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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1487.PDF
654 FLIGHT, 21 May 1954 Transport Aircraft • 1954... 12,500—70,0001b DE HAVILLAND HERON • The role which the Heron was produced to fill is defined by its manufacturers as follows: "Short- or medium-stage domestic service in areas where other forms of travel are a great inconvenience to the public, and where properly developed aerodromes are a rarity . . . the type of operation which calls for frequency and regularity of service, long up-country or inter-island routes, where the traffic density does not justify economically the employment of too large a vehicle and where the public use aircraft as they do buses." The success with which the Heron performs such duties is reflected by the fact that nearly 70 have been sold, and by the results achieved in service with operators in Norway, Australia, Salvador, French Colonies, New Zealand, Jersey, Uruguay, Indonesia and Japan. The Heron's combination of lively performance, comfort and four-engine security has ensured its rapid acceptance by the travelling public as well as its operators. Simple construction guarantees low maintenance costs and quick turn-rounds of the order expected for "out-back" operation, and daily utilizations of up to nine hours have been recorded. The Heron is in a category of its own and seems likely to remain in demand for several years. Apart from its airline ability, the Heron is a natural choice for executive or V.I.P. transport; recent orders include one for H.R.H. Prince Talal Al Saud, one for Vickers-Armstrongs and two for firms in South Africa and Canada. Two versions are offered —the Series 1 (fixed undercarriage, as illustrated on die previous page) and Series 2. The latter has retractable wheels, which result in 10 per cent reduction of stage time for journeys of 500 miles. Heron 2 (four Gipsy Queen 30 Mk 2, total 1,000 h.p.).—Span, 71ft 6in; length, 48ft 6in; take-off weight, 13,000 lb; wing loading, 26 lb/sq in; take-off distance, 2,250ft; passenger capacity, 14-17; typical perform ance, 183 m.p.h. for 700 miles at 8,000ft with 2,900 lb payload. DOUGLAS DC-3 • Introduced by American Airlines in 1936 as the D.S.T. (Douglas Sleeper Transport) the DC-3 quickly became the most widely used transport aircraft in the world—A distinction which it retains today. More than 400 were in airline service by 1940 and more than 10,000 military versions (C-47s) were built during the war. It is estimated that some 1,500 genuine DC-3s and converted C-47s are still being used by scheduled and "non-sked" civil operators. No reliable estimate is to be had as to the date of this famous transport's eventual Fairey Rotodyne. Fokker F.27 Friendship. Douglas DC-4 (Air France). retirement; it seems likely, however, that the majority of DC-3 scheduled services will be taken over by newer aircraft by 1956-57. So far the DC-3 has defied all efforts to produce a replacement. Even its manufacturers have failed: in 1948 Douglas offered a $300,000 conversion to Super DC-3 standards, increasing speed from 165 to 225 m.p.h. and seating capacity from an average of 25 to 31. Only three Super DC-3s were sold commercially. The U.S. Navy already has well over 100 military versions, styled R4D-8. DC-3 (two Twin Wasp R-1830 SIC3G; total 2,400 h.p.).—Span, 95ft; length, 64ft 6in; take-off weight, 28,000 lb; wing loading, 28.3 lb/sq ft; take-off distance, 2,680ft; passenger capacity, 28; typical performance, 170 m.p.h. for 1,500 miles at 8,000ft with 6,500 lb payload. DOUGLAS DC-4 • Production of the DC-4 for American, United and Eastern airlines was under way late in 1941, when America entered the war. Subsequently uie type was produced as the C-54 Skymaster, of which a total of 1,163 had been delivered by the end of 1945. The DC-4 emerged from the war with an increase of nearly 50 per cent over its original design gross weight of 50,000 lb. Nearly 600 DC-4s are in civil use, of which some 70 are from the initial post-war production line, the remainder being sold or leased to operators by the United States Govern ment. With the advent of tourist services, many DC-4s have been modified to carry 60 or more passengers, compared with the intended complement of 40. A striking tribute to the useful ness of die DC-4 is the fact that its post-war purchase price of about £150,000 still holds good today after nearly ten years' work. DC-4 (four Twin Wasp R-2000 2SD13G; total 5,800 h.p.).—Span, 117ft 6in; length, 93ft llin; take-off weight, 73,000 lb; wing loading, 49.9 lb/sq ft; take-off distance, 5,050ft; passenger capacity, 55; typical per formance, 200 m.p.h. for 2,100 miles at 8,000ft with 17,000 lb payload. FAIREY ROTODYNE • Progress of the Rotodyne is being watched with unusual interest by airline operators, for several reasons. In die first place, die use of a single four-blade rotor with tip-jet propulsion units, together widi small conventional airscrews for forward flight, promise to give the Rotodyne an outstandingly flexible performance. For vertical take-off and landing the Napier Eland turbines supply compressed air through a simple valve system to die tip jets. In forward flight most of die power is absorbed by the wing-mounted airscrews, giving an economical cruising speed of "not less than 150 m.p.h." Pas senger comfort should benefit from the low vibration characteris- Handley Page Marathon 1.
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