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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1588.PDF
742 FLIGHT, 4 December 1953 ROYAL TRANSIT-STOP: H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh disembark from the B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser "Canopus" at Kindley Field, Bermuda. The aircraft later carried the Royal party on to Jamaica, returning to London on Saturday. On Tuesday Sir Winston Churchill was due to leave for Bermuda in the same machine. CIVIL AVIATION . . . the requisite qualifications, but contact has been established with other countries with a view to the exchange of information with similar bodies there. As soon as the first Court of the Guild is elected we shall be accepting further members." Mr. Woodruff's address is 1, The Grove, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middlesex. VISCOUNTS PAY THEIR WAY COME remarkable B.E.A. operating statistics for the Viscount « during its first A\ months of airline operation were published last week. Up to the end of August the fleet had earned £963,000, of which £212,000 was profit. Average revenue load factor was 71.4 per cent, contrasting with a breakeven load factor (total costs) of only 55 per cent. Viscounts had carried 42,000 passengers over an average stage-distance of 635 miles at 231 m.p.h. Passenger preference for the Viscount has been shown by traffic results on the routes operated by these aircraft during the period concerned—London to Istanbul, Cyprus, Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Following the introduction of the turboprop airliner, B.E.A.'s share of the Zurich traffic rose from a summer average of 25 per cent to over 40 per cent in the first two months and has since been maintained at this level. On the Geneva route the Viscount increased B.E.A.'s share of traffic from 20-25 per cent to 53 per cent by June; the average percentage gain on the Scandinavian route has been 12 per cent, and on the Istanbul service approximately 18 per cent more passenger traffic has gone to B.E.A. since the Viscount came into service. On all routes the average gain to B.E.A. has been 16j per cent. The Corporation now has 12 Viscounts in service on nine routes. These provisional figures are based on an average fleet of only about half the present strength, and results have been maintained or improved since the end of August. We estimate that the profit earned by Viscounts, for example, is now nearer £400,000, and that the break-even load factor on direct costs is not much more than 25 per cent. SILVER CITY FINED A COURT case in London on November 27th was the sequel to a forced landing early this year by a Silver City Airways Freighter. The aircraft, piloted by Capt. D. S. Flett, took off from Berlin on January 19th to fly to Hamburg; it could not land there or at the alternative, Bremen, because of bad weather and returned to Berlin. It was held over Berlin and ran out of fuel while waiting to land; both pilot and radio operator were injured when the Freighter descended on a railway line in the Russian zone. On a summons that the person in command failed to satisfy himself that the aircraft flew with sufficient fuel, including a safe margin for contingencies, Silver City Airways, Ltd., were fined £200 with 40gn costs, and Capt. Flett was fined £50; on a further summons, for not carrying a second pilot, the owners and captain of the aircraft were fined, respectively, £20 and £10. CLUB AND GLIDING NEWS A MOST interesting and useful "gen session" was held at Dunstable last Saturday, when the London Gliding Club's successful entrants in this year's national gliding championships spoke of their flights, hopes and mistakes during the eight-day contest. The team's discussion was chaired in effective manner by Alan Yates. After a brief account of some general aspects of contest flying by Geoffrey Stephenson (national champion), members of the team gave a day-by-day description of their flights during the nationals. Geoffrey Stephenson, Dan Smith and Frank Foster had entered for the individual section, and Godfrey Lee with Charles Ellis, and Alan Yates with Geoffrey Nixon for the team section. Among the flights described was that by Godfrey Lee from Great Hucklow to Marham, begun after waiting and soaring above the Derbyshire site for 4i hours. The whole flight lasted for almost eight hours, and the distance covered was 105 miles. The out-and-return race to Rearsby on the sixth day of the contest provided the incredibly well-judged final glide-in by Philip Wills, the only competitor to complete the course. The difficult conditions on the return leg were described by Foster, Nixon and "Steve," who himself landed only 3j miles short of Great Hucklow. On the final day, flights were towards Lympne (193 miles). The only pilot to reach this goal was Steve, in a brilliant six-hour flight which he himself described as the high-spot in his gliding career. The interesting and variable nature of the weather con ditions on this day were emphasized by the accounts of Foster (who reached Buntingford on a second attempt), Smith (who reached Colchester) and Ellis (who reached Southend). Summing up, the chairman mentioned the championship results: Stephenson with a clear lead of 89 points, and next Dan Smith, Philip Wills and Frank Foster with only two points separating their scores. In the team class, Lee and Ellis were runners-up to the E.T.P.S. team, with Yates and Nixon third. Winning ten of the contest's 16 awards, the club had indeed put up a fine show. Following the discussion, films taken at Great Hucklow and at last year's international championships in Spain were shown by John Furlong. * * * TiJ"ARGINAL conditions of visibility, in spite of a warm sun, •*•"-*- restricted the activity at the lunch patrol organized by the Denham Flying Club on Sunday last. Five defending aircraft were airborne, and six visitors (four from Elstree, one Redhill and one Thame) managed to find Denham in the murk; only one aircraft arrived unspotted, nevertheless all visitors received free lunches. During fog which descended during the patrol, the crew of one of the Denham Magisters lost sight of the airfield and, after flying through very thick fog for some time, landed the aircraft in a field near St. Albans. The two occupants were Miss Janet Ferguson and her mother Mrs. L. M. Ferguson. All six attacking aircraft were forced to stay at Denham overnight due to the fog. Sunday's fog was also believed to be the cause of a regrettable accident to the occupants of a Magister of the Redhill Flying Club, who had taken off from Redhill to examine weather condi tions before deciding whether to fly to Denham for the lunch patrol. The aircraft came down in a garden at Nutfield, near Redhill, during the fog, and the two occupants were killed. They were Mr. Robert Holmes and Mr. A. W. Webster, both members of the Redhill Club. * * * ""P O CELEBRATE the 50th anniversary of powered flight, the -*- annual dinner and dance of the Rochester Flying Club will be held this year on Tuesday, December 15th. The venue will be the Tudor House, Bearsted, and the time, 8.30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Further details may be obtained from the club at the airport, Rochester. * * * A TOTAL of 2,000 pilot licences were issued in France during the first ten months of this year, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Aviation. The Ministry said there were now 227 private flying clubs in France and the Overseas Territories. * * * T^LYING hours for the Wiltshire Flying Club during September -* and October -amounted to 621, bringing the year's total to 2,408. From June to November, 29 P.P.L.s were obtained, and three club members are completing the course for the Junior Commercial Pilot's Licence. Short night-flying courses have been carried out, and a night-flying programme is flown at Thruxton every Monday and Wednesday, weather permitting.
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