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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0328.PDF
328 FLIGHT, 11 March 1955 llyushin 11-12 of Czech Airlines and (below) the newer 11-14 (here shown with Russian military transport markings). TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT, 1955 . . . J the DC-4 in terms of speed and payload but has a shorter range(some 1,500 miles with full load). The two water-based aircraft illustrated in this section arerepresentative of an almost vanished race. Both stem from mili- tary patrol craft of great endurance, though in their civil roleneither is now used on the longer hauls. The Solent carries 42 passengers in great luxury on the holiday routes of Aquila Airwaysand has a speed of some 200 m.p.h. The Catalina, known in amphibian form as the Canso, cruises at up to 150 m.p.h.; itsendurance is prodigious but payload is restricted to about two tons or a maximum of 20 passengers. Standard equipment of the Russian airline Aeroflot and ofsome operators in satellite countries is the Ilyushin 11-12, an unpressurized transport of conventional layout. On Sovietdomestic routes it normally carries 18 passengers in a seating D.H. Dove (Gipsy Queen 70, 380 h.p.) in Portuguese East Africa. Heron 1 of U.A.T. Power-units are 250 h.p. Gipsy Queen 30s. Marine transports: Aquilla Airways Solent IV (above) and Iceland Airways Canso (amphibian version of the Catalina). arrangement of surprisingly low density. Cruising speed is alittle over 200 m.p.h. and normal maximum stage-length is in the region of 1,000 miles; the amount of wing area suggests that itsdesigner aimed at a rather better small-field performance than is i offered by the Il-12's Western counterparts. Essentially similarcharacteristics are possessed by the 11-14, though this aircraft is of later design and cleaner external appearance; it is used by the RedAir Force but whether it has yet been introduced to service with Aeroflot is not certain. ,. ;» Short-range Transports. Many and varied are the types ofaircraft which can be classified under this title. It embraces the feederliner employed to bring traffic to and from the terminals usedby medium- and long-range aircraft as well as the "airliners in miniature" operated to serve purely local needs. Transport heli-copters, the ultimate shape of which is not yet clearly defined, are also short-range aircraft—but of a completely different kind,since their economy depends on carrying large passenger loads. Their role is thus envisaged as one competitive with surface trafficon dense inter-city routes, extending in length to perhaps 250 miles. Helicopters are also serving in metropolitan areas, usuallywith the task of linking cities with their outlying airports. Those illustrated on page 330 cannot in the main be con-sidered as transport vehicles in the same sense as the fixed-wing airliners whose portraits dominate this issue of Flight; they do,however, illustrate the tangible results of recent transport-heli- copter design philosophy. On the whole, manufacturers seem to have given the short-rangemarket less attention than others. Very much an exception to the rule is the firm of de Havilland, as indicated by the number oftheir products depicted here. Still used all over the world, the D.H. Dragon Rapide has been in service since July 1934, whenmachine No. 6250 was delivered to Switzerland; it is still in use with Swissair. B.E.A. have operated a total of 53 Rapides, thoughthe number in service with the Corporation has now been reduced to eight, the latest of which has flown over 12,000 hours sinceJune 1938. As used by B.E.A. the type is powered by two 203 h.p. 550 h.p. Leonides will power the Twin Pioneer (below).
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