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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1537.PDF
FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD FOUNDED 1909 and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER No 2493 Vol 70 FRIDAY 2 NOVEMBER 1 956 Editor MAURICE A. SMITH D.F.C. and BAR Associate Editor H. F. KING M.B.E. Technical Editor W. T. GUNSTON Production Editor ROY CASEY Iliffe and Sons Ltd Dorset House Stamford Street London, S.E.I Telephone • Waterloo 3333 (60 lines) BRANCH OFFICES Coventry 8-10 Corporation Street Telephone • Coventry 5210 Birmingham 2 King Edward House, New Street Telephone • Midland 7191 (7 lines) Manchester 3 260 Deansgate Telephone • Bluckfriars 4412 (3 lines) Deansgate 3595 (2 lines) Glasgow C.2 26B Renficld Street Telephone • Central 1265 (2 lines) Toronto 1, Ontario 67 Yonge Street Telephone • Empire 6-0873 . New York 6, N.Y. 111 Broadway Telephone • Digby 9-1197 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas • Twelve Months, £4 10s. U.S.A. and Canada, $14.00 in this issue 697 White Knight 699 Helicopters of the World 709 How Fares the Helicopter? 717 Helicopter Powerplants 721 Helicopters of the World (cont.) 735 Aberporth in Action Hatfield's Big SurpriseW ONDERMENT—somewhat puzzled wonderment—must have been the general reaction to the news that a British jet airliner "comparable" to the DC-8 and 707 is to be constructed. To B.O.A.C.'s newly ordered fleet of 15 Boeing 707-420s is likely to be added, two years later, a sister fleet of de Havilland D.H.I 18s, similarly powered by Rolls-Royce Conway engines. There can be few people who are not pleased at the prospect of all-British jet services across the North Atlantic, however much they may feel that the cart of prestige must never again be put before the horse of sound business. But we may be sure that if the D.H.118 were to be merely an instrument of national prestige, de Havilland would not be building it. It will demand an expenditure of technical effort as great as that now being exerted by the giants of the U.S. West Coast, of whose five-year 707 and DC-8 programmes it is still being said, "They'll never do it." It will, in fact, be a greater effort, since neither Boeing nor Douglas have yet seen fit to "phase-in" their 727 or DC-9 medium jets, whereas de Havilland are heavily committed to an accelerated Comet 4 and 4A programme. We are led to suspect that the de Havilland Enterprise, notwithstanding its great resources and jet airliner experience, may not be embarking entirely alone upon its new venture. Questions] and Answers There must be coolly reasoned answers to the following questions: What is the market for a big jet transport coming three years after the first 707s and DC-8s? Will airline interest in the Comet, and the technical effort behind it, tend to be diverted to the 118? Why does B.O.A.C. need both 707s and D.H.I 18s? The full answer to the first question must abide the release of more data as the basis of a fuller assessment; but from preliminary reports it appears that the D.H.118 will be smaller than the overwater DC-8 and 707 (120 tourists compared with about 150), though with equal Conway power. It will be lighter—perhaps not much lighter—than the first series of J57-powered Americans (240,000 lb to 260,000 lb); but since wing-loading will, we understand, be lower, airport behaviour (and therefore operational appeal) should be superior. And we may expect, despite the D.H.I 18's smaller capacity, a lower seat-mile cost. These assets should serve the 118 well in the world market—with the possible exception of the North Atlantic route, the operators of which appear to be fully stocked up with 707s and DC-8s. Total world traffic in 1962, excluding Russia and China, may be about 30,000 million tonne-km, of which 12 per cent may be North Atlantic traffic (it is at present about 6 per cent). This will require an aircraft capacity of about 6,000 million tonne-km to be available: just about exactly the potential capacity of the 150 overwater 707s and DC-8s so far ordered by eleven Atlantic operators, not to mention the 3,000 million tonne-km capacity of their 27 Britannia 310s, 111 DC-7Cs and 46 L.1649As. Although many of these aircraft will be used on other routes there would appear to be no immediate North Atlantic market for the D.H.118. If it is assumed that the 118 is not intended to be the ideal North Atlantic liner, and that its raison d'etre is for the other long- range trunk-routes of the world, then its market could be extensive, even if stiffly competitive. Qantas, B.O.A.C.'s British Commonwealth partner, has just chosen the small version of the 707 for precisely such routes. Might airline interest and technical effort tend to be diverted from the Comet 4 and 4A to the D.H.118? Airline interest will not, for the Comet is in the different medium-haul class. Technical effort should not, because the D.H.118 seems certain to have the fullest backing of the nation. Why do B.O.A.C. need both 707s and D.H.I 18s? So that there shall be British-equipped and British-operated jet services on the world's intercontinental trunk routes. This will satisfy the Blimps: but it must also ensure the existence of a marketable world airliner—the only real foundation of Britain's mercantile prestige in the air.
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