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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0119.PDF
The Consolidated-Vultee PB2Y-5R Coronado referred to in the letter from Aerojet. On the right, the A.T.O. motor is being jettisoned. CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents in these columns; '•" . the names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. On Pressing-on Regardless T HAVE read with interest the contribution Thoughts on Airliner *- Utilization by E. T. House in Flight dated January 13th. I am more than surprised, however, that he should clearly advocate a policy of aircrew utilization that has proved so disastrous in the past. I had thought that this policy of "press on regardless" had died with most of those who practised it shortly after the end of the war. No one really believes that the airline captain deliberately delays a service just for the sake of delaying it. He is as anxious to get on with the job as Mr. House would want him to be, but he has learned that the minor snag may develop into a major fault. One of our most experienced pilots has been heard to say that as far as flying is concerned he has become "an old woman" and the longer he flies the more of "an old woman" he becomes. He is still flying, while some of our "press on regardless" types are no longer with us. There can be no tampering with safety in an industry where so much that is dangerous can develop so rapidly from what may, in the eyes of those who do not want to see, be a "minor snag." London, W.I. D. FOLLOWS, Secretary, the British Air Line Pilots Association. TN reply to Mr. E. T. House's comment on aircrew in his article •*• Thoughts on Airliner Utilization, in Flight for January 13th, may I suggest that "The aircraft must go through" should become the aircrew's watchword only after the point of no return has been reached. Before that point safety must, surely, at all times pre- dominate. Admittedly, the author referred to minor snags; however, it is sometimes the minor snag which results in a major disaster during flight. London, N.W.2. L. F. E. COOMBS. Jettisonable A.T.O. Motors "Y"OUR fine article on the de Havilland Super Sprite in the •*- August 5th issue was read with interest. In the last para- graph, on page 188, the statement was made ". . . it is believed that the unit is the first jettisonable liquid-propellant A.T.O. motor to go into service anywhere." May we respectfully call your attention to the fact that in 1943 our company made a liquid-propellant A.T.O. powerplant which saw service in the Army Air Force on the Douglas A-20 and the Consolidated B.24? This A.T.O. unit developed 1,000 lb thrust for a duration of 25 sec. After release from the airplane, it was lowered by parachute. The propellants used were nitric acid and aniline oil, and the system was pressurized with nitrogen. In 1944 a similar type unit was produced for the U.S. Navy. The thrust was raised to 1,500 lb and the duration to 38 sec. Both the Navy and the Coast Guard used this A.T.O. unit quite successfully during and following the war. We are enclosing two photographs which show the use of this A.T.O. unit on the PB2Y-5R airplane. Azusa, California. AEROJET-GENERAL CORPORATION, W. L. Gore, Director of Sales. Britain's New Airliners '"THE letter by "Torquemada" in your issue of December 16thA and those from D. W. Sutherland and J. Rodgers on Decem- ber 30th raise some interesting questions. "Torquemada's" suggestion that the Vanguard should be shelved in favour of the Britannia 100 can hardly stand up to examination. As pointed out in your footnote to Mr. Rodgers' letter, the Britannia even in its 100 form is intended for longer stage-lengths than the Vanguard, and it appears that only over the longer stages of the range bracket for which the Vanguard is intended, i.e., 500-2,500 miles could the Britannia offer comparable economy of operation. A further strong point in the Vanguard's favour is its freight- carrying capacity, enabling it to break even when operating at a load-factor of some 30 per cent. However, in view of the generally accepted fact that the indus- try is attempting too much, it is obvious that our civil airline pro- gramme must be streamlined if it is ever to obtain its fair share of the £2,500m worth of orders which will be placed over the next ten years, and a critical survey of the prospect and achieve- ments of the industry would not appear to be out of place at the present time. Our main attack on world markets in the past (and, judging by recent events, in the future also) will be with four aircraft, namely, Viscount, Vanguard, Comet and Britannia, followed to a lesser extent by the Herald, perhaps the Accountant, and the Twin Pioneer. The Viscount's success is too well known to require further comment and a total production of 350-400 does not appear to be too optimistic. One point which, as far as can be seen, has been completely overlooked in this country is that Vickers-Armstrongs with the Viscount are practically wholly responsible for the reputation which Britain holds as a manu- facturer of civil aircraft—a fact which makes the V.1000/V.C.7 cancellation all the more difficult to understand. I must disagree entirely with Mr. Rodgers when he says that the market for non-stop transatlantic aircraft, i.e., of the DC-8/V.C.7 type, is small in terms of numbers of aircraft. Like a large number of other people he appears to think that aircraft of this type are restricted to two routes only, namely, the Ameri- can coast-to-coast and the Transatlantic runs. Of the coast-to- coast myth, one has only to point out that three of the American domestic carriers (Eastern, Braniff and National) who have ordered big jets never have operated, and never will operate, on that route; neither will the transatlantic-only idea hold water as, of the five major carriers who have ordered jets, one, PanAm, cannot possibly use all 45 on this route alone—although their Pacific service will take some off. Of the others, two have publicly announced that their 707s will fly on other routes in addition to their non-stop services to New York, and it is a safe assumption that S.A.S. and K.L.M. intend to do likewise. Only one major airline on the North Atlantic remains to order for the sixties— T.W.A., and without doubt a fair proportion of their inevitably large jet order will be taken up by aircraft to fly through the Middle and Far East; thus on practically all of B.O.A.C.'s routes heavy competition is to be expected from 1960 onwards by the big West Coast jetliners. .Continued overleaf)
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