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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0743.PDF
FLIGHT,27 May 1955 741 HUM Subject of this early morn- ing scene at London Air- port is Hunting-Clan Viscount G-ANRR, first of the type to wear the colours of an independent airline. Delivered on May 12th, the aircraft left Lon- don that day for tropical trials in Africa. CIVIL AVIATION VISCOUNTS FOR U.S. STEEL CORPORATION AMERICAN sources say that the United States Steel Corpora-• tion has ordered three Viscounts for delivery in 1956. The aircraft would be executive versions, and are presumably requiredto replace the Corporation's DC-3s, which are based at Pitts- burgh and maintained by Capital Airlines. No official statementhas yet been made by U.S. Steel or Vickers, but the report is believed to be reliable. UP TO EXPECTATIONS WITH the replacement of North Stars with Viscounts on theToronto to New York route on April 4th, T.C.A. have suc- ceeded in attracting a large share of the traffic formerly carriedby American Airlines. The extent of their success is shown in new figures outlining the results of the first month of Viscountoperations. In March, the airline's North Stars carried 6,163 passengers at a load factor of 75.5 per cent; their share of thetotal passenger traffic on the route was 42 per cent. In April, when five Viscount flights daily were introduced in place of threeNorth Stars, 9,682 passengers were carried at a load factor of 90.4 per cent; T.C.A.'s share of the traffic rose to 54 per cent.The number of seats offered on this route by T.C.A. in April increased by 31 per cent (due to the added frequency) and thenumber of passengers carried increased by 57 per cent. PANAM'S POLAR PLAN I AST week P.A.W.A. announced the filing of an application•—' with the C.A.B. for approval to operate a trans-Arctic service from four West Coast cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Port-land and Seattle—"to London and other points in Europe." The airline's executive vice-president, Col. C. M. Young, said thatPanAm were seeking to provide competitive U.S. flag services over a route now "exclusively in the hands of foreign flag carriers."During the forthcoming summer season PanAm will be intro- ducing their new DC-7Bs on the North Atlantic route. Theseaircraft, longer-range versions of the DC-7 used by American domestic airlines, will be operated in 71-seat tourist-class form,increasing the airline's passenger capacity during the peak period by more than 30 per cent. PanAm's "Super-Seven" servicesbetween New York and Paris will begin in June, with flights operating daily in each direction. Daily services between NewYork and London will be inaugurated the following month. The DC-7B is designed to operate non-stop transatlantic services (east-bound) with high regularity; its scheduled time from New York to Paris will be 11 hr and from New York to London 10 hr 15 min. HYDRANT FUELLING AT EASTLEIGH '•'"' EASTLEIGH, Southampton, recently became the first Britishairport to adopt the post-war system of hydrant fuelling, now being used regularly by B.E.A. Pionairs and Silver City AirwaysFreighters. The system was installed, with M.T.C.A. approval and co-operation, by Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd., at a cost of around£10,000. Shell-Mex and B.P.'s future policy will be to use hydrant fuelling systems "wherever it can be shown economically"that they are more satisfactory than mobile fuellers. Eastleigh was chosen, after consideration of several other Britishairports, as the site for a pilot system intended to give practical experience of hydrant fuelling. Among factors considered inthe choice of site were compactness of the refuelling area, ability to lay pipeline without excavating the apron, and the prospect offuture development of traffic at the airport. As installed at Southampton, the system comprises a 12,000-galtank of 100-octane spirit feeding seven hydrants via a 900ft line of 6in steel piping. The main pipeline was buried at a depth ofabout 2ft 6in in soft ground at the outer edge of the apron and protected with a solid concrete cover; the seven connectionsemerge on the standing area proper. Fuel is fed to the connec- tions by an electrically driven Pegson centrifugal pump at apressure of 60 lb/sq in. Maximum output is 240 gal/min, or 80 gal/min if three hydrants are being used automatically. Fuel is piped into the aircraft via a Minima dispensing trolley-incorporating input and discharge hoses, air separator, meter, micro filter and control valve (so that delivery pressure can bepre-set to the figure recommended by the makers for the type of aircraft concerned). The system can be operated by one man,since pumping is remotely controlled by the opening and closing of the discharge nozzle. The pipeline incorporates a "pressurealleviator"—essentially a bag filled with nitrogen—to absorb the shock caused when the discharge valye is closed.Notwithstanding the system's obvious advantages, the adop- tion of hydrant fuelling is likely to be a gradual process, and it isnot foreseen as a replacement for mobile fuellers at all airports. The cost of equipping London Airport Central with a completehydrant system would be in the region of £lm, and it seems that expenditure on this scale will not be possible until the futurepattern of ground movements and parking has been established with reasonable finality. As a preparatory step, tarmac-filledchannels will be incorporated in the new parking aprons at L.A.P., enabling pipelines to be laid without undue expense or delay.The short-haul "south-east face" area, however, is already in use, and it would be difficult to find a way of installing a hydrantsystem widiout disrupting present traffic arrangements. A 12fi00-gal tank at Eastleigh (upper view) supplies seven hydrants on the apron area, one of which is seen in use.
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