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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1442.PDF
594 FLIGHT LOCKHEEO AIRCRAFT CIVIL AVIATION Above, the first Lockheed 1649A seen being rolled out of the Burbank factory last week. This one is the first of 46 now on order tor five airlines. Below, hangar doors at Santa Monica open to reveal the first of B.O.A.C.'s ten "insurance policy" DC-7Cs, due for delivery on October 13. (See page 597.) On the left is Mr. Ivor Lusty, B.O.A.C.'s representative on the U.S. west coast, and (right) Mr. J. R. McGowen, chief DC-7 project engineer. A.W.A/s NEW CIVIL VENTURE NO hard figures, and very few tentative ones, were released bythe Hawker Siddeley Group last week when it announced that one of its members, Armstrong Whitworth, was to undertakethe design and manufacture of "a number of pressurized medium- range Freighter/Air Coach civil aircraft, also capable of militaryapplication." What was announced, however, was that several million pounds(reported by one source as £10m) will be spent on the project. The passenger version would accommodate 66 passengers—indi-cating a payload of at least 13,000 lb, while range would be of the order of 2,500 st. miles. "Special attention" had been paid totake-off and landing distances. The aircraft would be designed to accommodate mixed payloads of passengers and freight, with pas-sengers being accommodated at either end of the cabin; as a pure freighter simultaneous direct loading and unloading from lorryor truck would be catered for. The aircraft will be powered by four Rolls-Royce Darts, and a hint that two Tynes might befitted as an alternative installation is contained in the statement that "a twin-engined version will be powered with Rolls-Roycegas turbines of higher power." STRONG WORDS FROM K.L.M. THE president of K.L.M., Mr. I. A. Aler, addressing the secondEuropean Aeronautical Congress on September 25, uttered strong words about unserviceability. "The airlines," he said, "aredoing cart of the designer's .. . job." The number of delays and the sight of stranded aircraft on nearly every airport, he said, gavehim no reason to be satisfied. Engines were sold with an approved lifetime between overhauls of 1.000 to 1.400 hours but only halfthe engines reached this figure, The other half had to be withdrawn prematurely due to basic trouble. Aircraft structures and equip-ment kept on giving trouble and there was "no end" to the stream of service bulletins incorporating major modifications. By thetime they were incorporated, what was left of guaranteed perform- ance and weights? This trend, Mr. Aler continued, should be reversed in the future. Footnote: K.L.M. have on order eight DC-8s, nine Viscounts,12 Electras, and two Friendships. The present fleet includes Super Constellations, DC-6Bs and Convair 340s. PENALTIES FOR OPERATORS— TPHE contention that many U.S. domestic airline schedules are-•• unrealistic, and that there is a tendency to publish timetables which, although they show faster travel times, are seldom met inpractice, is now being studied by the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. As a result of this study, it is likely that C.A.B. may require air-lines to complete three out of every four flights on time, or change their schedules accordingly. One airline official is reported to havesaid of this proposal: "It is like trying to legislate against an Act of God." The American Air Line Pilots Association, however, is likelyto favour such legislation. Their view, expressed by a leading A.L.P.A. officer, is that unrealistic scheduling presents potentialsafety problems: "We are trying to get more speed out of 'planes that can't take the extra load." The C.A.B. proposal wouldprobably allow a 25 per cent tolerance for mechanical delays and, presumably, the "Acts of God" mentioned by the airline official. —AND FOR PASSENGERS HTHE extent of the "no-show" problem—the failure of-•- passengers to take-up reservations for particular flights—has become so widespread in the United States that it is currentlyregarded by the U.S. Air Transport Association as being second in importance only to the air traffic control problem. Late can-cellations—or no cancellation at all—invariably mean reduced load factors, since airlines are unable to re-sell the seats. Anotherpractice which operators are anxious to discourage is that of multiple reservations—the wily passenger's dodge to cover him-self in case his plans should change. A satisfactory solution (which would provide better service tothe public and increase revenues for the carriers) has been exercis- ing the ingenuity of the airlines for some years, and now adivision of the A.T.A. known as the Air Traffic Conference of America has put forward a two-point plan. Point one of the plan (which actually came into force lastmonth) is the declaration of a "last time" by which a ticket must be purchased if the reservation is not to be cancelled. This hasbeen set at 12.01 a.m. on the day of departure or six hours before take-off, whichever is the later. The airline agent willattempt to persuade the customer to buy his ticket at the time of reservation; but if this is not possible the prospective passengerwill be informed of the time limit that has been imposed. With characteristic enterprise, the airlines have tried to easethe ticket purchasing difficulties by including specified banks and convenient locations—such as "downtown drugstores"—amongthe places where tickets may be bought. (In practice, the receipt for the money deposited in the bank to the airline's account willbe exchanged for a ticket at the airport.) Point two of the plan, which provides for penalties, will be dis-cussed by the airlines in December. Provided that 75 per cent of them agree, and that the Civil Aeronautics Board gives itsapproval, late cancellation charges and "no-show" penalties will be introduced in February 1957. If and when these regulationscome into force, the penalty for "no show" or late cancellation can be expected to take the form of a deduction when the fareis refunded. The late-cancellation charge may be set at 10 per cent of the fare—with a minimum of one dollar and a maximumof three dollars—and the "no-show" penalty at 20 per cent of the fare for the first sector, subject to a minimum of three dollarsand a maximum-of twenty dollars. This two-part plan is very similar to that operated at themoment by B.E.A. and B.O.A.C. Both corporations require reservations to be confirmed by the purchase of a ticket some hoursbefore the take-off, and a "no-show" penalty (as required by I.A.T.A. in the conference Area 2 embracing Europe, Africa andthe Middle East) is applied.
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