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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1670.PDF
FLIGHT, 18 November 1955 789 CIVIL AVIATION DECISION FOR DECCA ^ IN a statement issued earlier this week, British European Airwayshave announced their decision to adopt the Decca Navigator system as their standard short-distance navigational aid. Thedecision to equip all B.E.A.'s mainline aircraft with Decca, includ- ing 19 Elizabethans in service and the 22 Viscount-Majors onorder, follows long theoretical study and a large-scale practical trial of the aid, which is fitted in all the 24 Viscounts now inservice with B.E.A. B.E.A.'s operational experience with Decca thus amounts to some 30,000 hr. After referring to the inadequacy of the present system of non-directional beacons and/or radio-ranges in conjunction with radio- compasses, the B.E.A. statement says that for some years theCorporation has been seeking an alternative which would "meet the current and foreseen needs of air navigation (and simul-taneously the needs of the air-traffic control system) and also provide a stable situation over a reasonable economic life." Theeconomic aspect could be a decisive factor, particularly where national budgets were such that it was often difficult to achievefull deployment of such important facilities as I.L.S. Decca, in addition to being the only aid promising to meet the stringentrequirements of helicopters, was already in general use as an aid to shipping and survey. The decision to adopt it, the state-ment said, was subject to the fulfilment of certain requirements "which we are confident will be met." Some of the advantages of the Decca system are summed upby the flight operations department of B.E.A. as follows: — "It enables a pre-determined track to be maintained precisely andE.T.A.S to be calculated easily and as frequently as desired with a degree of accuracy which we do not believe capable of achievement byany other contemporary system. "The Flight Log has proved invaluable for detecting the suddenwind changes which are frequently encountered at the higher flight levels. Experience has shown that unforecast winds are frequently ofthe order of 100-120 kt and if undetected could result in the aircraft's being a considerable distance away from the estimated position. Anearly indication of strong adverse headwinds has frequently enabled us to select a more favourable altitude and thus avoid the necessity to makea technical stop for refuelling. "In the terminal area applications, the Flight Log has proved mostuseful from the standpoint of the ease and accuracy with which it is possible to maintain holding procedures, and in ensuring a smooth andrapid transition from the holding pattern to the feed-in point associated with the particular final approach aid to be used. Taking advantage ofDecca we have found it possible, in the London area in particular, where traffic conditions have permitted, to shorten the normal approach pro-cedures by using the Flight Log to feed directly on to the final approach aid. "In general, pilots are enthusiastic about the Flight Log type of displayand consider that it can ease the cockpit work-load considerably. We believe that Decca is the most promising aid for the development ofprocedures using lateral separation, which will become increasingly necessary as traffic density builds up at the higher altitudes. Theflexibility of the system, with its area coverage, enables alternative and in appropriate cases more direct routeings to be established. This is amost valuable feature, particularly where turbine engined aircraft are involved." The Decca receiver which B.E.A. propose to adopt as a standardfixed-wing aid, the Mk. 10, will incorporate zone-identification facilities and automatic lane identification, effectively producing a"one-shot" system. B.E.A. also intend to fit V.O.R., though with the proviso that"D.M.E. will probably never be provided in Europe, particularly in the light of the recent TACAN developments and that V.O.R.deployed in Europe will in the main provide only airways track guidance of less than optimum quality." This step was necessaryin order to comply with I.C.A.O.'s "by-either-of-two-means" requirement, since full Decca coverage would not be immediatelyavailable on all B.E.A.'s routes. Standard equipment would thus comprise one Decca receiver Mk. 10, including the Flight Log,one V.O.R. receiver and one A.D.F. receiver. B.E.A.'s announcement follows the recent M.T.C.A. statementof United Kingdom short-range navaid policy (Flight, October 28th) which affirmed that "of all existing systems, Decca bestmeets the A.T.C. requirements for navigation on the U.K. national airways and in control zones." NATIONAL AIRLINES BUY DC-8s— the announcement of National Airlines' decision to buysix DC-8s, the backlog of orders for the Douglas jet transport now stands at 61 aircraft haying a total value of $372m (£133m).The president of National Airlines said last week that delivery of his DC-8s would begin in midsummer 1959 and that the aircraftwould enter service in November of that year. Including spares, the six aircraft would cost $37m (£13.2m>—representing an invest-ment of £2.2m each. Other DC-8 purchasers are Pan American (25) and United Air Lines (30). —AND A.A. CHOOSE THE BOEING ' TTHE battle of the big jet transports took a surprising turn on-1 November 9th, when American Airlines announced their deci- sion to buy 30 Boeing 707s. This news followed closely a state-ment that both the Boeing and the Douglas jets were under evaluation by A.A. The surprise lies in the fact that American thus appear tohave ended their long and fruitful association with Douglas—a relationship which produced the historic DC-3 and, more recently,the DC-7. Earlier this year A.A. became the first purchaser of the Electra; they are the second airline to buy the Boeing 707,Pan Am having previously placed an order for 20. On the basis of traffic, American can claim to be the world'sleading airline, and the company has long prided itself as a pacemaker in U.S. domestic air transport. One of A.A.'s majorcompetitors, United Air Lines, recently announced an order for 30 DC-8s, for introduction to service in November 1959. Americannave now stated that their Boeings "will operate the first trans- continental service widi turbojet aircraft, and that service will bein daily operation on June 15th, 1959." Mention of the actual day on which it is proposed to begin daily services nearly fouryears ahead stresses the importance of the competitive influence on United States airline procurement policies. In view of theUnited order, delivery date may thus have been the deciding factor influencing A.A.'s choice of the Boeing. The total value of the American Airlines order is quoted as$135m (£47m), the approximate cost of the aircraft being $4.5m (£1.6m) each. The power units will be civil versions of the J-57,and first deliveries are due in March 1959. MISSIONS TO MOSCOW TWO British civil-aviation parties left London Airport lastweek for discussions in Moscow. The first delegation—from the M.T.C.A.—set off on November 9th. It was led by SirGeorge Cribbett, the Deputy Secretary, who was accompanied by Capt. V. A. M. Hunt, head of the Ministry's control andnavigation directorate, and Mr. L. S. Mills, an assistant secretary. It was stated that the object of the visit was to discuss improve-ment of air communications between Britain and Russia. A second delegation—from B.E.A.—left London two days later.The party consisted of Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, B.E.A.'s chairman, accompanied by Lady Douglas, and Mr. P. C. F. As reported above, Decca has been chosen as B.E.A.'s standard navigation aid. Present Decca coverage of Europe is shown by the tinted area of this map; the broken lines enclose areas to which it is planned to extend coverage.
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