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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0892.PDF
FLIGHT FROM ALL QUARTERS Transair Buy Viscounts LATEST Viscount order to be announced—on June 24th—is' one placed by Transair, Ltd., for two series 800s, to be delivered in mid-1957. The order, which represents the thirdpurchase of Viscounts by a British independent airline, brings the total number of these aircraft sold to 229. Transair are also the third company to select the extended-fuselage Viscount 800; B.E.A., who inspired development of this version, have ordered 22 Viscount 802s and K.L.M. recentlyannounced their purchase of nine Type 803s. Seating capacity of the 800 varies from 53 (first-class) to 70 (tourist) according tooperators' requirements. Based at Croydon, Transair operate a fleet of 10 DC-3s on both scheduled and charter services. Sir Hudson Fysh Hands Over FOUNDER of Qantas Empire Airways and managing directorsince 1923, Sir Hudson Fysh hands over his executive func- tions to Mr. C. O. Turner as from today, July 1st. Sir Hudsoncontinues with Qantas as chairman of the Board, but relinquishes his position as managing director; Mr. Turner's new appointmentis that of chief executive. A qualified accountant, Mr. Turner (who is 48) has been a senior executive of Qantas for 20 years;his last appointment, in 1951, was that of general manager. Electra Production Plans THE Lockheed Aircraft Corporation have outlined their plansfor producing the new Electra turboprop airliner. In order to speed up flight testing and certification, three prototypes willbe built, and October 1957 has been set as the target date for the first flight. Delivery of the last of the 35 Electras orderedby American Airlines is scheduled for August 1958. It is stated that more than 5,000 assembly workers will beengaged on the Electra by 1958, and that the company will be capable of producing at the rate of 132 aircraft per year by late1959. Production on this scale would, of course, be subject to orders. In this context, Lockheed observe that sales negotiationswith other airlines are in progress and that market research leads them to believe that Electra sales can be greater than for anyother four-engined airliner. Both Lockheed and Allison (who make the model 501 turbo-prop on which the design is based) have been at pains to empha- size that this 3,750 h.p. engine will be backed by over 300,000 hoursof military usage by the time civil deliveries begin. The Electra's powerplant, however, has not yet been finally chosen; bothRB.109 and Eland can be regarded as likely alternatives. FOR NAVAL/AIR SUPERIORITY: Subject of a news item on page 3 is the Chance Vought XF8U-1 supersonic carrier-borne fighter, seen here on a test flight near Edwards Air Force Base, California. TURBINES FOR THE TROPICS: The first of four Viscounts ordered by British West Indian Airways taxies in from a test flight at Hum. Completed Viscounts now number 60 and the total sold is 229. No Security Breach ON June 27th Mr. George Wigg asked the Attorney-Generalwhether he would take proceedings against Capt. K. Bartlett, who announced at Le Bourget air display speeds and ceilings of theVulcan and Victor. The Attorney-General replied, "I have no evidence that there has been any breach of the Official SecretsAct." Mr. Reginald Maudling, Minister of Supply, said that the figures given were unofficial estimates from a French magazine. S. D. Davies Leaves Avro MR. S. D. DAVIES, Chief Designer of A. V. Roe and Co.,Ltd., and head of the design team which has developed the Vulcan, has resigned from the company for personal reasons;he relinquished his position at the end of June and is succeeded by his deputy, Mr. J. R. Ewans who has been the company'schief aerodynamicist since October 1949. Mr. Davies, who joined the Avro concern in 1938, becamethe chief designer at Manchester in 1946. He has not announced his plans for the future but it is known that he wishes to returnto the south of England and it is understood that his new post will probably be outside the aircraft industry. Twin Pioneer Flies THE prototype of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer (twoAlvis Leonides) made its first flight on June 24 and its first "official" flight, in the presence of company employees, four dayslater. The pilot was N. J. Capper, who had put in 2| hours' flying on the machine by mid-day on the 28th. He speaks wellof the aircraft, and on at least one occasion, with no wind, has had it airborne from a rolling start, i.e., without brakes, in 65 yards. PanAm Anniversary "EXTERNALLY a routine transatlantic departure, the Pan•*—' American World Airways flight (No. O62) due out of Idlewild at 5 p.m. local time on June 28th marked an important pointin the history of Atlantic flight—the 50,000th crossing to be made by one airline. PanAm recall that their first Atlantic service wascompleted exactly sixteen years previously; the aircraft, a Boeing 314 flying-boat, arrived at Foynes, Eire, on June 28th, 1939, fromLong Island Sound, Port Washington. It left Port Washington on June 24th with 20 passengers, refuelled at Shediac, New Bruns-wick (remaining there three days due to bad weather) and Botwood, Newfoundland, arriving at Foynes after 27 hr 14 min flying time.By contrast, the DC-7B scheduled to make the 50,000th crossing —one of 12 "Clippers" bridging the Atlantic on that day—wasexpected to fly non-stop from New York to Paris in 11 hours, carrying 71 passengers. Payloads carried on PanAm's "first 50,000"are estimated to consist of more than two million passengers, 17,000 tons of cargo and 12,000 tons of mail. Trans-Polar Canberra PILOTED by W/C. M. D. Lyne, the Canberra Aries IV, fromthe R.A.F. Flying College, Manby, made the first jet trans- Polar flight on the evening and night of Thursday, June 23rd.The navigators were S/L. D. Bower (who has now flown over the North Pole nine times) and S/L. R. A. Seymour.The Canberra left Bardufoss, in northern Norway, at 1955 hr G.M.T. and arrived at Ladd, Fairbanks, Alaska, at 0215 hr, June24th—local time, however, was only 1627 hr, June 23rd. The crew, having had dinner in Norway, were thus able to be in Alaskain time for tea the same day! For the 3,210-mile flight across the Polar cap an average speed
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