FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0457.PDF
5 April 1957 459 D-14 OPERATING COSTS THE Indian Airlines Corporation (writes a correspondent inBombay) recently sought from Russia details of the economics of the 11-14. The airline has been examining the relative merits ofthis aircraft and the Fokker Friendship, and [as related recently] it now seems certain that the Friendship will be chosen. The Russianteam which went to India gave some data—the firstto come to hand—about the economics of Russian civil aircraft. The operating cost, says our correspondent, was the equivalent of£75 per hour as against £35 per hour for the DC-3. This was later revised to £67 an hour because the Russians had estimated thecost of overhaul to cover nine instead of one aircraft. The Soviet report showed that the 11-14 airframe life was 1,000 hours [pre-sumably this was the major overhaul check period] and that engine life was 2,000 hours, "with intermediate overhaul every 300 and500 hours." The first cost of six Ilyushins was £1.35m—i.e., £225,000 each. Mr. Shankar Prasada, chairman of Indian Airlines, apparentlysuggested a scheme whereby his company would buy two Ilyushins on an experimental basis, on condition that they would be returnedafter a year if they did not come up to the original expectations. The Russians insisted on outright purchase, and the negotiationsfell through. IMPACT OF THE HEAVY JETS '"THE I.C.A.O. "airport symposium" which opened at Montreal•*• on March 19 was the first really well documented attempt by governments to get down to the airports and ground-aids prob-lems. The sense of urgency was vividly provided by an American delegate who reminded the meeting that there were only 380 work-ing days left before the Boeing 707 appeared on the routes. The meeting is likely to result in action because it was the climaxof a great deal of detailed work by individual governments and civil aviation organizations. Typical of these were the recommendationsmade by the representative of the International Federation of the Air Line Pilots Associations. Pertinent extracts from his recom-mendations (which were only one delegate's estimates of the subject), which provide some measure of the problem as a whole,are as follows: (1) nearly half the total number of turbine engine failures experienced by the U.S.A.F. have been due to the ingestionof dirt on runways—often causing subsequent engine failure en route (see page 457, "Blowaway Jet"); (2) one type of jet changesits take-off requirements by about 100ft for every 1 deg C increase in temperature; (3) runway widths as a result of U.S.A.F. experi-ence might need to be of the order of 300ft as against the 200ft currently specified by I.C.A.O., owing to the inferior cross-windcharacteristics of swept wing aircraft; (4) landing distance may well be the critical factor in determining runway length. The following basic data for turboprop, subsonic jet and super-sonic jet transports were presented by another delegate to the I.C.A.O. symposium. Speed No. of passengers D.O.C./seat-mile Runway length Supersonic 860-920 m.p.h. 100 4 cents 12,000 ft Subsonic 500 m.p.h. 160 2 cents 9,000 ft Turboprop 460 m.p.h. 160 1.3 cents 7,500 ft THE VOICE OF HELICOPTER EXPERIENCE ANY remarks about the future of helicopter operations by Mr.Robert Cummings, president of New York Airways, are worthy of record. His company is undoubtedly the most experi-enced commercial rotary-wing operator in the business, and its activities are of particular interest to the British industry in view ofMr. Cummings' past comments on the promise of British develop- ments in this field. Now, in an address in New York, he has disclosed that in thefive months N.Y.A. had been operating S-58s, more hours have been accumulated on three machines than have been built up inmilitary service on any one aeroplane of the same type in 30 months of operation. The airline is operating these aircraft anda fleet of S-55s (as described in previous issues) on a "catch-as- catch-can" bus technique, and the resultant technical and com-mercial experience well qualifies N.Y.A. for specifying future requirements. "Our minds are wide open as to where we go equipment-wise,"said Mr. Cummings, adding that he was in very close contact not only with the American manufacturers but also with the Frenchand British. He repeated the requirements for two distinct types On April 1 Derby Aviation opened four-times-weekly DC-3 services between Derby and Glasgow. Seen here before departing on a pre- inaugural flight are (from left to right) the Mayors of Burton-on-Trent, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester—and their ladies. The service will enable passengers to leave Derby after breakfast and to be back for dinner after a working day in Glasgow. of machine, each with multiple turbine engines. The first wouldbe for short-haul work with 20-25 passengers and a D.O.C. of not more than 10 cents per seat mile. The other type would havea 50-passenger capacity for the longer ranges, with a D.O.C. of not more than 5 cents per seat mile. "In England," he said,"specifically at Bristol and Fairey, great concentration has been given to meeting commercial requirements in addition to a machinewhich will be entirely useful militarily . . . There is basically no real difference between the two. The desired vehicle is an economictransport vehicle." Comments about the future of helicopter operations were alsomade recently by Lord Douglas, chairman of B.E.A. Twin engines, he said, were essential, and the Bristol 192C (two NapierGazelles) was "likely to be among the first proven twin-engined helicopters available." At the same time, B.E.A. were continuingto follow closely the Westminster and the Fairey Rotodyne. All these helicopters promised realization of B.E.A.'s ultimate objec-tive—economically self-supporting scheduled services direct be- tween city centres. "Such operations," said Lord Douglas, "will,we hope, follow on as a natural progression from the experience gained with the Bristol 192Cs." In the meantime, he added,B.E.A.'s activities were to be limited mainly to experimental and development flying. BREVITIES "|>RINCE Axel of Denmark opened the new six-storey S.A.S.••- House in Conduit Street, London, on March 25. • • K.L.M.'s profit in 1956 was £2,161,654, of which total £1,268,797 was appropriated for reserves. The net dividend will be 7 per cent. * * * Chicago Helicopter Airways are to inaugurate on April 1 passenger services from O'Hare and Midway airports to down- town Chicago. * * * The office of the Air Research Bureau has moved to 67 Ruede la Loi, Brussels: telephone numbers remain as 12.82.79 and 12.82.83. * * • Sometime between the evening of March 5 and the morning ofMarch 6 last, say I.A.T.A., the two-millionth tourist passenger crossed the North Atlantic. Tourist services began in May 1952. * * * Liverpool Corporation last week "agreed in principle" to assum-ing control of Speke Airport from the M.T.C.A. Exploratory negotiations will begin with the Ministry and the operators concerned. * * * President Eisenhower has ordered the U.S. delegation dis- cussing traffic rights for K.L.M. in the United States (see last week's issue) to give the Dutch demands "the most serious consideration." * * * A new text book on civil aviation, written by Dr. H. A.Wassenbergh, has been published by Martinus Nijhoff of The Hague. In English, and entitled Post-War International CivilAviation Policy and the Law of the Air, it discusses the political and commercial structure of international air transport, how it hasbeen built up since the war, and the law of the air. We hope to review the book in more detail in a later issue.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
