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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1729.PDF
772 FLIGHT CIVIL AVIATION CAPITAL INVESTMENT; The Viscount as it will appear in the colours of Capital Airlines. This company's order for three Viscounts is discussed on page 750 and in the paragraph below. CAPITAL'S VISCOUNT ORDER T^HEN the placing of Capital Airlines' order for Viscounts * » was announced, congratulatory messages were sent to Vickers- Armstrongs by Mr. R. A. Butler, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and by Mr. A. T. Lennox-Boyd, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. Sir James Reid Young, chairman of Vickers-Armstrongs, commented: "This is a very important event not only for us, but for the whole of the British aircraft industry. Naturally we are delighted that the Viscount will be the first British aircraft to be used on domestic airline routes in the United States, and we believe that Capital Airlines will be very satisfied with their new equipment." Mr. J. H. Carmichael, president of Capital Airlines, said in reply that the company believed the Viscount to be the aircraft to have for future operations on their routes. They hoped to do extremely well with it and, on behalf of his team, he wished to make special mention of the happy personal relationships which had been formed during the negotiations. Mr. Carmichael, who signed the contract on behalf of Capital, also paid tribute to the co-operation of B.E.A. in supplying operational data on the Viscount. More than 20 of "Slim" Carmichael's 47 years have been spent with Capital Airlines. He joined the company as a pilot, having learnt to fly in 1926. In the course of a very active flying career he has logged over 12,000 hours, many of them as the airline's chief pilot. Mr. Carmichael became president of Capital Airlines in 1947, having successively acted as operations manager, vice- president operations and executive vice-president. In 1935 he was awarded the Airmail Flyer's Congressional Medal of Honour—the highest United States award that can be given to a civilian pilot for bravery. He was awarded the medal by Congress as a result of a flight with mail and with a number of passengers in a twin-engined machine, one engine of which caught fire. The burning engine fell out from the airframe; COSTLY CARGO: £10,000 worth of Redifon radio equipment destined for use at Sandweiler Airport, Luxembourg, is loaded aboard a Sabena DC-4 at London Airport (see "Cheaper by Air" above). but, with the rest of the structure still ablaze, Carmichael—who was the sole pilot—was able by his example to keep the passengers calm while he brought the machine to a safe landing in Washington. CHEAPER BY AIR AN announcement from Redifon, Ltd., provides an interesting -**- practical example of how, for certain specialized cargoes, air freight is not only the safest and quickest but the cheapest method of shipment. To control aircraft using Luxembourg Airport, the authorities there recently purchased from Redifon, Ltd., the necessary radio equipment to provide long and medium distance R/T. and broadcasting services. The equipment included two single-channel 2.5 kV,' and two single-channel J kW trans mitters for speech transmission with remote control units for each. The frequency range covered is 2-23 mc/s. Careful consideration was given to the method of transport to be employed; it was essential that the equipment be delivered without delay, and the speed of air transport ensured this beyond doubt. The nature of the goods meant careful handling in transit. Arrangements were therefore made for the company's vans to drive on to the tarmac and for the packaged equipment to be loaded straight into the aeroplane at London Airport. As the goods were for use at Luxembourg Airport itself, they were handled again only at unloading. Thus, despite the fragile nature of the cargo, no very elaborate or expensive packaging was neces sary. The total weight of the consignment was 4,200 kg and its value £10,000. The outstanding feature of the whole transportation, Redifon report, was the cost involved, which was less than would have been incurred by alternative means of transport. The aircraft, a Sabena DC-4 with a 7,500-kilos load capacity, left London Air port at 5.30 a.m. and flew via Brussels, arriving at 7.15 a.m. SATISFIED: Mr. J. H. Carmichael registers approval from the left-hand seat of the prototype Viscount "Endeavour". As reported above, the youthful president of Capital Airlines has 12,000 hr piloting experience.
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