addition, the company's aircraft are employed on trooping and casual charter. Of 59,000 passengers in 1952 two-thirds were troops. Mr. Hunting did not specify the exact use to which the Vis counts will be put, although a company statement says that the airline looks forward to flying the aircraft in the near future (delivery will presumably be in 1955-56) on scheduled services, contract operations and ordinary charter. At present it seems likely that, in high-density form, Hunting's Viscounts may be used largely for the carriage of servicemen and their families to and from Malta and Gibraltar. The company at present hold* a War Office contract for flying 30,000 people annually on these routes, on both of which the Viscount could be operated to advan tage. Introduction of these modern aircraft on the colonial coach services might not be possible at first, since the low fares now offered between London and Nairobi are conditional upon the use of obsolescent aircraft, which must fly to a slower schedule than B.O.A.C.'s first- and second-class services. LYMPNE FOR SALE TN a written reply, Mr. Profumo, Parliamentary Secretary to J the M.C.A., said last week that the Ministry had decided to offer Lympne Airport for sale. Some months ago it was offered to Folkestone Corporation who, after consultations with other local authorities, decided not to buy the airfield. Silver City Airways, who have paid over £30,000 to the M.C.A. in landing fees at Lympne, have reiterated their willingness to buy the airport at "a reasonable price." ANOTHER NEW INTERNAL SERVICE TAST Monday, May 18th, saw the introduction of a new *-J week-day service between London and West Hartlepool. Operated with 32-seat Dakotas by B.K.S. Aerocharter, Ltd., the VISCOUNT CUSTOMER: Mr. P. L. Hunting. service leaves Greatham Airport at 8.30 a.m. and arrives at Northolt 1 hr 20 min later, returning from Northolt to Greatham at 6 p.m. The fares charged are £3 10s od single and £7 os od return (identical with those charged by Hunting Air Transport on their Newcastle-London route) and the service operates from Mondays to Fridays inclusive. Passengers are "processed" through the new B.E.A. London Terminal at Waterloo. PRINCESS IN VISCOUNT O N Thursday, May 14th, H.R.H. Princess Margaret flew from London Airport to Oslo in a B.E.A. Viscount to attend the wedding of Princess Ragnhild. Flown by B.E.A.'s chief pilot, Captain W. Baillie, the Royal aircraft was G-AMOB, William Baffin, sixth of its type to be delivered to the Corporation. The return flight, with Capt. A. S. Johnson in command, was made on Sunday. AIR-SEA TRAVEL AGREEMENT REPRESENTATIVES of five airlines and 23 companies of the Interchange Shipping Lines met in London on May 13th and agreed to revive the pre-war system of providing inter changeable air-sea travel between Europe, Africa, the Far East and Australia. A committee was convened to formulate the agreement, details of which will be announced later. The five airlines concerned are Air France, B.E.A., Sabena, K.L.M. and Qantas. I.A.T.A. TECHNICAL SESSIONS PRESENT as well as future problems were discussed when the I.A.T.A. technical conference took place at Puerto Rico recently. In addition to the helicopter symposium (reported in last week's issue), there were discussions on two complex and ever-topical aspects of present civil operations : performance requirements, and air-traffic control in the terminal area. A num ber of the conclusions reached are summarized briefly below; as in the case of the helicopter session, the discussions will later be published by I.A.T.A. in book form. Factors affecting performance.—The need for a new airworthi ness code was stressed, with the proviso that present safety-levels should be maintained without sacrificing efficiency "for the sake of theoretical and uneconomic restrictions on performance." In particular, the Technical Committee felt that requirements should be flexible enough to permit "local treatment of local problems." Improvements in temperature, wind and humidity statistics for all international airports were felt to be essential if these factors are to be incorporated in performance codes on a realistic basis. Climb stability rather then stalling speed was favoured as a datum for the selection of unstick speed (V2), and it was recom mended that V2 should be a function of zero climbing speed with one engine inoperative. The Committee felt that a better under standing was needed on (a) re-certification of aircraft after minor modifications and (b) certification for protection against icing, since in both cases unrealistic procedures have imposed economic penalties on operators. On the subject of aircraft design, the following improvements were discussed :—instruments to give the pilot a better idea during take-off of distance travelled along the runway in relation to acceleration achieved; a more accurate fuel-remaining gauge; airscrews which can always be feathered at will; more accurate outside air temperature indication; higher permissible rates of descent without speed restrictions within the normal cruising range; more satisfactory icing rate indication. Traffic in the terminal area.—The following statement was issued by the Committee at the end of the discussions:— (1) The total capacity of an airport to handle traffic under instrument flying conditions must be related, not only to the air navigation system which serves it, but equally to the capacity of the airways which feed into it, its relationship to other airports in the same terminal area, and
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