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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1423.PDF
23 September 1955 duced shortly), a sodium flare-approach extending for over limiles, and sodium pyramid lights down the runway. The reward for this enterprise came first when Air France began usingBeauvais for training purposes and finally when Super Constella- tions were diverted from Paris to Beauvais in November 1953 In December 1953 he approached M. Marcel CommuneauPresident of the Chamber of Commerce of Beauvais and Oise. M. Communeau, a flying enthusiast in the years before the warjand a leading industrialist in Beauvais, saw to it that the people of his town backed the venture. £5,000 was voted towards thecost involved in renovating the airport. Disused buildings were converted into Customs sheds, offices, waiting rooms and res-taurant. The Commandant set to and painted his own office. A small subsidiary 875-yd grass runway strip was clearedparallel and adjacent to the S.W. side of the main runway for small visiting aircraft (pilots should on no account use eitherthe alternative 05-21 runway or attempt to land on the grass except on the strip adjacent to the main runway, for the reasonthat there are still a number of bomb craters hidden by grass!). DC-7C PROGRESS THE wing and fuselage of the first Douglas DC-7C were joinedat Santa Monica on September 2nd. This event, say Douglas, coincided exactly with the schedule established more than 18months previously. The aircraft is due to emerge from its assembly building early in November and to make its first flightin December. Orders for the new machine have now reached 102. "WRONG RUNWAY" ACCIDENT REPORTR ESULTS of the public inquiry into the accident to B.E.A.Viscount G-AMOK, which was badly damaged on January 16th when attempting to take-off from London Airport, were an-nounced last week by the M.T.C.A. Printed copies of the report will be available from H.M.S.O. in a few weeks' time. The accident occurred in bad visibility when the aircraft strucka barrier on the stub of a disused runway which had not been in use since June 1949. Minor injuries were suffered by the captainand one passenger. The strip in question was parallel to the run- way in use at the time (15R). The report found that the cause of accident was a mistake by thecommander of the aircraft, Capt. E. J. Waits, due to over-confi- dence, in failing to make any reasonable check that the aircraftwas in fact lined up on 15R. It found also that lst/Off. R. S. Barratt, who was in physical control of the Viscount, was equallyover-confident, though his responsibility was less than the cap- tain's. The report concluded with a number of recommendationsconcerning the markings of runways and taxiways and the system of controlling aircraft on the ground at L.A.P.A B.E.A. statement said that the Corporation's own inquiry had reached similar conclusions to those of the official report. Bothpilots had returned to flying duties after temporary suspension and loss of seniority. AMERICAN SHORT-HAULER HEADED by Mr. Jack Frye, pioneer pilot and president ofT.W.A. from 1934-47, a corporation has been formed in New York to build and market a new short-haul aircraft. To be knownas the Frye F-l, the aircraft is due to fly next year; initially, it will be powered by four P. and W. Wasps, but the airframe has beendesigned to use turboprops. Its sponsors plan to build the aircraft in America, Britain, the Continent and, possibly, Latin America, 535 Artist's impression of the Frye F-l project described below. "in association with a British manufacturer or by licence."As a passenger-carrier, the F-l will accommodate 50-60 people; as a freighter it will lift four to five tons from small fields, five toseven tons under less restricted conditions. Essential features of the design are a high wing, with airscrew slipstream over most ofthe span, and a fixed nosewheel undercarriage. Its range will be 250 miles, and the cruising speed is quoted as 150 m.p.h. (pistonengines) or 170 m.p.h. (turboprop). The F-l will be designed to operate from 1,000ft fields, taking-off and landing at a speed ofless than 55 m.p.h. The basic price is reported to be £125,000. Mr. Kurt Weil, designer of the Ju 52, is said to be closely associatedwith the project. ...-• .....«•. ELECTRA DEVELOPMENTS T>LANS for the largest commercial sub-contracting programme-*- in the firm's history have been announced by Lockheed Air- craft Corporation. The programme, involving four manufacturers,is designed to enable Lockheed to meet delivery schedules with the new Electra turboprop airliner while maintaining a high rate ofSuper Constellation production. The firms are the Menasco Manufacturing Company; Northrop Aircraft, Inc.; Rohr AircraftCorporation; and Temco Aircraft Corporation. Menasco will build Electra undercarriages, Northrop will be responsible for tailassemblies, Rohr will build complete engine nacelle installations, and Temco will make flaps and ailerons. It was announced on Monday that American Airlines haddefinitely specified the Allison 501 turboprop, rated at 3,750 h.p., to power their fleet of 35 Electras. The initial £4.5m order for theAllison units followed "a careful survey by American Airlines covering engines of all types now available in this country[America] or abroad." GETTING INTO THE ACTT HE formation of a French air-ferry company to operate incompetition with Silver City Airways and Air Charter was announced in Paris last week. To be known as Compagnie Fran-cahe du Pont Aerien-Air Channel, the company is stated to have been "created under the sponsorship of Mr. Roger Colin, who wasthe founder and operator in North Vietnam of an independent air transport company called Air Outremer. Like its British competitors, the company will use Bristol 170sto carry both vehicles and passengers between England and France. It has received the necessary operating authority from theFrench and British Governments and will begin scheduled ser- vices between Le Touquet and Lympne during the coming winter. Tip - tanked "Super- Gs"—L1049G Super Constellations — of T.W.A. will enter ser- vice on the airline's transatlantic routes on November lst. In addition to three Super - G services weekly between London and New York, the airline will introduce a weekly through service between London and Los Angeles via New York. This 6.000- m'le route will be flown in 21 hr 5 min westbound, thereby, it is claimed, cutting 7 hr off existing "polar-route" schedules.
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