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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0123.PDF
FLIGHT, 123 28 January 1955 G-ANBB, the second production Britannia 100 for B.O.A.C., takes off from Filton on January 18th for its maiden flight. Three Britannios, including the first prototype, are now engaged in inten- sive pre-serWce trials. CIVIL AVIATION PAKISTANI PROVING HTHE pre-inaugural flight of the fastest service between London-*- and Karachi (19 hours' elapsed time) was completed on January 20th with the arrival at London Airport of a Super Con-stellation of Pakistan International Airlines. Among those aboard the aircraft were the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali,and the Begum Mohammed Ali. It was manned by a crew of 12, commanded by Captain John Barnes, the Australian operationsmanager of P.I.A. The other pilots were Captain F. Guthrie (Australian) and First Officer D. David (Pakistani); the crew alsoincluded a British navigator, E. R. Plews, and flight engineer, A. E. Newman; an Australian flight engineer, G. Buckman; anda Pakistani radio officer, N. Y. Butt. P.I.A.'s regular weekly return services between Karachi andLondon via Cairo will begin on February 1st. The Super Con- stellations will carry 11 first-class passengers and 59 touristpassengers. The airline hopes that the build-up of traffic will soon justify an increase of frequency. The launching of P.I.A.'s first international service has entailedthe conclusion of a number of agreements with other airlines. Thus, technical assistance at London and Cairo will be affordedby B.O.A.C., and K.L.M. will provide facilities for emergency overhauls at Schiphol, Amsterdam. The Dutch airline has alsoseconded Captain K. Zwarthoed as chief instructor at P.I.A.'s flying school at Karachi where aircrews will be converted to theSuper Constellation. Before the establishment of this school many of the Pakistani company's pilots attended courses with K.L.M.at Schiphol. Airwork, Ltd., will act as P.LA.'s general sales agents in theUnited Kingdom. The Pakistani airline has opened a London office in the Airwork town terminal at 249 Brompton Road,London, S.W.I. D.H. AIRSCREWS FOR C.A.A. VISCOUNTS AN announcement by de Havilland Propellers, Ltd., states that- Central African Airways have specified D.H. airscrews for their new fleet of Viscount 700Ds. Described by the makers as"designed from the outset to cater for the increased powers now being introduced by progressive development of the Rolls-RoyceDart" the new D.H. airscrew has square-tipped solid duralumin blades. Two new features of the airscrew are a lock to secure theblades in the angle at which they are operating in the event of loss of oil pressure to the airscrew controller, and an electric safetystop to prevent inadvertent use of ground-fine-pitch which gives braking effect on touch-down. INTER-CANARIES SERVICES IMPROVED SERVICES operated by Iberia Spanish Airlines in the CanaryIslands have been expanded recently, following the acquisition of more DC-3s. The inter-island routes are based at Gando Airport, on Grand Canary Island, 20 miles south of the capital, Las Palmas. Winter season nights to Teneriffe have been increased to five each weekday, with two on Sundays. Flying time is 30 minutes. The Spanish African coast also receives additional services, with a DC-3 flying twice weekly between Las Palmas, Sidi-Ifni, CaboJuby, Villa Cisneros, and back. The most notable improvement is the service to LanzaroteIsland. Departures are now daily (writes a correspondent), at the somewhat inconvenient time of 0745 hr from Gando Airport During its recent series of demonstration flights in Eire (reported above) a Bristol Sycamore landed on the snow-covered lawn of the President's house. Dr. O'Kelly and Mrs. O'Kelly are seen about to take- off in the Sycamore, accompanied by Mr. A. G. L. Langfield (right), Bristol technical sales representative. (which involves a start by bus from the town terminal in LasPalmas at 0615). Three times a week, the flight for Arrecife, capital of Lanzarote, calls at Los Estancos Airport, FuertaventuraIsland. A Spanish Government tourist inn has been built at Arrecife, and attempts being made to popularize the islandas a tourist attraction are achieving some success. Average load factor on the daily service is in the region of 75per cent, which may be accounted for by the low return fare. Though it is a contentious question, one may reasonably assumethat the Las Palmas-Arrecife fare of 360 pesetas return (roughly £3 6s) is among the world's cheapest fares. It involves 276miles of actual flying, plus 46 miles of bus travel (free under Spanish regulations), at a rate of less than 2^d a mile. A SYCAMORE IN EIRE AS briefly reported in Flight last week, a Bristol Sycamore**• helicopter was recently ferried—in the hold of a Bristol Freighter—to Eire. In spite of wintry conditions in Dublin,Mr. Peter Moore (demonstration pilot) and Mr. Alex Langfield (sales representative) displayed the Sycamore's capabilities to anumber of interested parties. The demonstrations were arranged by Aer Rianta, die holdingcompany of Aer Lingus, at Dublin Airport. On January 17th it was inspected by the Army Air Corps at Baldonnel Airfield, andon Tuesday morning to the Commissioners of Irish Lights at Dun Laoire (Kingstown). On the following day the Sycamore wasflown from Collinstown to Phoenix Park, where it alighted on the lawn of Aras an Uachtarain (Viceregal Lodge) and was inspectedby the President of the Republic, Dr. Sean T. O'Kelly. Later Dr. O'Kelly, with his wife, was given a flight round the city. At present (writes a Dublin correspondent) the only helicopterson this side of St. George's Channel are those operated by the Royal Navy from bases in Northern Ireland. Aer Rianta, whooperate the two airports of Shannon and Dublin, are the most likely purchasers of the Sycamore, though the Army Air Corpsand Commissioners of Irish Lights seem very impressed by its potentialities. The demonstration before the latter authority tookthe form of a passenger pick-up in the harbour, and the Sycamore also delivered newspapers to the Kish Sands lightship.
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