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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1847.PDF
818 FLIGHT, 25 June 1954 CIVIL AVIATION HELICOPTERS OVER LONDON ACTION last week by the Minister of Trans-• port and Civil Aviation, Mr. A. T. Lennox- Boyd, resulted in a sudden focusing of interest on the future growth of civil helicopter services —in particular, those into the centre of London. The relaxation of flight restrictions for heli copters flying over London, immediate use of the South Bank site for landings and take-offs, and plans for a scheduled B.E.A. service to London Airport next year were all part of the encouraging news which rapidly came to the notice of most Londoners just over a week ago. The inauguration of B.E.A.'s scheduled passenger service with Bristol Sycamore 3As from Southampton (Eastleigh) to London Airport and Northolt took place on Tuesday, June 15th. In the early hours of the following morning, in the House of Commons, Mr. John Profumo, Parliamentary Secretary to the M.T.C.A., replied to an adjourn ment debate opened by Mr. Norman Dodds. In this reply, Mr. Profumo announced that his Ministry were authorizing B.E.A. to purchase immediately two Wesdand-built Sikorsky S.55s: as soon as these machines obtained a British C. of A., an experimental scheduled passenger service between London Airport and the city centre would be started. Mr. Profumo added that, in order to facilitate helicopter move ment into and across London, the Minister intended forthwith to exempt helicopters from the minimum altitude rules when flying over part of the London area, subject to certain conditions. Turn ing to the problem of a landing site, Mr. Profumo said that, with the support and co-operation of the L.C.C., a site on the South Bank would be made available for any helicopter that wished to come into central London in the immediate future. Only 24 hours' notice would be required. The location and characteristics of a permanent rotorstation for London, however, could not yet be decided. The relaxation of the flight requirements applies only to flights within a radius of ten nautical miles of Hyde Park Corner, and outside the central area shown shaded on the map on page 814. In this central area, the previous regulations remain (i.e., machines must be flown at a height enabling them to land outside the area in the event of engine failure, and in any case not less than 1,000ft) except for the line of the River Thames—above which the minimum height is now 500ft—and when landing at or taking off from die South Bank site. In the outer part of the circle, helicopters must be flown so that, in the event of engine failure, they can alight wimout danger to persons, property, buildings, or vessels, and in any case at not less than 1,000ft. The S.55s to be used on the scheduled B.E.A. service men tioned by Mr. Profumo are to be fitted with pontoon floats and, according to Lord Douglas, will take 22 minutes for the 18j-mile journey between the Soum Bank and London Airport. The route would follow the river between Waterloo and Putney, and the machines would carry six passengers plus full baggage allowances; the single fare would probably be £1 10s Od. Advantage was quickly taken of the new regulations. A conference between M.T.C.A. officials and helicopter pilots con cerning the use of the South Bank site was held on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday morning a smart orange-and-white- checked control van was parked between the Waterloo air terminal and the river, next to a roped-off area of concrete. A brace of S.51s buzzed up and down the river at 500 newly-legal feet as the morning swarms of office-bound humans emerged from Waterloo. And at 10 o'clock, the first landing was made by Westland's G-AKTW, flown by John Fay, and chartered by the Evening News. A Naval-coloured S.55 Whirlwind from Yeovil was the next to get into the act, carrying Harold Penrose and two packets of Wesdand publicity brochures, and flown by Derek Colvin. The Evening Standard's red S.51 then dropped in—quite gently, of course—in the hands of G. L. Jacques, to be followed at 11 o'clock by that of Autair, Ltd., flown by John Crewdson and carrying the duly-accredited representative of the Star. First representative of an aviation journal to sample the "new deal" for South Bank rotorcraft in action was, we modestly record, the writer of this page. An invitation from Mr. Ron Myhill (managing director of Autair's parent company, R.M. "Right" photograph THINGS TO COME: The plans for B.E.A.'s scheduled service with S-55s between the South Bank and London Airport next year are reported on this page. Here, a Naval S-55 from Westlands is seen landing at the South Bank site on June 17th. Overseas Motors) to make a 15-minute demonstration flight with Capt. Crewdson along the river was readily accepted, and almost immediately we found ourselves looking through a window into the long-suffering eyes of a sixth floor inhabitant of County Hall, before tilting across to the river and climbing up over Westminster Bridge. The flight emphasized the impression that the broad river is an excellent helicopter highway for the forth coming services, and that the South Bank site is indeed a most suitably located and clearly visible space. When the initial publicity ballyhoo of the popular press has died down, and the number of South Bank helicopter landings approaches that of any of the three largest American cities up to now, there is no doubt that Mr. Lennox-Boyd's decision will be seen to have given a valuable and needed boost to the previously slow opera tional development of British helicopters. Watching the B.E.A. demonstration flights in the Bristol 171, G-AMWG, which ended the first day of the embryo rotorstation's activity was Mr. Carl Agar, vice-president operations of Okanagan Helicopters, the well-known Canadian company. An even more significant interest in the new landing site is that of Sabena, whose first flight from Brussels to London is scheduled for tomorrow, June 26th. BREVITIES THE eighth Southern Pacific Air Transport Council is -•- meeting in Melbourne on Monday next, June 28di, for about five days. The United Kingdom delegation is being led by Mr. E. A. Armstrong, C.B., C.B.E. * * * The Indian Government is negotiating a bilateral air agreement with Irak, to enable Air India International to develop its Far Eastern services to Middle East countries via Baghdad. * * * Hedley S. Crabtree and Co., Ltd., of 9 Ovington Gardens, London, S.W.3, announce that, following the completion of a technical investigation contract, they have been appointed retained consultant engineers to Scandinavian Airlines System. * * * The services of Pakistan International Airlines were inaugurated recently by Mr. Mohammed Ali, the Prime Minister. The Government-subsidised company operates three Super Constellations between Karachi in west Pakistan and Dacca in east Pakistan, separated by 1,200 miles of Indian territory. * * * Recently published and privately circulated by K.L.M. is a book entitled We Flew to Christchurch—the Story of a Memor able Long-distance Flight. It is a 92-page illustrated account of die journey of the K.L.M. DC-6A which won the transport sec tion of the'England to New Zealand Air Race last October; and is written by Henrik Scholte, secretary for special services to the K.L.M. general operations group.
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