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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0853.PDF
FLIGHT, 29 June 1956 853 CIVIL AVIATION COLD COMFORT TNTRODUCTION of the Britannia into passenger service hasx been deferred, owing to the necessity of modifying the engine cowlings to prevent the accumulation of dry ice in particularatmospheric conditions encountered on tropicalization trials in the Entebbe area. "Flame-outs" caused by ice being sucked into theengine can occur in these conditions, and it has been thought desirable to cure the trouble at source rather than rely on auto-matic relighting as fitted to the test aircraft. With this aim, three cowlings are to be reprofiled internallyto provide a smoother surface. This will obviate ice accretion pockets. The unmodified cowling will serve as a referenceduring the further tropical trials which will take place in July. It is expected to have the aircraft in passenger service on theSouth African route by early October, and on the Australian route a month later. DOWN TO EARTH THE newly developed R.A.E. cyclorama was used prior to the-*• recent I.F.A.L.P.A. meeting in order to enable four pilots, each representing a different airline pilots' association, to fly four stan-dards of approach and runway lighting patterns. These were the Newark/Idlewild (A.L.P.A.) approach lights with narrow-gaugerunway pattern, Type J (Jenks); the Calvert approach lights with narrow-gauge runway pattern but with lights 300ft apart, Type E;the London Calvert approach lights with narrow-gauge runway pattern, Type G (Gates); and the Schiphol approach lights withrunway broad-gauge lights and I.L.S. reference-point lighting. Discussion, aided by a Dutch contribution of a working paper,failed to determine the best of these systems on the results of the simulator trials alone. Full-scale installation soon to be made ofthe A.L.P.A., Calvert and Dutch approach systems will, how- ever, provide opportunity for pilot assessment; in the meantime,the Federation's policy of a centre-line-and-bar approach light system seems unlikely to be changed. In the past, runway lighting systems were criticized on thescore that leaving the approach-light system placed the pilot in a "black hole," and this had led to the idea of "landing mat"lighting. In general, the meeting favoured a landing mat consisting oftwo lateral rows of lights on 75ft centres, with horizontal bars to give lateral guidance and, in addition, some form of distanceguidance. Once again it was felt that full-scale tests should be made before any theoretical system was adopted. A simplehorizontal bar was not, however, considered to be adequate threshold marking and, in order to provide "area" marking, asleeve of green lights extending the width of the concrete and along it each side for 100-200ft was thought to be desirable. Additional lighting for the optimum touch-down point wasagreed to be unnecessary where successive transverse bars are used, although the illuminated green "T" on either side ofSchiphol runway was admired. Standardization of end-of-run- way markings, which was needed, could be expected to be in the More power to their ALSO: Britannia prototype G-ALBO photographed at Idris Airfield, North Africa, during the Proteus 755 (outboard) and 705 (inboard) turboprop test programme; 30 hours' flying were logged. form of a warning light or bar situated 200 yd from the end of theconcrete. Location of the I.L.S. reference point was the subject of furtherdiscussion; this is currently regarded as being less critical than earlier I.F.A.L.P.A. studies have assumed. In order that themaximum benefit be gained from the approach lights, however, the majority of the meeting agreed that the reference point shouldbe resolved with the angle of glide path at each aerodrome, which in turn should be standardized and the tolerances reduced. No resolution was passed on these lighting discussions, whichwill, however, form a valuable contribution to the final briefing meeting that will be held before the sixth A.G.A. DivisionalMeeting of I.C.A.O. LUFTHANSA IN LONDON AT London Airport last week, Lufthansa invited a party of- guests to watch the arrival of a typical flight from Dusseldorf and to follow through and discuss the procedure involved indespatching a return flight. This occasion also marked the arrival at L.A.P. of Herr Summ, who is taking over the post of stationmanager from Herr von Frankenberg. Warned of the aircraft E.T.A. by ticker tape messages fromA.T.C. coming through to the Lufthansa office, we were shep- herded to the arrival bay as the Convair 340 rolled to a stop, andwere then afforded the opportunity of meeting and discussing the aircraft with the captain. One of Lufthansa's most experiencedpilots, Capt. Rathje has been a flight captain of the old Lufthansa since the early thirties. During our inspection he expressedsatisfaction with the aircraft, and in particular with the neat layout of the cockpit. From Hamburg, the Convair brought Herr Kurt Quennet,Lufthansa's chief despatcher. The duties of this most important staff member were explained at some length, since on thedespatcher rests much of the responsibility of the carrier for the safety of the aircraft and the comfort and convenience of thepassengers. So many factors now influence an airline flight plan that about2\ hr may be required to complete it. The question of airfield alternatives, for example, requires considerable study, since widediversion of the fleet is obviously unsound, and Customs and immigration facilities must be available if the passenger is notto be unduly delayed. These decisions have consequently become the sphere of the man on the ground, although the pilot stillretains final responsibility, and can exercise his veto if conditions warrant. This is not, however, universal practice—American pro-cedure demands the signatures of both the pilot and the flight operations officer to the flight plan, to denote shared responsibility. Among the many problems which face the station manager andhis staff are the decisions which have to be made when passengers forget their passports or leave handbags behind. Some evenforget to turn up at all. HOUSEWIVES' CHOICE AS ammunition in their battle for lower fares on the North Atlan-** tic route, under discussion by delegates to the International Air Transport Association's traffic conference at Cannes [Flight, June15, page 788], Trans World Airlines made a survey of its pas- sangers to discover who the people are who fly the Atlantic, whythey do so and to what income-groups they belong. T.W.A.'s Mr. D. G. Anderson, Director-General of Civ/7 Aviation in Australia (left) and Mr. J. Schofield, civil aviation representative at Australia House, discuss one of the Viscount's Dart RDa.6 engines with Mr. H. Sharp of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd. (right h
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