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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1520.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2439 Vol. 68. FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 1955 EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. and Bar ASSOCIATE EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR W. T. GUNSTON ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1. Telegrams, Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone, Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices: COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams, Autocar, Coventry. Telephone, Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2 King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams, Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone, Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260, Deansgate. Telegrams, Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 359S (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b, Renfield Street. Telegrams, Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone, Central 1265 (2 lines). SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas: Twelve months £4 10s. U.S.A. and Canada, $14.00. IN THIS ISSUE: Derby Turboprop Development 638 Land, Sea and Air - - 641 Accountant in the Making 645 Atomic-Age Carrier 648 Introducing the Vanguard 650 Looking-in on Vickers- Armstrongs 652 Jet-flap Development - 654 British Military Serial Numbers 657 Contestants for the Medium-haul Market 664 A Die is Cast WITH electrifying suddenness the future of mercantile air transport has beenlargely revealed. In the space of a few days vast patterns have been sealed,and astronomical sums of money apportioned, enabling answers to be given to questions which have perplexed the air transport industry for ten years past. Least predictable during that period have been characteristics, roles and economics of pure-jet transports, a class so far removed from convention that their introduction by B.O.A.C. in 1952 called forth much sly banter, as well as acclaim, from abroad. Against the new £96 million Pan American orders for 45 Douglas DC-8s and Bosing 707s, and proposed orders by other lines involving 50-odd machines of the same types, must be set the 20 Comet 4s now building for the Corporation which pioneered the era of jet transport. Paradoxically, the Vickers 1000 being an uncertain starter, Britain's own contender on the transatlantic run (for which many of the PanAm jets are, of course, intended) is likely to be the turboprop Britannia. But how this excellent machine may fare in the international market, wherein Air France, K.L.M. and S.A.S., among others, are already appraising the American pure-jets, remains a matter for conjecture. The Comet 4, it must be recognized, is not directly comparable or competitive with either the Boeing or Douglas, being of shorter range, slower and less capacious. But it will cost about half as much, will use less fuel, and will have behind it an unprecedented accumulation of static testing and air experience. The belief is held by de Havillands that PanAm might well select the Comet 4 for those of their routes for which the new American airliners are too large—a belief which is backed by PanAm's own declaration of a "continuing interest" in the D.H. jet programme, and of the hope for a successful outcome from "present confidential understandings." Guarded as these pronounce- ments are, they refute a published assertion that PanAm's new move means "that the company's contract to buy British Comets has fallen through." Deliveries of the British and American machines should be under way at about the same time—that is, three years hence. A period which in itself is a measure of the tasks ahead. Minor Mercies, Major Hopes Implicit in the momentous swing towards pure-jet transports for the trunk routes is the possibility of good business for British engine-makers, specifically for Rolls-Royce, whose unrivalled by-pass Conway has been engaging the most earnest attention of both Boeing and Douglas. And in this connection we may be thankful for America's firm faith in the podding of jets, an arrangement which affords an exceptional measure of powerplant interchangeability. We must, indeed, be thankful for any mercy in a world wherein business which might well have come our way continues to pass instead to rivals, worthy as they may be. Which reflection is prompted by the £7,0 million orders and options by American Airlines and Eastern Airlines for 105 Lockheed Electras, this type being a medium-range turbo- prop machine of the class pioneered by the Viscount. So to the Viscount and its successors our attention is logically directed: and here the scene is brightened by the new developments described on pages 638 and 650. In itself a matter for congratulation, especially to Rolls-Royce, is the raising of the Viscount's cruising speed to over 360 m.p.h.; and it is once again an RR-VA team which will give us the Vanguard, a shining new champion in the medium-range field. Bigger and, we may confidently suppose, better than the Electra, the Vanguard appears to be a pre-stretched design; that is, one which is unlikely to need subjecting to the present linear-development process. But in this bustling, and in many senses relentless, business of air transport it is becoming daily less prudent to make predictions—this notwithstanding our opening remarks.
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