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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1473.PDF
FLIGHT, 12 October 1956 625 The first Lockheed 1049H passenger-cargo Super Constellation, the Qantas "Southern Spray," emerges from the assembly lines at Burbank. Delivery to Australia by air is expected to take place on October 15. CIVIL AVIATION STRONG WORDS AT SOUTHEND TF there is one aviation problem that stands thousands of feet•*• above the others, it is, of course, the problem of air traffic control. So many pens have gushed so many torrents of wordson this subject that those not directly concerned are becoming a little bored. The impatient question "Why doesn't someone dosomething?" helps no one. A great deal has been and is being done, notably in the laboratories of the electronics industry; butit rests with the users and the controllers of the air first to specify and agree upon their objectives. Those who believe that theseobjectives can easily be agreed upon by discussion and compromise should have attended the first convention of the Guild of Air TrafficControl Officers at Southend on October 4 and 5. This meeting really hammered home the seriousness of theA.T.C. situation in this country. The problem in the United States can no longer be regarded as on a which the United King-dom will sooner or later have to face: it is upon us now, and the report and recommendations of the Guild's technical committee(a synopsis appears on page 620) is, in our view, a document of fundamental importance. As a new association (see Flight,November 19,1954) the Guild is naturally sensitive to accusations of presumption and pessimistic gloom-mongering. This humble-ness, we feel, is misplaced. There can be no others better qualified to diagnose and prescribe remedies for the run-down conditionof the country's A.T.C. system than those who administer it every day. The two-day conference (the Guild's first) was in many waysa model of its kind. It was attended by about 70 members, as well as representatives of the trade and die users. The business,though sombre in subject, was light in presentation (it was pleasantly leavened by the social side, in which the Mayor ofSouthend—the Guild's host—cheerily figured). The programme was devised to give everyone concerned with the A.T.C.—users,equipment-suppliers and controllers—an opportunity to present their points of view. The idea of having quiz-teams to answerdelegates' questions was excellent, and one that might well add to the value of (and brighten up) other technical conferences.In addition to the Guild's paper referred to above, two others were presented. The first was by Capt. H. C. Bailey, who, as asenior B.E.A. Viscount captain, put forward the civil pilots' view of air traffic control. The second paper, on the subject of militaryair traffic control in the United Kingdom, was presented by G/C. F. Hume, deputy director of operations at the Air Ministry. We shall say more in our next issue of the contents of thesepapers, of the lively discussions which followed them, and of the two "Any Questions" sessions. [Editorial comment; page 599.] BRTTANNIAS FOR NORTHEAST?F IVE weeks after the Britannia's American tour came a foretasteof the fruits of Bristol's sales policy. Although at the time of going to press Northeast had yet to sign the initial contract, nego- tiations for the supply of five Britannia 305s (worth, it is said,about £6m) to the U.S. domestic carrier were well advanced and might have been completed but for a premature publication ofthe announcement. To Northeast, delivery of the aircraft in the autumn of 1957(made possible by B.O.A.C., who have agreed to relinquish their first five 305s in place of more 312s in 1958) would be of consider-able importance. Only very recently granted by the Civil Aero- nautics Board a third share in what has been described as the"richest traffic plum in America"—the New York-Miami route (see Flight, August 31)—the airline would, in its turbopropBritannia, have a year's lead over its competitors (Eastern and National), whose first Electras are not scheduled for delivery untilAugust 1958. The richness of the New York-Miami plum is best illustratedby a simple comparison: whereas five airlines share the important New York-Chicago route, the 1,000 n.m. stage between New Yorkand Miami, which books about 29 per cent more passengers (a total of 763,000 in 1955) has been apportioned by the C.A.B. amongonly three carriers. Northeast's Miami service would be operated by Britannias ina 90-seat configuration. In the reported words of Mr. George E. Gardner, the airline's president, "the Britannia is the ideal aero-plane for the de luxe first-class service we are planning to offer." More details of the Britannia's North American tour are con-tained in a report which Bristol entitle "Operation Clockwork." A summary of cold facts, die report manages to convey eloquentlythe regularity and reliability of the aircraft (G-ANBJ) during its 19 day—78 hr. 58 min airborne time—demonstration trip. "BakerJig" (Bravo Juliet?) had flown merely 16 hr 10 min when it left for America a week after its completion; yet only two delays—onelasting two hours due to a piece of grit holding open a shuttle valve in the undercarriage emergency lowering mechanism, andanother of one hour due to the shearing of a starter motor quill- shaft—occurred during the 32 demonstration flights and 52 take-offs and landings which were made. Such other maintenance snags as occurred were rapidly dealt with by the Bristol technicalstaff. At San Francisco, United Air Lines engineers were impressed with the way a necessary throttle motor change was made in 12minutes. Shortly afterwards U.A.L. "sent over their chief engineers and they gave the maintenance team a real grilling." Editorialcomment appears on page 599. Footnote: From Aviation Week, October 1, page 38: "... theBritish are still a potent factor in the competition for turbine transport sales . . ." Eagle Aviation's elegant central London terminal at Marble Arch House was opened on October 1 by Mr. J. Profumo, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Officials of the Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers (see Col. l):l. to r.: Mr. B. F. Collins; Mr. H. S. C. Rigby; W/C. G. E. Lillywhite; Mr. E. Vincent Miller (Master); Mr. S. G. Fitch; Mr. C. A. M. Kyrke-Smith.
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