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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0687.PDF
FLIGHT, 1 June 1956 687 Newcomer to London: PanAm's third DC-7C, whose proving flight to London Airport on May 24 is the subject of a news item on the next page. The aircraft, N733PA "Clipper Blue Jacket," is seen here outside PanAm's London engineering base, posing with five new Hillman Minxes for the photographers. CIVIL AVIATION B.O.A.C.S CHANGE OF FORTUNE TUST before Sir Miles Thomas retired from the chairmanship** of B.O.A.C. on April 30, he announced that the Corporation had earned a net profit of about £500,000 up to March 31, 1956(see Flight, April 20). This net profit was double that of the previous year, and it appeared that B.O.A.C. was steadily re-gaining the ground it lost to its competitors after the Comet setback two years ago. The news that a loss of about El^m (including capital charges)is expected during the forthcoming financial year, given last Monday by the new chairman, Mr. Gerard d'Erlanger, came asa severe shock. It seems that, having operated without Exchequer grant since 1951, the Corporation will again require Governmentfinancial support. (The Exchequer's power to make grants in emergency recently lapsed— Flight, March 23—when the futurefinances of both Corporations appeared to be sound.) The introduc- tion by B.O.A.C. of Britannias and DC-7Cs indicates that capitalcharges are certain to be heavier; and higher costs, increased wages (alone amounting to £750,000) and the low initial productivity ofthe new types are given as the reasons for the expected deficit. The changes in the direction and management of B.O.A.C.'soperations, announced on May 25, will mean more efficient co-ordination between the three operations departments—flightoperations, ground services, and engineering. Each of these depart- ments will be responsible to the Board through Mr. H. O. Houchen,who is appointed Director of Current Operations. Mr. Houchen is at present deputy to Sir Victor Tait, operations director, whoretires on June 30 "by mutual agreement." No chief of flight operations has yet been appointed, but thenew man will be chosen from within the Corporation. Ground services will remain in the charge of Mr. J. R. Stainton (his titleGeneral Manager Stations and Traffic is changed to Chief of Ground Services), and Mr. C. Abell, B.O.A.C.'s chief engineer,remains responsible for engineering. Each department will report direct to Mr. Basil Smallpeice, managing director, as from July 1. It was announced at the same time that Sir Harold Whittinghamwill retire from the post of Director of Medical Services on June 30, although he will continue to act as medical consultant toB.O.A.C. Sir William Cushion, Supplies Manager, will retire also on September 30. In announcing these changes B.O.A.C.said: "The Corporation desires to place on record its great appre- ciation of the notable contributions made by Sir Victor Tait, SirHarold Whittingham and Sir William Cushion to the progress and development of B.O.A.C. ... to the present day." HOW THE TRAFFIC GREW IN 1955T HE first pages likely to be opened by airlines which receiveI.C.A.O.'s Annual Report of the Council to the Assembly for 1955, just published, are those concerning traffic trends. Theseshow that the 1954-1955 gain was 18.3 per cent compared with 1953-1954. If the growth continues at this rate, traffic will havedoubled by 1959: even if only the average rate of increase over the last few years is maintained, doubling will take only until 1960. The largest gain appears to have been in European traffic, wherean increase of about 27 per cent was experienced, 92 per cent of it on a tourist ticket. The statement in last year's report that someEuropean short-haul services appeared to be swinging back to- wards first-class flights seems to have been wrong. Surprisingly,only about a third of U.S. domestic traffic was tourist, although domestic coach travel had a bigger share of the total traffic increase. No doubt I.A.T.A., who are at present at Cannes consideringthe PanAm and T.W.A. transatlantic cut-rate fare proposals, will have noted the alacrity with which the public responds to farereductions. Within one month of the introduction by American Airlines last September of the $80 coast-to-coast excursion fare,there resulted, the report records, a 58.9 per cent increase in tourist passengers over the same month of the previous year. Perhaps the biggest increase in tourist traffic was on U.S. inter-national services, which gained 45 per cent. North Atlantic air travel, which was 60 per cent tourist as early as 1953, went up to71 per cent tourist in 1955. A "reasonable estimate" of tourist traffic throughout the world as a whole would, according toI.C.A.O., be that it represents about 40 per cent of the total. 