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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0708.PDF
714 ;, FLIGHT, 24 May 1957 French Aviation Today SPORTS FLYING The great National Centre of St. Yan as it was during the World Gliding Championships last year. The Centre's Stampe biplanes are in the foreground. CONTROL of sporting aviation in France is the responsibilityof the Service de la Formation Aeronautique et des SportsAeriens (S.F.A.S.A.) which is directed by the Govern- ment's Secretariat-General for Civil Aviation. The S.F.A.S.A.in fact directs and co-ordinates the operation of the 500 private clubs which are members of the Federation Aeronautique del'Union Francaise. These clubs, and the national centres for basic and advanced training, constitute the French sporting-aviation movement. In 1956 the Government allotted 1,371 million francs to sports-flying activities, of which 476 million went on club subsidies, 350 million for operating expenses and 545 for equipment costs. Thisfinancial support, coupled with the efforts of the clubs them- selves, led to private flying activity even greater than that ofpreceding years. Government financial allocations in previous years were: 440 million francs in 1951, 750m in 1952, 870m in1953, 960m in 1954 and 1,010m in 1955. As part of the curriculum, some 40,000 schoolchildrenreceived basic aeronautical instruction from 2,300 trained instructors; and 4,000 of these pupils gained the ElementarySporting Aviation Badge which entitled them to State aid, particularly for training as pilots. Aeromodelling was alsoencouraged in schools and in 220 aero clubs, with financial assistance to the tune of 3.5 million francs. Some 1,100 gliders, all State-owned, completed 75,907 hours'flying, during which pilots gained 1,045 "B" licences, 794 "C" licences, 206 silver badges, 43 gold badges and three diamondbadges. The 2,573 light aircraft, 250 of them belonging to the State, flew 201,627 hours; and 2,542 basic and 926 full privatepilot's licences were obtained. A remarkable total of 18,733 parachute jumps was made, 8,830of them with delayed opening. This activity led to the granting of 713 qualification certificates, 348 first-grade badges, 164second-grade badges and 35 qualified instructor's badges. For the armed forces, 505 pilots were trained to elementarystandard in 11,630 hours' flying. For the ground trades, 4,863 men were trained as riggers, fitters, radiomen and meteorologists.There are seven Government-run national flying centres for sporting instruction. That at Biscarosse is devoted entirely toparachute training for beginners and instructors. The well-known centre at St. Yan is for advanced powered-aircraft flying trainingand for practical instruction for commercial pilots. Altogether 8,931 hours were flown, of which 196 were for civil and 111 formilitary dual instruction. The Carcassonne Centre is for preliminary training for military pilots and advanced civil train-ing; and here 4,963 hours were flown. Both powered-aircraft and glider instruction are given at the Challe-les-Eaux centre; andlast year 1,403 glider hours and 3,338 powered-aircraft hours were flown. The three gliding centres at Montagne Noire, Pont St.Vincent and St. Auban completed respectively 1,960, 2,867 and 4,277 hours in gliders and 827, 641 and 1,085 hours in poweredaircraft, mostly for aero-towing. The St. Auban centre specializes in high-altitude gliding. Of the club instructor strength, 124 instructors are paiddirectly by the S.F.A.S.A., of whom 69 are employed in the national centres and 55 in flying clubs. Another 52 instructors inthe clubs are paid by the Government for gliding tuition only. All other instructors in the clubs are honorary or paid by the clubsthemselves; but all instructors are trained at Challes-les-Eaux. Equipment. Parallel with the training of personnel for allforms of aerial activity, the Government is actively encouraging and supervising the development and acquisition of equipmentof many kinds for the club movement. The breakdown is as follows: In 1955 eight Morane 733 Alcyons were used at St. Yanfor advanced and instrument-flying training; these were reduced to three last year. The tiny Sipa Coccinelle two-seater, developedas a "people's aircraft," has now obtained its official certificate of airworthiness. A new Jodel, the D.I 13—probably to appear "Flight" photograph at the Paris Show—is a four-seater powered by a Lycoming180 h.p. engine. The Boisavia Anjou four-seat light twin, now undergoing makers' flight tests, has two Lycoming 180 h.p.engines; and the Type 604, by the same company, is an enlarged Mercurey with a Salmson Argus 250 h.p. engine, and is designedfor glider-towing; a prototype has been completed. The national centres are to be re-equipped with the tandem two-seater Nord 3200, powered by a 240 h.p. Potez 4 D.30 engine; flight tests are in hand. Three Djinn helicopters have beendelivered to the Challe-les-Eaux centre so that a helicopter flying school may be started there. The new glider strength is good. As a high-performance single-seater 32 Breguet 901s have been ordered and 14 of them had been delivered up to the end of last year. Breguet are alsoproviding the 904 which is 8 high-performance, two-seat trainer of which two prototypes are complete and tested. Fifteenexamples have been ordered and important improvements are foreseen. Finally Breguet are to start test-flying the 902 two-seattrainer during this year. Fauvel, makers of the very successful A.V.36 flying-wing glider, now have the A.V.22 tandem two-seaterflying-wing glider under official test and are designing the A.V.45, which is a version of the 36 with an auxiliary engine. A prototypeof the Air 102, with laminar-flow wing, is under construction and the design of a stratospheric glider for high-altitude research is inhand. Official tests of the Wassmer W.A.20 Javelot glider are under way and an order for a pre-series of six has been placed,subject to successful completion of official tests. In the process of fostering the development of engines andother equipment, the secretariat has bought the prototype of the Chabay 90 h.p. engine. A simplified flight-simulator is also beingprepared. Special parachutes for competition jumping are being studied and development is continuing on the Constantin flightstabilizer, which makes use of two small aerofoils mounted ahead of the wing of a Jodel D.I 12. Lightweight V.H.F. radios forgeneral installation in light aircraft are being developed, and 50 Artus Desoubre radios of this type are being delivered. Various research programmes have been undertaken, includingone for atmospheric study at the St. Auban centre, where wave characteristics are also being investigated. Since France was liberated the government has supplied nearly800 aircraft—free or almost free—in order to help the clubs to start up again. In 1954 the purchase subsidy scheme was started,whereby anyone who buys or builds an aircraft receives financial assistance (according to the number of its seats) and is refundedpart of the cost of the engine. In the first year 80 million francs were paid out for this subsidy and in the two following years thefigure rose progressively to 100m and then to 200m. Altogether, 425 aircraft were bought or built with the aid of these subsidies,268 of them for clubs and 157 for private owners. Of the 425 machines, 210 were built by amateurs. Operational subsidies for the clubs during 1956 included 9.5mfrancs for general operations, 80m in h.p./hour bonuses and 26m in bonuses for flying hours by people under 21. Some 76,000litres (17,200 gal) of petrol were issued free to gliding clubs for their towing and recovery commitments. On April 3, 1955, theclubs were exempted from petrol tax; and 160m francs were reimbursed in respect of this tax during 1956. The tangible results of this great flying movement include theestablishment of two international and seven national gliding records during last year. The World Gliding Championships,held at St. Yan, saw 25 nations and 58 gliders taking part. An Air Tour of France for under-21s drew 40 participants. Nationalaeromodelling championships were also held. Two films were made of the World Gliding Championships; a travellingexhibition dealing with professional flying was sent on tour; and a total of 42 air meetings was held at airfields all over the country;and a well-known French pilot, Leon Biancotto, visited England and won the aerobatics championship at Coventry. ,
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