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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0956.PDF
102 FLIGHT CIVIL AVIATION . . . MORE CORPORATIONS? A SUGGESTION that this country should have an increasednumber of airline corporations was made by Air Chief Marshal Sir George Pirie, speaking as chairman of the Air League of theBritish Empire at its annual general meeting on June 28. He said the council of the League had noticed with concern the steady decreasein world traffic carried by British airlines and considered there should be a careful review of the organization and operation of ouroverseas route patterns. "There has recently been some talk of amalgamating the twonational Corporations as a means of effecting economies and increasing our competitive strength. The council believe that theexact opposite is much more likely to be the right course," said Sir George. "It may well be that the optimum route mileage foran efficient airline is in the neighbourhood of not more than 25,000 route-miles, as compared with B.O.A.C. 84,963 route-miles. Ifthis be accepted then there would appear to be a strong case not for fewer corporations, but for more." This would enable them toconcentrate sales and development campaigns on a narrow front. The idea of an Atlantic corporation operating North and SouthAtlantic routes is one, in the council's view, worth close examina- tion. When the two national Corporations were set up a clear Copt. J. N. Weir, who has been appointed Chief of Flight Operations of B.O.A.C. He will be responsible direct to Mr. Basil Smallpeice, the managing director of the Corporation. demarcation was made be-tween short haul and long haul services. In today'schanged conditions it might well be that this rigid distinc-tion should be modified and there should be some exten-sion of existing B.E.A. routes. Also it was essential that theCorporations, operating in a fiercely competitive worldmarket, should be able to carry on their business as commercial concerns with the minimum of political interference.These suggestions were put forward, said Air Chief Marshal Pirie, in the hope that they might be considered "with a viewto making a renewed effort to capture a much larger share of the world's air carrying trade." BREVITIES TTHE general secretary of the S.L.A.E., Mr. Peter F. Murray, is••- visiting Trinidad at the invitation of British West Indian Air- ways management. In his capacity as authorized agent of theS.L.A.E. employment bureau he will advise the company upon engineering staff recruitment problems. '* * * Mr. John W. Swann has been appointed B.E.A. passenger services manager at Keyline House, Ruislip, after serving as traffic superintendent at Renfrew for nine years. * * * Mr. C. W. Johnson has been appointed to manage the newT.C.A. Birmingham office at Herbert House, 59-71 Cornwall Street, Birmingham. * * * Scancopter Service A/S, Oslo, has recently inaugurated asuccessful Norwegian Bell 47 helicopter charter service. Applica- tion for currency to purchase an additional Bell 47 A2 or 47Jmachine has been filed. ^ * * * '-;-•• .... ' ' '•'"• Two Beavers fitted with oversize wheels for operations fromsoft surfaces have been delivered to Rutas Aereas Nationales S.A. —the first Canadian-built aircraft to go to Venezuela—where theywill be used mainly for air-lifting personnel and supplies. * * * Marconi radio stations to provide ground-to-air communicationfor transatlantic and trans-polar air routes from Europe to North America and the S.A.S. Scandinavia to Tokyo service are to beinstalled in Greenland. The stations will be located at Prins Christiansund, Dundas, and at the Nord weather station. * * * To avoid the necessity of operators having to carry airborneequipment for both the Instrument Landing System and Standard Beam Approach aircraft aids, most S.B.A. installations whichare an M.T.C.A. responsibility will be withdrawn by early next year, although the Croydon service will continue until the airportcloses. * * * A housed conveyor "Aerobridge" has been developed by Lock-heed to avoid an intermediate stage in the handling of cargo between loading bays and the aircraft floor. Each end of thebridge spars is mounted on movable dollies independently adjustable between height limits of four and ten feet. A passengerversion able to support 120 people is in an advanced stage of design. It is expected that the first flight of the Lockheed L.1649A will be made in October of this year. * * * A manual in English, French and Spanish has been issued byI.C.A.O. to provide a common international training reference for each ground and aircrew licence or branch of aviation service.* * * Thai Airways has placed an order for three Lockheed Super-GConstellations to be delivered in the summer of 1957; four aircraft of two previous purchases have been transferred to other airlines. * * * A Qantas flight captain—John William Knowling—has createda record for an Australian international pilot by logging 20,000 flying hours. Capt. Knowling started his flying on Gipsy Mothsand currently flies Super Constellations. * * * Mr. E. R. Knight will take over as the Technical DirectorOverseas of Australian National Airways when Mr. Norman Croucher takes up the position of managing director of Rosslyn(Holdings), Ltd., a group of textile companies whose head offices are in Sydney. A vehicle air ferry service, complementary to the existingStranraer-Belfast ferry, is to be opened by Silver City on August 3 between Newtownards airport, Belfast, and Ronaldsway, Isle ofMan. Bristol 170s will be operated at an initial frequency of one return trip each day. .*- .•-•-*..:.-., :*:.-•;..--;-'.-: ;-••;.-..• -- •- The outcome of a protest by the British Ambassador in Athensover the "buzzing" of a B.E.A. Viscount on June 18 was the promise of disciplinary action against the Greek pilot who isstated to have flown within 30 yd of the aircraft. Subsequently, however, it was reported that the Viscount pilot, Capt. JohnKlimcke, had been charged in his absence by an Athens court with infringement of the "law regulating air communications." * * * A.T.A. announce that an airline representatives committee is tobe appointed to discuss an aircraft proximity warning indicator with qualified electronics companies. The device is intended toinform a pilot of the position of another aircraft in relation to his own, and the airline industry will specify equipment that wouldtell a pilot what evasive action to take, or could perform this action automatically if collision is imminent. The West's best at Vnukovo, Moscow, on June 29. As re- corded in last week's issue, the Viscount brought back the industry delegates who had been visiting Russia. The R.A.F. Comet 2, which flew the Government and Service delegates, revisited Moscow on July 3 to carry out the post- poned demonstration flight.
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