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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0039.PDF
A 0* W1* FLIGHT, 1 January 1954 23 DUMMY RUN: Shown "flying" the Redifon simulator used for training &.O.A.C. Comet crews at Meadowbank is Capt. Wharton of Qantas Empire Airways. Although no order for Comets has as yet been placed by his company, it is intended that later this year Comet 2s will be jointly operated by B.O.A.C. and Qantas on the Kangaroo route to Sydney. CIVIL AVIATION . . . were elected to membership: Slick, Flying Tiger, Seaboard and Western, Overseas National, Californian Eastern and Trans- Ocean. Between them, these companies operate 93 aircraft— 36 DC-4s, 2 DC-SAs, 51 C-46s and 4 PBYs—and have on order a total of 13 DC-6As and 4 Lockheed Super-Constellations. The management committee, under the presidency of A. Cdre. Powell, also elected to membership the Icelandic airline Loftleidir, which operates DC-4s, and the Belgian airline Sobelair, which operates 5 DC-3s to the Belgian Congo. F.I.T.A.P.'s next meeting will be held in Paris on March 12th. FERRY FARES CUT AGAIN FOR the seventh time since Silver City Airways inaugurated their cross-Channel vehicle ferry services six years ago, fares are to be reduced in a further effort to attract extra traffic. The attempt seems certain to succeed: last year's reductions, averaging 40 per cent, resulted in an enormous increase in business, the number of vehicles carried rising from 10,000 in 1952 to 40,000 last year. Silver City state that the heavier traffic helped to improve their operating economics, making possible further reduc tions—from 10 to 37 per cent—which will take effect from April 15th. The main reductions apply to a new route—from Lympne to Calais; on all five cross-Channel routes (the others are Southamp ton-Cherbourg, Lympne-Ostend, Gatwick-Le Touquet and Ferry.ield-Le Touquet) charges will be reduced by 10 per cent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The single fare for a snail car such as the Morris Minor, when carried on the Lympne-Calais route, will be reduced from £7 10s to £6 Is 6d; a Vanguard will be carried for £10 16s instead of £12 10s; and the single fare for the largest Rolls-Royce will be reduced from £17 10s to £15 6s. Motor cyclists will benefit considerably from the reductions— the charge for a combination, for example, will be £2 15s instead of £3 10s, and machines of less than 250 c.c. capacity will be carried for £1 7s, compared with £1 15s last year. Silver City's private airport at Dungeness, to be known as Ferryfield, is expected to come into operation on June 1st. There after all the Le Touquet services will fly from Ferryfield and Lympne will be used by the freighters serving Ostend and Calais. About 25 per cent of the total cross-Channel traffic was carried by Silver City last year and this proportion seems certain to increase in 1954. The airline states that although some of the new fares are lower than the sea-ferry rates, direct comparison of basic fares omits such important considerations as savings in hotel, subsistence and incidental costs. As an illustration of the remarkable way in which air-ferry fares have shrunk in recent years, it may be noted that when the Lympne-Le Touquet ferry started in July 1948 the return charge for a Morris Minor plus two occupants was £54, whereas the corresponding rate for 1954 will be £21 3s. The single fare for a car of this type was £16 in 1952 compared with only £6 Is. 6d. after April 15th. Under the energetic and determined leadership of A. Cdre. Griffith Powell, Silver City Airways seem assured of a permanent and increasing share of the cross-Channel traffic. It may well prove economically impossible for British Rail ways to attempt to win back traffic from the airline by making substantial reduc tions in sea-ferry rates. ROTORPOST: The cover reproduced here was port of the mail-load carried on a recent ftve- minute flight from Philadelphia International Airport to the city's main post office by the Piasecki YH-21 Workhorse—"first transport helicopter ever to land in downtown Phila delphia." It was flown by U.S.A.F. pilots. S.A.S. PLANS I N a recent interview with a Stockholm newspaper Mr. Per Norlin was asked to comment on re-equipment with jet air craft. He replied that S.A.S. was not likely to take any definite stand for the next three or four years until more experience had been gained from the practical use of such aircraft by commercial operations. The president added that when the last of the airline's 14 DC-6Bs was delivered next month S.A.S. would have the largest DC-6-series fleet outside America (the company also operates 12 DC-6s). Meanwhile, some of the airline's earlier equipment is being sold. S.A.S. have already disposed of two of their 9 DC-4s and the remainder will be progressively placed on the market. Nine of the twelve DC-3s are being retained for next summer's Scan dinavian and German traffic and, as reported recently in Flight, the Scandia fleet is to be increased from six to eight. N.Z. HELICOPTER COMMITTEE '"THE New Zealand Government has set up a committee to * study the technical and economic problems of domestic heli copter operation. Membership consists of A.V-M. Sir Arthur de T. Nevill (chairman), Assistant Director of Civil Aviation; G/C. T. F. Gill, D.S.C., R.N.Z.A.F.; W/C. R. M. McKay, A.F.C., R.N.Z.A.F; Mr O. G. James, Aviation Industry Association; Capt. H. C. Walker, N.Z.M.A.C; Mr. C. W. Labette, N.Z.N.A.C.; and Mr. P. P. Heller of the Air Department. The committee has been charged with compiling a report on the advisability of helicopter operation in New Zealand in the national interest; the type of helicopter best suited to conditions there; the organization to be responsible for helicopter opera tion; and the estimated cost to the Government of the acquisition and operation of one or more helicopters. BREVITIES THE first Saab Scandia assembled under licence at Fokker's original factory in Amsterdam is practically complete and is expected to make its first flight this month. * * * Equipment for displaying illuminated signs by night as well as for towing banners by day is fitted to a Rapide based at Southend Airport and operated by Sky Signs (1950). * * * The two DC-6s bought by A.N.A. from National Airlines arrived at Melbourne on December 9th after flying non-stop from Fiji. Another DC-6 which arrived at Melbourne the same day was delivered to T.A.A., which has chartered the aircraft from K.L.M. * * * On December 26th Sabena were to inaugurate a second weekly service from Manchester to New York. In contrast to the success ful tourist service which opened last November, the new weekly flight is a "Royal Sabena" luxury service, operated with a 28-seat DC-6B. * * * On December 17th a DC-6B of Canadian Pacific Airlines set up an official record for the 2,700-mile direct flight from Honolulu to Vancouver, completing the journey in 8 hr 28 min flying time. Tailwinds of up to 50 m.p.h. gave the aircraft an average ground speed of some 320 m.p.h. Nine days previously a C.P.A. DC-6B flew the 4,700-mile Tokyo-Vancouver route in 13 hr 51 min.
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