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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1161.PDF
FLIGHT, 23 August 1957 249 CIVIL AVIATION . . . BREVITIES SIR DAVID CAIRNS, Q.C., has been appointed to hold thepublic inquiry into the B.E.A. Viscount accident at Man- chester airport on March 14. Captain R. N. White, Prof. S. C.Redshaw, and Prof. A. Thorn have been appointed as assessors. The inquiry will open on November 11 at Holborn Town Hall. * * * East African Airways are to start new Canadair Services toAden, Karachi and Bombay on September 15. * * * Lt-Col. J. E. Everington has been appointed to the board of Central African Airways. * * * PanAm will start thrice-weekly non-stop flights from NewYork to Rome and daily non-stop flights to Frankfurt on October 27. * * * It is reported from Athens that Greece has agreed to allowAeroflot transit rights through Athens airport provided reciprocal rights are granted. * * * The British firm of Air Finance, Ltd., are reported to haveextended a loan of £3,135,000 to El Al to help finance their purchase of three Britannia 313s.* * * T.E.A.L.'s equipment problems apparently remain unsolved.On August 14, the chairman, Sir Leonard Isitt, left Sydney "to look for new aircraft for the trans-Tasman service." He said hewas also wanting suitable aircraft to replace the airline's 27 DC-3s. AEROFLOT (continued from page 247) On average, there is one inspector for every ten operatives. Theydo not tolerate an "allowable deficiency level." If there are any defects the aircraft does not fly and one of the numerous stand-bys is put into service. Well-equipped radio and instrument shops on the first floor atthe back of the hangars handle all the necessary work. Radio equipment is checked after 400 hours. Alongside these shops we saw classrooms intended tofamiliarize technicians with Tu-104 components. From questions and observations during the tour it was gathered that thermalde-icing was being employed. Other snippets of information were that flexible tanks have been adopted, that there had beenno brake trouble in 800 hours and that tyres were changed "as required" instead of after a regulation number of landings.Later, Alexei Mikhailoyitch Leontyev, general secretary of the union, gave me data on pilots' conditions of work on the Tu-104.Annual maximum flying hours are 500 (with a limit of 50 in any one month) and bring two months' holiday. Hours on the groundare restricted to one-and-a-half before departure and one after arrival. The crews are paid a basic salary plus a mileage allow-ance which varies for different parts of the country and the aircraft. There are other allowances for night flying, complexroute-patterns and climatic difficulties (e.g., in Siberia, where in certain circumstances triple pay can be earned, plus three months'holiday). On top of this is a rank differential and seniority pay (applic-able to everyone in Aeroflot) which gives from 10 per cent of the basic for three years' service to 30 per cent for 15 years. Inaddition, an aircrew can earn up to 37^ per cent of their basic as a bonus for punctuality in departures and ability in their duties.An efficient northern area pilot can earn 7,000 roubles a month, which is about twice as much as the manager in charge of hisflight and compares with the 1,800 roubles earned by a technician with similar service in European Russia, or the 1,000 roublesearned by a fitter of the same seniority. (A squadron manager can earn 3,000 roubles per month, and a fleet manager may getup to 6,000.) Average retirement age for a pilot is 37 years. The pilots'pension scheme (based on flying hours) averages 1,500 roubles monthly, and another job is always available on the airline.[Official rate of exchange is 11 roubles to the £ and the tourist rate is 27; a more realistic equivalent is about 40.]The working week (while on the ground) is the same as for all staff, i.e., 46 hours over six days; but this is to be reduced nextyear to five days of seven hours and one day of five hours. Night work attracts one extra hour's pay for each shift (for ground staffs)while double time is paid for bank holidays; overtime is rare and has to be specially sanctioned at territorial union committee level.If it is agreed, the first two hours are at time-and-one-half and all subsequent hours at double time. Before our delegation left Moscow to return to London via Bendix (Eclipse Pioneer Division) PB-20 automatic flightcontrol systems are to be supplied to Convair for the 880. They are also being supplied for the Electra, 707 and L.1649A.* * * A Soviet 11-14 crashed into the harbour at Copenhagen onAugust 15 while approaching to land at Kastrup airport in a slight fog. It is reported to have struck a chimney. There wereno survivors among the 23 people on board. * * * As a result of the French monetary changes, all fares paid infrancs have been increased by one-fifth. I.A.T.A. carriers put new rates into effect for flights out of France on August 14, andAir France accounts with other international airlines are now based on an exchange rate of 1,176 francs to the pound. * * * A new B.O.A.C, appointment is that of engine developmentmanager at their Treforest repair factories. Mr. E. R. Chaytor will fill the post from the beginning of September. Other recentappointments are of Mr. D. F. Johnson to the new post of inter- line sales superintendent in London and Mr. J. H. Bingham asmanager, San Francisco. * * * The report of the Committee of Public Accounts says that sitevalues at London Airport have increased to an extent where B.E.A. and other tenants are paying less than half the currentopen-market ground rent for their maintenance bases. They recommend lease terms providing for revision of ground rentsevery ten years. Prague in the Tu-104 (flying time on this leg was 2 hr 45 min)it was received by Lt-Gen. Zaharov (a deputy head and member of the Central Board) in Aeroflot's head office. Discussing thenegotiations which had taken place with the British Government delegation—"which was twice as big as yours"—some eighteenmonths previously, he revealed that the U.S.S.R., which had "readily entered the talks at the British invitation," had pro-posed a connecting service at an airport in Germany. He com- mented that he had proposed an airport in East Germany,Templehof, or any British R.A.F. field in West Germany. But, "although the question was as clear as the stars in the sky,"the British Government could not make up its mind; they had promised an answer "in five or six days"; Aeroflot still waited.Now their views had changed. Aeroflot was prepared to open up direct services as long as a diversionary field was made avail-able between Leningrad and London, i.e., in Germany, where a number were suitable. Zaharov dismissed the suggestion that the West GermanGovernment could raise any objection; he quoted from the treaty made by the three Allied Powers with the Federal Governmentwhich reserved to them all their old rights in respect of U.S.S.R. aircraft using West German airspace. "So who is holding mattersup?" he asked. "B.E.A. wants to come to Moscow. So does Air France." [In the Commons on July 31 the Minister of Transportand Civil Aviation, in a written reply to a question, said that the Russians had been invited to London, but that "the visit has notyet taken place."—Ed.] His point became clear. Aeroflot apparently believes that theAmerican Government has persuaded the British Government to leave the negotiations in suspense for the time being for reasonsof a purely political character. At least one highly placed Aero- flot manager also had the suspicion that when an Americanoperator was suitably equipped with competitive turbojet aircraft the situation might be transformed.In the meantime an essential British route is denied to the British airways corporations. And it seemed to me that it wouldbe in the commercial interests of the U.K. to adopt an indepen- dent attitude and seek to re-open the negotiations by invitingAeroflot representatives to London (Zaharov told me he would be glad to come as long as everyone was in earnest—and he couldnegotiate with representatives armed with power to settle the main questions). In past years the air routes on world maps have all stopped shortof the Soviet sixth of the world's land-mass; expansion, it seemed, could be planned without taking Aeroflot into considera-tion. Our visit has shown that this policy will be unsound in future. With the world's largest turbojet fleet—although it facesmassive problems—a newcomer is joining the front rank of the world's airlines determined to establish itself in a strongcompetitive position within the next four years. (World copyright reserved)
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