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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1536.PDF
690 FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Royal Tour Departure LAST Monday evening, at 9.01, Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh left London Airport in a B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser on the first stage of their world tour. At the airport to bid them farewell were Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and other members of the Royal Family, together with members of the Government—headed by Sir Winston Churchill—and Commonwealth representatives. Weather was good for a northerly routeing across the Atlantic, the first to be made by air by a British monarch. Flying at 18,000ft for most of the time, Canopus landed at Gander at 0653 G.M.T., 22 minutes ahead of schedule, after a journey of 9 hr 52 min. Just before take-off for Bermuda at 0827, the Queen and the Duke appeared for a few moments at die door of die aircraft. The flight plan to Kindley Field showed an E.T.A. of 1400 hr G.M.T. Among members of the Household flying with Her Ma:esty were A. Cdre. Sir Edward Fielden, Captain of the Queen's Flight, and Lt-Cdr. Michael Parker, the Duke's private secretary. They travelled in die rear cabin. The Queen and the Duke occupied the forward cabin, the arrangements of which had been modified, and couches were provided for them on the port side, roughly amidships. The Duke visited the cockpit during the crossing but did not take over the controls. The aircraft, G-AKGK Canopus, was flown by a crew of 11 (see accompanying photograph) commanded by Capt. A. C. Loraine, who has 164 Adantic crossings and 14,300 flying hours to his credit. In reserve was another Stratocruiser, G-AJCGH Caledonia, with Capt. D. Anderson in command of a full crew. Canopus was due to fly to Montego Bay, Jamaica, from Gander, Newfoundland, via Bermuda, where a day was to be spent in official visits. The total flying distance of 4,770 miles was to be covered in 42 hours, including the stay in Bermuda. Ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy were stationed along die route, keeping constant radio watch during the flight, and R.C.A.F. aircraft escorted Canopus on the last 900 miles of the crossing to Gander and thence to Bermuda. A considerable portion of die tour, especially in New Zealand and Australia, will be made by air, and for this purpose the R.N.Z.A.F. and the R.A.A.F. have each formed a special Queen's Flight. Commonwealth air-transport companies also will carry the royal party on a number of journeys. Altogedier they will cover 10,000 miles by air in Australia alone, and will travel in Dakotas, Skymasters and a Heron. It is at the Queen's own request that such considerable use is being made of air transport during the tour. The Duke as R.A.F.A. President THE Royal Air Forces Association announces that Marshal of the R.A.F. the Duke of Edinburgh has graciously consented to become its president, with effect from June 12th-13th, the date of its next annual conference. Marshal of the R.A.F. Lord Tedder, elected vice-president last June, will be senior vice-president during die Duke's term of office. A New Swift A-f ANY months ago it was already clear that the Supermarine -'-*-'- Swift was certain to become a "second Spitfire" in that it would be developed through a number of marks for widely varying purposes. The first four marks are fighters; dieir detail differences were listed on p. 478 of our issue of October 2nd last. Now the first fighter/reccnnaissance mark can be men tioned : it is designated the Swift FR.5. The FR.5 is basically similar to the F.4, with die exception of die nose. This is longer and of slightly different profile, and houses the camera installation and odier equipment. The proto type FR.5 has already completed its initial flight trials. N.Z. Race Navigation A/fEMBERS of the Institute of Navigation, meeting in die •*-'•*• lecture-hall of the Royal Geographic Society last Friday, heard a first-hand account of the New Zealand Race when papers were read by two of the R.A.F. Canberra pilots and the chief navigator of the R.A.F. entry. The lecturers were W/C. L. M. Hodges, leader of the flight and pilot of the P.R.7; his navigator, S/L. R. Currie, and the winning pilot, F/L. R. L. E. Burton. Summing-up the lessons of the race, W/C. Hodges said it had further shown die potentialities of high-speed jet travel, and that within ten years a 24 hr trip to New Zealand might be commonplace. From a military angle, it had shown the flexibility of jets in an emergency. In the six months of preparation, and in the race itself, they had explored the range and speed charac teristics of the Canberra to a degree which might have taken 18 months to two years under normal squadron service conditions. No serious navigational difficulties had arisen, and the R.A.F. performance said much for die soundness of die basic navigational training in the Service. We hope to summarize the papers in our next week's issue. New A.B.A.C. Trophy Awarded '"THE first presentation of a cup donated by Mr. A. T. Lennox- -*- Boyd, M.P., for competition between this country's flying clubs was made at the Waldorf Hotel, London, on Friday last. The occasion was the annual dinner of the Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres, when the "most efficient club" —and therefore the prize-winner—proved to be the Southend Municipal Flying School. Deputizing for the Minister in proposing the health of the A.B.A.C. was Mr. John Profumo, M.P., parliamentary secretary to die M.T.C.A., who congratulated the association on the progress it had made, in spite of difficulties. He then quoted figures from the report of the association; flying membership was 5,300, and non-flying membership 6,100, compared with 4,600 and 4,000 respectively in 1950. During 1952, a total of 414 Private Pilots' Licences were issued, and 734 renewed. The clubs' most important contribution, he continued, lay in their encouragement of individualism, enterprise, courage and initiative in members. Mr. Profumo then handed to Lord Runci- man Mr. Lennox-Boyd's trophy, which was to be awarded annually to the most efficient club, and concluded by suggesting the thought of a Commonwealth association of aero clubs. Viscount Runciman of Doxford, president of the association, said in his reply that the aim of the Association remained diat of helping the clubs as much as possible. Turning to the Lennox- Boyd cup, Lord Runciman described the basis of the judging (which has been performed jointly by A.B.A.C. and M.T.C.A. officials). Sixty per cent of the marks were awarded for die clubs' actual flying, 20 per cent for administration, and 20 per cent for individual qualifications such as the extent of work in connection with the A.T.C. After much thought, the Committee had awarded the trophy to the Southend Flying School, with the Liverpool and Blackpool clubs second and third. Lord Runciman then presented the trophy to Mr. Bernard Collins, manager of the Southend School. Mr. B. L. Bathurst, listed as chairman of the association, began his toast to "The Guests" by explaining that, as from that afternoon, Mr. Eustace Miles had taken over this appointment. He went on to speak well of all the guests present, including one from the M.T.C.A., who had managed to include THE ROYAL FLIGHT: Crew of the B.O.A.C. Strato cruiser "Canopus," in which H.M. the Queen flew to Jamaica (see news-item above). Left to right: Capt. A. C. Loraine, Capt. R.A. Callander, 1st/0ff. J. E. Willett, Nav/Off. J. D. Elliott, R/Off. C. H. P. Phillips, Eng/Off. E. 0. Draper, Eng/Off. R. SkepeJ- horn, Stewards R. L. Dunkley, J. Jarvis, M. J. Heath and Stewardess J. Rolandi.
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