100 HOURS ON THE HERALD ~D OUTE analyses for the Herald have been made at the request••-*• of about 50 airlines during the past year. The prototype has now completed its first 100 hours, and is being prepared for itsC. of A. trials. These facts are given by Handley Page in a progress report on their local-service airliner published today. The second 50-hr flight-test phase included a period of intensiveperformance measurements of take-off, climb, level flight, landing, three-engined take-offs and climbs, and accelerate-stop distances.Development of the Alvis Leonides Major engines continues and is expected to be increased "in quick stages" to a point wherethe engine will be "commercially acceptable." Performance figures which will be guaranteed to purchasers areas follows: cruising power and fuel consumption; rate of climb at take-off power on four and three engines; rate of climb atmaximum continuous power on three engines; take-off balanced field length; take-off distance on four engines; and landing distance.A second Herald prototype will fly this summer and will be used to prove the cabin pressurization and de-icing systems and fortropical trials, followed by overseas sales demonstrations. It will then spend several months in the hands of an airline. FIGURES FOR THE Tu-104 AN edifying document, acquired at Zurich last week-end (see**• page 662) was a brochure, printed in French and issued by the crew of Tu-104 L5400 which took part in the display. Captainof the aircraft at Zurich was Major A. H. Starikov (who flew the aircraft in and out of London during its visits last April), and theRussians carried a Swiss pilot and a Russian-speaking American. Details from the brochure, with figures converted from metricunits, are as follows: maximum speed, 620 m.p.h.; cruising speed, 500-560 m.p.h.; maximum range (allowances not stated), 2,800 to3,100 st. miles; cruising altitude, 32,800 to 39,400ft; take-off dis- tance (conditions not stated), 4,600 to 5,250ft; landing distance,3,600 to 3,930ft; payload 15,400 1b to 16,530 lb (70-80 tourist passengers), or 11,460 to 13,230 lb (50 first-class passengers);freight capacity, 5,510 lb; cabin differential pressure, 6.4 lb/sq in to 8.1 lb/sq in (maximum cabin altitude, 9,800ft). THE SAFETY OF EUROPE'S R.T. ON page 689 are included I.A.T.A.'s findings that present air-to-ground radio communications throughout the world fall far short of the ideal. So far as Europe is concerned this seems tobe putting it mildly, and it was particularly instructive to study results of a survey of European H.F./R.T. recently carried out bythe International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations. This matter is especially topical because, according to anI.C.A.O, recommendation in November 1954, a general withdrawal of W.T. stations in Europe and the Mediterranean by July 1 thisyear is advocated. The pilots' Federation undertook their survey to ensure that, if this plan were implemented, a serious loss ofsafety would not immediately result. Their findings are that existing H.F./R.T. in Europe and theMediterranean "falls below acceptable standards of safety, and, while some individual sectors or areas may be satisfactory, thesystem on the whole is inadequate to bear the present H.F./R.T. communications traffic, and would be entirely unsafe if the wholeof the existing air communications traffic were imposed upon it." European airline captains were given a questionnaire to answer,together with some brief notes on the operation of H.F./R.T. (which were, incidentally, the only form of such instruction thatpilots had received!). An analysis of the returns shows that, of 120 initial calls, 337 actual calls were necessary, the wastage ofchannel time thus being 217 calls. The causes of this wastage are, I.F.A.L.P.A. feel, the inadequacy of inter-station relays, deficien-cies in the training of ground and air personnel, and the heavy interference of military communications traffic ("conducted withlittle regard for standard telephony procedures"). I.F.A.L.P.A.'s recommendations are that existing C.W. channels should be re-tained so that aircraft so equipped may continue to communicate by W.T. direct to air traffic control centres, and that the wholequestion of changing to H.F./R.T. in Europe and the Mediter- ranean should be reviewed at an early meeting of I.C.A.O.
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