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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1448.PDF
602 FLIGHT, 30 October 1953 CIVIL AVIATION . . . MORE SUPER CONNIES FOR T.WA. AN order for twelve additional L.1049E Super Constellations is - announced by Trans World Airlines, who recendy signed a contract for eight of these aircraft. Already T.W.A. operate 78 Constellations, more than any other airline, and the 20 improved versions now on order will bring the total to 98. The model 1049E, powered by Wright turbo-compound engines, is in most respects similar to the 1049Cs recently introduced by K.L.M. with the addition of structural modifications to permit future increases in all-up-weight if more engine power becomes avail able. It will be used by T.W.A. on both the new coast-to-coast service (now operated by earlier-type Model 1049s with non- compound engines) and the Transatlantic routes. RAPIDE REVIVAL T ARGE numbers of D.H. Rapides are still in service in many -*-' parts of the world and their operators have for some time past been lamenting the absence of a direct replacement capable of using the same airfields and of operating with similar economy and reliability. A temporary solution now presents itself as a result of the development of a Series IV Rapide by Flightways, Ltd., of Southampton Airport (Easdeigh). The first Series IV Rapide was illustrated in our issue of June 12th. This machine, G-AHGF, is now having long-range tanks fitted for a delivery flight to New Zealand. The second air craft is nearing completion for Mr. Alec Noon of Noon and Pearce Air Charters Ltd., who operate from Nairobi. Rapide IVs with v.p. Series II Queen engines not only have a good single-engine performance but have a gready improved take off and slightly higher cruising speed (140 m.p.h., compared with 132 m.p.h.). An increase in a.u.w., now pending—from 5,500 to 6,000 lb—will also permit more economical operation. Overhaul life for the Queen II is at present 750 hr, but there seems no reason why an application for extension should not be granted. Noon and Pearce will probably undertake the conversion of a number of Rapides to Series IV standard. The public objection to biplanes which is often experienced in Europe does not affect operators in Africa and several other regions overseas. AS mentioned in our leading article, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh was on October 22nd installed with due ceremony as Grand Master of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators of the British Empire. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Lord Mayor and a distinguished gathering of some 500 in the Grocers' Hall, Princes Street, London. The new Master, Captain David Brice, and the Wardens and Assistants, were sworn in after the Duke, and the ceremony closed with prayers. Following this, die Guild trophies and parchments were presented by the Duke. The Johnson Memorial Trophy was awarded for 1952 to the captains and crews of R.A.F. aircraft Aries. The Cumberbatch Trophy was presented personally to Mr. E. S. Calvert, B.Sc, A.R.Sc.I., and the Brackley Memorial Trophy was received from the Duke by Mr. Geoffrey A. V. Tyson. On the completion of the Installation ceremony both the Grand Master and the Master addressed those present. His Royal High ness began by saying that the Queen had particularly asked him to tell them how much she regretted having to give up the position of Grand Master—"but what is her loss is my gain." Quite apart from the great honour that he felt, said the Duke, he valued most highly this opportunity of making contact with the airmen of the Empire, and he could imagine no more suitable organization to bring together all those who had the best interests of the profession of air pilots and air navigators at heart. "Last year," he continued, "I began to learn to fly. There were two reasons for doing this. First, like some small boys who want to drive railway engines, I wanted to learn to fly, and last year, with the unstinted help of the Air Ministry and a dauntless instructor, I set about achieving this ambition. Secondly, because I realized that wherever men are banded together by a common task or profession, there develops a certain sympathy between them, and particularly is this true of airmen. I thought that if I knew how to fly I might begin to understand some of the demands on—and some of the difficulties of—pilots, whether Service or air-line . . . "The need for supremacy in aircraft design, both military and commercial, has quite righdy loosened the Treasury's purse-strings like no other undertaking. We should all heartily applaud the further development of the aircraft industry, and we should encourage their efforts by recognizing their successes. "However, that only deals with the men who are concerned with