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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0077.PDF
18 January 1957 77 HELICOPTER AIRLINE Englishman s Impressions of New York Airways at Work THERE are various ways in which to spend a spare day inpre-Christmas New York. I conscientiously decided thatbusiness came first, but I was to find that my call on New York Airways happily conjoined both business and pleasure. I chose to call on this helicopter airline because over the pastyear or so I have formed a high regard for the way in which it and' the Port of New York Authority have aggressively pursuedthe American principle of "We don't want to know your problems —we just want results." New York Airways are worth watching closely, not only becausethey have produced results, but also because they are potential customers of Britain's helicopter industry. I quote the words ofMr. Robert L. Cummings, Jr., president of New York Airways, which he spoke at the dedication of New York's West 30th StreetHeliport on September 26 last: "Just as Capital went abroad to buy the Viscount three years ago, present indications are that we maywell be doing similarly in order to find appropriate equipment to render the best possible service to the public ..." He referredlater in his speech to New York Airways' interest in multi-turbined helicopters carrying 20 to 25 passengers, and added also: "InEngland today there is [a 40- to 50-seat helicopter] well advanced in construction which will fly some time next year. It is called theFairey Rotodyne and gives very real promise of being able to perform the operations we need." I talked with Mr. Cummings, and I shall record his views inamplification of the above remarks; but before doing so it will be as well briefly to acquaint the reader with the background to NewYork Airways. Reference to the map shows how the island of Manhattan is surrounded by the airports of La Guardia (domestic),Idlewild (international), Newark (domestic), and Teterborough (business and private). On the west (Hudson River) side of the island is the newlyopened West 30th Street heliport (see photograph overleaf). It is perfectly situated, because it is very roughly equidistant fromeach airport, and it is in the heart of New York's downtown business and commercial area. The airlines offices and head-quarters are at La Guardia, where the fleet of five S-55s, three S-58s (three more to come) and one Bell are based. The operations are threefold: (1) Suburban services from theI central W. 30th St. heliport to the points shown on the map; (2) services from the heliport to the airports of La Guardia, Idle- ; wild and Newark; and (3) the busiest service—shuttle flights; between these airports every 45 min. Passengers, cargo and mail are carried by day, but, as yet, only cargo and mail at night. Unlike the European helicopter operators Sabena and B.E.A.,New York Airways is a private company (550 shareholders); but, like the helicopter divisions of those airlines, it receives a govern-ment subsidy. N.Y.A.'s greatest assets are the backing it gets from the Port of New York Authority—owner and administratorof all the New York airports—and, above all, the natural oppor- tunities for helicopter operations presented by Metropolitan NewYork's bustling commerce and congested geography. ; Robert Cummings' office is at La Guardia, whither J flew by ON arrival in New York by B.O.A.C. DC-7C (see "Flight" for January 4),J. M. Ramsden of our editorial staff campled the all-helicopter services of New York Airways before going oa by American Airlines to the WestCoast to visit Lockheed (pages 47-49 last week) and Douglas—as described in die immediate preceding article in this issue. S-55 from Manhattan (more of this experience anon). "How didyou like the ride?" he beamed—a question which I answered affirmatively and enthusiastically. It was, I felt, the sort of questionthat an airline president might have asked 25 years ago when fixed-wing operations were in the same state of infancy as heli-copter operations are today. He was, he said, "keeping up with equipment as closely as weknow how," and by equipment he included the Decca Navigator. They had now introduced S-58s, "the first helicopter that reallylooks like a vehicle." The S-55 did the job, but passengers trans- ferring to it from plush airliners were likely to be a bit disillusionedabout the much-publicized wonders of helicopter travel when they found they had chickens as co-passengers. (The five-seatsingle cabin of the S-55 has a netted-off portion for freight. The S-58 has two extremely plush six-seat cabins.) They were, explained Mr. Cummings, charging 54 cents a milefor the short services. This was less than the taxi-fare: but no-one was going to ride with you at 54 cents a mile over the longerdistances when surface travel was cheaper. "We reckon that ten cents per seat-mile is the right direct operating cost," because overthe longer distances you had to get down to "fixed-wing-plus-taxi" fare levels. I asked whether he considered that the right helicopter to workbest at this cost was not a big 40-seater like the Rotodyne. "Not necessarily yet," he said. "The market for the larger ship is in thelonger hauls." He was looking next at something smaller—"a 20- to 25-passenger ship would make us happy." The Rotodynewas essentially a helicopter for London-to-Brussels or London-to- Paris types of service, both long hauls, and where there would bethe traffic to fill 40 seats. It wasn't the number of seats that was going to bring down cost per seat-mile: it was the turbine engine.The simpler, more efficient and lighter engine would bring about a simpler hull, gearbox and rotor, and hence a much lower overallweight. Add to this more seats and you were really getting some- where. "But," he said, "we'll not be happy until we've got multipleengines." They could then do without floats—those at present fitted to their S-55s and S-58s at the expense of passengers werenothing more than "a second engine." He was disturbed about the "inadequacy of manufacturers'commercial plans" and the fact that the industry was dependent on military orders. "Bristol seem to shape up nearest to ourplans," he said. (This was a reference to the forthcoming 25- passenger Bristol 192 powered by two Napier Gazelles.) Quick quotes from among Mr. Cummings' other remarks:"The only way on short-hauls is frequency—to give service to the public and to generate traffic." . . . "We prefer to call ourgovernment subsidy a 'public service subsidy'—it sounds better
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