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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0597.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 May 1955 CIVIL AVIATION . . . A SMOOTHER "SEVEN" MORE efficient cooling of the WrightTurbo-Compound engines of the Douglas DC-7 is provided by spinners andcrankcase fairings, as fitted to the proto- type illustrated here. For a given cowl-flap setting, the engines will operate at some 30 deg F lower head temperatures ("adevelopment," says Douglas, "especially beneficial for hot day conditions"). AllDC-7Bs and DC-7Cs will be so equipped, and conversion kits will be offered tooperators of existing "Sevens." DC-7B prototype, which has been fitted with spinners (see news item above). 39? BREVITIES AN all-freight service between Montreal and Vancouver was• inaugurated by T.C.A. on May 2nd. The service, which runs five times weekly through Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmontonand Calgary, is operated by North Stars carrying up to nine short tons of cargo. Three of the T.C.A. North Star fleet havebeen converted for this work. * * * Two 55-seat Skyways Hermes have been chartered to trans-port the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra around Europe during their forthcoming tour. Consisting of 110 people withthree tons of instruments and baggage, the party will visit at least 10 European capitals. * * * The manager of B.O.A.C.'s first fleet of DC-7Cs, delivery ofwhich is expected to begin in 1956, will be Captain M. J. R. Alderson who was manager of the Comet fleet from its inception.Previously, Captain Alderson was manager of B.O.A.C.'s opera- tional development unit. A former line pilot of long experience,he joined Imperial Airways in 1933. * * * The new United Kingdom public relations manager for TransWorld Airlines is Mr. Laurence Langley, formerly sales promo- tion manager for that airline. * * * The number of passengers handled at Kingsford-Smith Airport,Sydney, in 1954 totalled 985,000—ten per cent more than in the previous year. Freight and mail tonnages were 22,700 and 2,000respectively, representing increases of some 24 per cent in each case. * * * The Civil Aeronautics Board has approved an application byT.W.A. for the extension to Zurich, of Trans-Atlantic services previously operated via London and Frankfurt.* * * The big Idlewild overhaul base of Lockheed Aircraft Service-International performed nearly twice as much work during the first quarter of 1955 as in the corresponding period of 1954.Conversions represented the major activity, followed by line maintenance, modification and reconditioning in that order.Turnover at L.A.S-I. during the quarter totalled 534 aircraft, including 471 four-engined commercial transports. * * * During the financial year ended March 31st, 1955, Aer Lingusoperated 16,075 services compared with 17,046 in the previous year. Due, however, to the introduction of larger aircraft(Viscounts), the airline's passenger traffic increased by nearly 14 per cent—from 300,000 to nearly 343,000. * * * Shareholders of the Douglas Aircraft Co., were told on April25th that the company's commercial backlog was worth nearly £120m, and that negotiations and discussions then in progresswere expected to increase this amount by a further £35m. Since the beginning of this year Douglas have received ordersfrom 19 airlines for a total of 142 aircraft in the DC-6/DC-7 series. * * * America's busiest airport during 1954 was Midway, Chicago,with a total of 349,363 aircraft movements. Arrivals and departures thus averaged nearly 1,000 daily. Other leading air-ports (movements in parentheses) were:—Miami (268,889); Honolulu, T.H. (266,583); La Guardia (236,012); Denver(235,362); Cleveland (223,741); Dallas (215,685); Atlanta (211,674); Louisville (Bowman) (210,507). * * * At an inquest on the victims of the T.A.A. Viscount trainingaccident at Mangalore, Australia, last October, the operators were criticized by the coroner for allowing a pilot of only nine hours'type-experience to act as instructor and check-pilot on the Viscount. It was stated that the pilot concerned had made onlythree practice three-engined take-offs before the accident, which followed loss of control when the Viscount became airborne atless than the minimum safe speed for a three-engined take-off. The court also criticized fire-fighting equipment at Mangalore. FROM THE CLUBS WARM, sunny weather on April 24th so unsettled the localclub inhabitants at Denham that 18 of the 34 tea-patrol visitors were allowed to arrive unobserved. Even those whosetea-money was not refunded, however, agreed that the meeting was a most successful one. Entertainment was provided by theVintage Aeroplane Club's formation team (Eddie Hewitt, Tiger Moth; Denis Sweeting, Spartan Arrow G-ABWP; and RonGillman, Club Cadet G-ACHP), after which Capt. Gillman presented the Cadet in a solo demonstration. The show wasundoubtedly stolen, however, by the only pilot to fly in without an engine—Frank Foster in his recently acquired SlingsbySkylark II. Having been launched from Dunstable some four hours earlier, Foster had made a round tour of Bedfordshirebefore completing his flight with a selection of well-judged aerobatics over Denham. "pOR the last twelve months the Armstrong Siddeley Flying-*- Club has been flying from Baginton Aerodrome, Coventry, operating Tipsy Trainer G-AFSC, otherwise known as the FlyingSphinx. Previously Elmdon Airport, Birmingham, had been the club's base. During 1954 a total of 172 hours was loggedby the club-members—134 hr of this during the last six months— under the guidance of C.F.I. Harold Ashworth and assistantinstructor John Hill. The club reports that "this remarkable device (the Tipsy) had now done almost 2,000 not-so-perfectlandings without the undercart rubbers being replaced." At the last A.G.M. the full membership of the club wasincreased from 24 to 30 3 and the associate membership to 13.Eleven ab initio members, it was recorded, had gone solo during the year. Further expansion, and the purchase of a second air-craft, is hoped for this season. 'TOTAL hours flown by the 36 member-clubs of the Royal-*• Canadian Flying Clubs' Association during 1954 amounted to 62,827, in addition to 12,030 hours' refresher training on Chip-munks for R.C.A.F. Reserve officers. The first total shows a five per cent decrease over that for the previous year, due entirelyto a drop in commercial-pilot training. The number of private pilots' licences issued, however, increased to just over 1,000, andthe total club membership to 7,588. Average aircraft utilization was some 370 hours, the total number of aircraft operated being170 (excluding 32 Chipmunks on R.C.A.F. contracts). An analysis of these 170 aircraft is illuminating; the totalincludes 58 Fleet 80s, 29 Cessna 120s and 140s, 36 Aeronca Cham- pions, five Cornells, three Taylorcraft, four Piper J3 Cubs, oneErcoupe, one Mooney 18C, one Chipmunk, six Piper Cruisers, six Cessna 170s, three Stir-son Voyagers, eight Piper Tri-Pacers,four Piper Pacers, one Bellanca and one Navion.
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