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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0870.PDF
II. The de Hay ilia nd Comet 2, Transport Command's fastest aircraft, and the first jet transport ever to enter military service. TRANSPORT COMMAND ... Australia; two to Malta and Cyprus; two to Germany; four toWarsaw; and two to Singapore. About 420 hr were flown by scheduled services in that month.Loads for outbound scheduled services, be they passenger or freight, are provided at the direction of the Air Ministry orMinistry of Supply. Inbound loads are provided by the theatre concerned, and "Aeromed"—aero-medical flights—form animportant part of homeward-bound scheduled flights. (The term Aeromed covers all cases of sick or injured servicemen—or theirfamilies—who have to be brought home for treatment.) "Tasking" of scheduled services is done monthly, since require-ments are continually changing, but the main order is issued at the beginning of each year. This order deals with such generalitems as navigation procedures, visas, briefing and so forth—all the things that can be said once a year instead of being repeatedevery month. Many of the Command's staging points, particularly those inthe Middle East, are near or between politically insecure areas. This is the reason why new routes to the Far East, utilizingstaging points on British territory, are being planned. For instance, the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean will play akey part in the future route network of the Command. Long-range operations, not operated to a schedule, aremounted when special requirements dictate. The best and most recent example of these activities, and one which kept TransportCommand busy over several months, was the logistic support of Operation Grapple-—code-name for the British thermo-nucleartests based on Christmas Island in the Pacific. Long-range operations were also conducted on a large scale between the U.K.and Cyprus during the Middle East emergency. Special Flights. About one-third of the Transport Com-mand's operational effort is devoted to special flights. These may take the form of a flight to any part of the world at anytime. Typical examples during the past two months, all involving Comets, were the flight to Kano to show the flag at the openingof the new airport (Flight, May 17); the flight which carried the Queen and Prince Philip to Scotland and back; and the tour ofthe U.S.A. and Canada. There is a regular demand for the movement of royalty,V.I.P.s, V.V.I.P.s, servicemen, Government officials and others all over the world. In addition, special flights are arranged tosupport Fighter Command and Bomber Command exercises, and to provide the logistic support, as required, of British over-seas theatres. Overseas special flights are carried out by Comet and Hastings squadrons; domestic special flights, and those to'Europe, often fall to the Metropolitan Communications Squad- ron, equipped with Devons and Ansons and based at Hendon. As may be imagined, considerable pre-planning of specialflights, which may involve the use of airports not included in the R.A.F.'s normal network, is required. The operation of the Queen's Flight is the responsibility ofTransport Command. Based at Benson, the Flight operates Herons, Vikings and Whirlwinds.Transport Support. This is the Command's most specialized activity. It may be defined as the delivery of troops, equipmentand supplies to the front line, followed by parachute air drops or by landings, and subsequent support in the field. TransportSupport represents—together with long-range operations— R.A.F. Transport Command in its role of fire brigade. Training and exercises ensure the instant readiness of theTransport Support organization. At times during the summer, when full-scale exercises reach their peak, three-quarters of theCommand's available aircraft may be mobilized. The key part of the organization is the Mobile OperationsCentre. This is ready to pack up within a few hours and move intact to any part of the world in order to plan the mountingof an operation. It has been in existence for only a few weeks, and its effectiveness is to be tested this summer in full-scaleexercises. Pre-planning of exercises is deliberately kept to a The R.A.F.'s Blackburn Bever/ey—which, in the words of the A.O.C-in- C, "opens the doors to a vast new range of equipment." minimum. The sequence of events in an emergency would beas follows: the Operations organization would supply the air- craft to uplift troops and equipment to the most suitable jumping-orT point in the area concerned, and the mobile operations centre would meanwhile have been moved there intact to make advancepreparations for the mounting of the attack. The main emphasis in transport support operations is, ofcourse, on long-range logistics and the dropping of paratroops and stores. Until delivery of Blackburn Beverleys last year theaircraft used for dropping work were Handley Page Hastings and Vickers Armstrongs Valettas. Now three Beverley squadronshave been formed, and the specialist capabilities of these big aircraft are now being developed in exercises and training. TheBeverley, with its four Bristol Centaurus engines, can carry up to 70 fully-equipped paratroops, 30 in the boom and 40 in thehold; and, as may be imagined, the dropping of 70 men in close spread requires special skill. The Beverley is used mostlyin its troop-dropping role (with main loading doors on), but it has greatly widened the R.A.F.'s scope in heavy dropping work.To date the maximum load dropped by Transport Command Beverleys is 22,000 lb—two medium platforms each of 11,000 1bborne by a cluster of eight 42ft parachutes (or four 66ft para- chutes, depending on the type of load).* The medium platformscan carry up to 14,000 lb each, a load equivalent to a loaded one-ton truck. The Beverley is used also for straightforward trunk-routetroop-carrying, though it is not designed for long ranges when carrying heavy loads (max. payload capacity is 45,000 lb). Com-pared with the Hastings, which has a capacity payload of * During recent development tests Blackburn and General Aircraft dropped a toad of 26,000 Ib on the heavy platform from a Beverley.
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