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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1003.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2324 Vol. LXIV. FRIDAY, 7 AUGUST 1953 EDITOR. MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT ED/TOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1. Telegrams, Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone, Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices: COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams Autocar, Coventry. Telephone, Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2 King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams, Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone, /Hid/and 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate Telegrams, lliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C2. 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams, lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone, Central 1265 (2 lines). SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas: Twelve months £3 3s. Od. U.S.A. and Canada, $10.00. BY AIR: To Canada and U.S.A., six months, $16. IN THIS ISSUE : The Gliding Championships - - 158 Long Trek Two - - - 163 Boeing's New Airliner - 166 The Viper 170 Naval Variety - - - 175 Sikorsky S-52 Series ... 178 Smoothness all the way T HERE are several stages in the process of winning the individual over to air travel, and the true test-case is on those journeys for which there is the alternative of good surface transportation. In the first place there is the publicity to acquaint him with the possibilities of the air; next the further advertising of specific routes, the operat ing companies concerned, their aircraft and the times and costs involved. Somewhat later on, when the customer is sampling airline travel for the first time, his treatment and the impressions he forms will, we believe, have a much greater influence than any thing else upon his decision to fly again on other occasions. As more and more people use the airlines it is almost inevitable that much of the personal touch should be lost during the ground handling, although it can and has been preserved in the aircraft—particularly in British aircraft. There is little doubt that to cut down on the staff and facilities which provide those small things that result in indi vidual attention, personal comfort, and peace of mind, is a false kind of economy. Selling points of air travel are speed, comfort, convenience and cleanliness, of which the third is now letting down the others badly, particularly if speed is considered only in terms of the air journey and the proceedings on the ground are placed under the heading of convenience. Much has been achieved by the British Corporations, but much more could be done to add to convenience and thus improve the passenger's opinion of the line concerned and air travel in general. Every satisfied customer becomes a valuable salesman or saleswoman; conversely, the disgruntled ones—who usually have the most to say—may put off dozens of others. Long-distance services pose rather different reception and departure problems from those of the frequent, short Continental and inter-city routes. For all, however, the coach ride (the whole way or nothing) and the early reporting create a bad impression, and the five-shilling fare ("in English money, please") aggravates the position. (The M.C.A.'s recent decision to abandon the five-shilling head tax will be well received.) Again, it should be possible to cut down on the long wait which follows passage through Customs and immigration prior to departure, and a perennial irritation is the not infre quent further delay for which no explanation is forthcoming. This sort of thing is unques tionably holding back air travel. We have purposely omitted the official paperwork and Customs, over which the airlines have little control. Following discussions with a number of people who have frequently or occasionally travelled by air at their own personal expense, we would propose for consideration two other possibilities for improvement under the "convenience" heading. First, we would suggest an all-in ticket costing, say, £i more than the standard fare and which would exempt the passenger from the fiddling 5s. road-fare, would provide a reserved seat in the aircraft (and so avoid the round-up and scramble at the gate), and cover the cost— particularly in London—of routing a limousine to three or four strategic points to suit the convenience of passengers. This vehicle should have sufficient speed to take advan tage of the de-controlled by-pass roads on the way to the airports, and sufficient accelera tion to pass slow-moving commercial vehicles. As we have personally observed in the coaches, there are few things that cause more annoyance than crawling at 20 m.p.h. behind a heavy lorry on the long drive into London and then jolting even more slowly through the denser traffic to Victoria or Waterloo (no intermediate stop is allowed), particularly if one's final destination is Kensington or the West End. A second suggestion for London Airport is the provision of a first-class airport hotel for early-departing, late-arriving or delayed travellers. Passengers due to take off at gam could enjoy a night's sleep in comfort and, after breakfast at normal time, could proceed to the departure hall much as they would go to the platform from the railway station hotel Many would prefer this to rising at 5 a.m. in order to report at the town terminal at 6 30, to get into the bus at 7, to be driven to the airport by 8, to wait in the lounee at 8 30, and to embark—perhaps—at 8.50. Once airborne, to arrive at the airports of Rome Geneva or elsewhere in less time than it would take to retrace one's steps through formalities, bus ride and town terminal, is some compensation; but not enough.
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