the manufacture of aircraft. Now what about the men who fly them? Service, airline and civilian, they are a body of men for whom, if I may say so, I have the very highest regard, admira- BREVITIES CAPT. W. J. CRAIG, one of B.O.A.C.'s senior Stratocruiser pilots, is the latest addition to the small band of airline captains who have made 400 Atlantic crossings. His flying time, accumulated over the last 22 years, totals 12,000 hours. * * The Air Registration Board announces the issue of a new Notice to Licensed Aircraft Engineers and Owners of Civil Air craft; it is No. 43, Issue 1, October 14th, 1953, entitled The Use of Jointing Compound in Fuel Systems, and deals with obstruc tions caused by excessive use of such compounds. * * * The Institute of Transport announces that Mr. Dennis H. Handover, a director of S.A.S., Ltd., has been elected a member of the council. * * * The New York firm of A. E. Ulmann and Associates, Ltd., who act as purchasing agents and consultants for B.E.A. and Alitalia, announce that they have been appointed to act in a similar capacity for Luftag, the precursor of Lufthansa. * * * The appointment is announced of Mr. M. D. Day, O.B.E., A.M.I.Mech.E., A.F.R.Ae.S., as technical manager of Skyways, Ltd. After nearly 10 years' service with the R.A.F., Mr. Day joined B.O.A.C. in 1945, becoming chief engineer of Airways Training, Ltd., at Aldermaston. He was later seconded for four years to the Egyptian Aircraft Engineering Co. as technical manager. * * * Bermuda has withheld from B.O.A.C. permission to pick up or set down passengers witii the weekly tourist Constellation service from London to Barbados and Trinidad. A refuelling stop only is made at Kindley Field, Bermuda. This is believed to be the first occasion on which a Colonial administration has refused traffic rights to B.O.A.C.; the refusal is interpreted as an attempt to force the Corporation to increase the frequency of its first-class Stratocruiser services connecting Bermuda with New York. tion and respect. In fact, that is why I have accepted this position as Grand Master of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators of the British Empire. "The aeronautical profession is a relatively new one, and is still in the process of finding its feet, but I think this Guild has great tasks still ahead of it, and I hope I may be of some help to it in these tasks. The temporal side of aviation is fully looked after already. It is my hope, therefore, that this Guild will become to an ever-increasing extent the spiritual centre, so to speak, of aviation, concerned not so much with the details of life as with the broad principles of policy, designed to fit these relatively new professions of air pilots and air navigators into the general struc ture of professional life in this country and in the Commonwealth." Capt. Brice, in his installation speech as Master, remarked on how fitting it was that the Duke of Edinburgh should become Grand Master in his first year as a fully fledged pilot and at a time when the Guild was moving ever nearer to the official recog nition which had been its goal since 1929: "I feel that if Sir Sefton Brancker, who laid die foundations of this body, was here tonight, he would be well satisfied at the progress we have made." Speaking of this year's celebration of 50 years of powered flight, Capt. Brice remarked that among those present on the platform that evening were two men—John Lankester Parker and O. P. Jones—who had not only lived through the whole lifetime of the aeroplane to date, but had "helped to teach it how to fly." We were now moving into a new era of flight, said Capt. Brice, and in the development of the gas turbine and the rocket Great Britain was leading the way—"That this country, which so often before has been discounted too early, should lead the world in such matters as this, is surely one of the most stirring things of our time." Of the Guild itself, the speaker said that there were still people who were under the impression that it acted as a nursemaid to lead pilots by the hand through the trials and problems which from time to time confronted them. He went on to explain that " 'Guild' is just a word we use to wrap around ourselves, to unify us, to hold us together so that we may present a concerted front to a nation which has expected men to band together in this fashion for the last 800 years. Underneath it all we are still pilots, and it is for us to ensure our own future. That we have made this thing we call our guild out of the material of our minds is the measure of our worth in the eyes of other men." The evening concluded with a conversazione, during which guests were formally presented to the Grand Master. G.A.P.A.N. INSTALLATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
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