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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1297.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2332 Vol. LXIV. FRIDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1953 EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR 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, Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams, lliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 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 England to New Zealand Race 456 B-57s Start to Flow - - 460 Sires of the Swift - - - 461 The Anglo-American Conference 486 Supermarine Record T HE bulk of this issue is devoted to the products and achievements of one of the great companies of the British aircraft industry during forty years of existence. Any apprehension which might be felt that twenty pages of history would prove heavy going for any readers whose minds are preoccupied with entirely modern affairs will, we feel sure, be dispelled by perusal of no more than a paragraph or two. From the beginning the story of Supermarines is one of enterprise and adventure. There will be few so unimaginative as to be left unmoved by recollections of the exploits of Schneider Cup Race days, and, after the trophy had been won outright, of the building of the Spitfires just in time to play their historic part in the Battle of Britain. Just now speed records and races are very much in the public eye. It is not always easy to justify the cost and loss of ordinary development time which may be occasioned by such attempts; yet on reading through the pages devoted to the company selected for this, our latest historical article, one cannot but be impressed both by the stimulating effect resulting from the striving for ever-higher speeds and by the technical knowledge and experience which have been derived directly from aircraft specially prepared for racing or record. That the Supermarine Swift should, during the time of preparation of this issue, have achieved the highest speed under low-level world-record conditions is a happy coin cidence. It should be taken, perhaps, as an indication of the changed circumstances that Mike Lithgow's flights had to be carried out in Libya in order to take advantage of the high temperature. This helped him to better Duke's figure established in the Hunter. In America, sonic speed has already been achieved in level flight, though not yet, we believe, at low level, and in some quarters it is felt that the rules governing the inter national speed record will have to be revised. It is to be hoped that the sound barrier will not put a stop to speed-record attempts as we know them, for they have in the past subscribed much to the spirit and technique of aviation. Dividends and Deficits ALMOST simultaneous publication of the airline Corporations' annual reports rk (which, incidentally, always prove more informative than comparable documents) •EJLmakes this an appropriate occasion for consideration of their joint achievements— and the two national airlines have achieved a great deal, first in keeping up with stiff foreign competition and now in setting the pace. We are not among those who believe that the State operators can do no wrong, but, remembering that they have grown at an unprecedented rate into major companies, we feel that they have good cause to be proud of their achievements to date. Most air travellers will agree that both B.O.A.C. and B.E.A. are a credit to the nation. What of the problems as indicated in their report? B.O.A.C., who weathered a difficult year and successfully pioneered jet travel, will be readily forgiven for proclaim ing a small profit which somehow emerges in this year's books as a small, built-in deficit. The main thing is that the Corporation received no Treasury grant and operated at no cost to the tax-payer. Nearer home, we observe that the consistency of B.E.A.'s losses over the last three years (and the observation is in no sense derogatory) confirms the belief that the current combination of tasks faced by this conscientious and enter prising team is not compatible with the achievement of a profit in the commercial sense. In speaking of profits, we might ask just how many national airlines do show a real profit without subsidy. The subsidies paid to foreign operators may either be hidden or paid openly as the accepted price of air-transport progress, but rarely are they regarded on the books as downright deficits. The Corporations contend, not without justification, that to have to declare a deficit under these circumstances is bad, variously, for staff morale, the airlines' reputation and for national prestige. Both airlines have made representations on the subject, in each case for different reasons. Their brief should be made quite clear. Is it simply to operate at a profit year by year, or is it also in addition to develop British air routes and airliners and to keep open social services even if they are unprofitable? As B.E.A. point out, the question is essentially one of national book-keeping, and it seems to merit reconsideration.
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