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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1612.PDF
770 FLIGHT CIVIL AVIATION - , ^ : FIRST OF BRITAIN'S SEVEN SEAS OLEEK and "new pin" in its B.O.A.C. livery, the first of the^ Corporation's ten Douglas DC-7Cs was greeted at London Airport on the last day of October by Mr. Keith Granville,B.O.A.C.'s sales director. Because of a S.E. headwind component unusual over the North Atlantic (at times reaching 100 m.p.h.),G-AOIA had broken the journey from San Francisco to London at Montreal, which it reached in 7 hr 38 min. The 3,370 st. m.from Montreal to London were covered in 10 hr 48 min at a ground speed of 320 m.p.h. and the aircraft was chocked at1.55 p.m. The opportune arrival of B.O.A.C.'s first DC-7C—right ontime and soon to be in service—was welcomed by the Corporation as an alleviation of the equipment troubles with which they havebeen persistently dogged. The wish frequently expressed on London Airport's tarmac was that this could have been a Britishjet or a British turboprop—proved for service as was the efficient newcomer from Santa Monica—and delivered (as we remarked inFlight of October 26) comfortably within the contract date. But whatever regrets there may have been for the necessity of placingan "insurance policy" order in the U.S., the choice of aircraft was acclaimed by Captain Gordon Store. "A marvellous aeroplane,"was his summary of the B.O.A.C. crew's delivery and training- flight experiences. Had the customary easterly transatlantic winds prevailed, it hadbeen intended to fly the great circle distance of 3,700 n.m. from San Francisco to London non-stop. As the delivery dateapproached, several flight plans—typically overflying Goose Bay on a 4,900 n.m. stage occupying between 16 and 17 hours—werestudied by the B.O.A.C. crews. With the delivery of the first DC-7C, crew training in the U.S. (which began in April) has beencompleted except for some flight-simulator training in New York. The aircraft was delivered with a 60-seat first-class layoutdivided into three compartments. Bulkheads trimmed with natural wood panelling divide the cabin into a forward compart-ment for eight, a 36-seat centre compartment with fold-away overhead bunks (presenting a slightly claustrophobic effect) and arear compartment for 16. Although the interior colour scheme is predominantly blue and white, gay curtains in a zig-zag patternof pink and white avoid any colour monotony. The normal crew consists of the captain, a first and second officer, navigating andengineer officers and a cabin crew of four. Among the standard equipment which the flight deck crew have available is searchradar, the Sperry integrated flight system, and the Selcal "selected- call" system. A Heron of Dragon Airways at Schiphol Airport. These independent operators achieved a utilization of over 1,200 hr from the aircraft in the first year of Heron operations. A. CDRE. POWELLT ALKING to Mr. Eoin C. Mekie, chairman of British AviationServices, about the inadvertent omission of the word "deputy" in a reference to an appointment in the company last week, welearned that—while he rejoiced that A.V-M. S. D. McDonald had accepted the position of deputy managing director—he confidentlyexpected that A. Cdre. G. J. Powell would continue as managing director until retirement age a good number of years hence—and if possible after that as well. A. Cdre. Powell was founder of British Aviation Services andhas been a director since its inception in 1946. The company is the parent of Air Kruise, Aquila, Britavia, Manx and Silver City. BREVITIES CERIOUS disclocation of air services to and via the Middle East^ has occurred as a result of the Egyptian crisis. The Air Ministry has advised all transport aircraft to avoid an area withina line stretching north from the Gulf of Sollum on the North African coast to a point about 50 miles south of Crete; east alonga line parallel with and 200 miles north of the Egyptian coast; and north again to Turkish territorial limits.* * * California Eastern Aviation, Inc., is reported to be seriouslyinterested in the purchase of Convair 880 jet airliners. * * * Following the I.A.T.A. traffic conference at Cannes in June, emigrant air fares on scheduled airline services took effect on November 1. * * * An exchange of ideas between Sud Est, makers of the Caravelle,and a group of Soviet engineers took place in Paris recently. A group of French technicians has been invited to visit Moscowearly next year. * * * A lecture on London Airport was given to the Royal Aero-nautical Society by Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac on November 6. We hope to summarize the lecture and discussion in a futureissue. * * * Our Australian correspondent reports that the control of ButlerAir Transport is the subject of a dispute between Mr. Arthur Butler, the managing director, and Sir Ivan Holyman of A.N.A.,who hold the majority of the shares. * * *C.A.A. is reported to have been asked to supervise the civil evaluation of the Lockheed GL-108 (civil version of the C-130)and the GL-135—Lockheed's contender in the U.S.A.F.'s light jet transport competition. Other entries in this competition will bethe Fairchild M185F and a new Convair project. Mr. J. Banfield has been appointed civil air attache in WestGermany as from November 12. Headquarters are in Bonn. * * * A £lm terminal building is under construction at Gander. Itshould be completed by the winter of 1957-58. * * * A landing and transit rights agreement between West Germanyand Brazil was concluded on October 20 but has yet to be signed. * * * Ivan Wassiliwitsj Smirnoff—famous for his Fokker F.XVTIIflight in December 1933 from Amsterdam to Djakarta and back in 100j hours each way—died on October 28. * * * The Boeing 707 was recently flown by the deputy chief test pilotof Vickers-Armstrongs, Mr. E. B. Trubshaw. He made two flights at Seattle totalling four hours. * * * Intourist has announced that a new Russian airline is due tolink Moscow and Cairo, with stops at Bucharest, Sofia and Athens, towards the end of the year.* * * The Britannia was demonstrated in Rome on October 25 to the Ita'ian director of civil aviation, the deputy chief of staff of the Italian Air Force, and the vice-president of Fiat. * * * Sabena's first S-58 helicopter landed at Eindhoven on October22. Tilburg, in Southern Holland, has a helicopter under construc- tion for the airline's expanding rotary-wing operations.* * * The Consolidated Diesel Electric Corporation has devised"wheel-mover units" to be attached to each main landing gear of big transport aircraft. Each unit—which can be quickly fittedby one operator—is driven hydraulically from a mobile power unit and enables the pilot to taxi without engine power.
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