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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1194.PDF
282 FLIGHT One of the world's hardest-worked Vis- counts: T.A.A. got nine hours a day out of each of their fleet of 11 in 1956. AUSTRALIA'S AIR TRANSPORT . . . Australian National Airways are of course pre-occupied withother matters at the moment, but consideration must soon be given by A.N.A. (or their successors) to a DC-3 re-equipmentprogramme, and their deliberations will be watched with con- siderable interest—particularly by Handley Page, to whomA.N.A. must be a good sales-prospect for Dan-Heralds. And assuming that A.N.A. must enter the turboprop field to keeppace with T.A.A., the prospects of the Vanguard as a successor to the DC-6 and 6B must be very good indeed. One wonders,too, whether Australia, with its reasonably well-ordered airline economics and low fares, should seriously contemplate the intro-duction of the medium/short range jet transport on domestic services, as distinct from the second generation of turbopropswith their undoubted economic advantages. Time will tell. Ansett buys American, and the airline has recently placedorders for eight Convair 440 Metropolitans and three Lockheed Electras to supplement the present fleet of Convair 340s andDC-3s. Ansett's decision to buy more Convairs was of consider- able interest in view of European and U.S. experience of operat-ing Convairs and Viscounts in direct competition, but the Viscount delivery position does not leave an operator muchchoice if he requires capacity quickly. Ansett may well be interested in an Eland-Convair conversion at a later stage. Butler Air Transport, following recent internal administra-tive troubles, has purchased three ex-B.E.A. Airspeed Ambassa- dors for use on N.S.W. country runs and as a DC-3 replacement.These aircraft have reasonably low total hours and should give many years of service. A big equipment problem in Australia is a suitable twin-engined 12/20-passenger machine which will be an economic operating proposition, and yet will meet full public transport-category airworthiness requirements with one engine out. Such an aircraft has not yet appeared in the size and at the costrequired. The authorities are loath to support requests by small operators for licences to compete in well-developed areas againstestablished ground transport, as many such applications involve aircraft which have suspect single-engine performance in thehigh-altitude conditions likely to be encountered in country areas. Such aeroplanes may be acceptable for development flying in out-back areas, where a certain element of risk may be accepted in the light of the service offered to a given area; but where airtransport is not in the pioneering stage it should stand on its own feet with regard to safety. In a phrase, this means full-transport-category single-engine performance. The first aircraft manu- facturer to produce such a machine at a reasonable price shoulduncover a substantial world market, with many sales in Australia. The Australian market for light U.K. aircraft continues to bs good, with the introduction of approximately 40 additionalChipmunks into flying-club training. There have also been sales of the Edgar Percival E.P.9, and of Austers; but the U.K.industry continues to ignore the market for the all-metal light twin and high-performance single-engined aeroplanes. Recentsales of the Cessna 180 and Piper Apache show that an Austra- lian market exists for machines of this calibre, in spite of theirprice. T.E.A.L., the jointly owned Australian-New Zealand airline,is also about to re-equip for the service across the Tasman Sea, and the recent overseas mission of chief engineer Bolt andassistant general manager Reeves announced on its return to Auckland that it would recommend the purchase of Convair 880aircraft, which would seem superficially to be tailored to this route. Subsequently Sir Leonard Isitt, chairman of T.E.A.L.,said that no definite decision had been made, and that seven types—jet and turboprop—were being studied. An interesting purchase of aircraft in the last year was theacquisition in Sweden of three Junkers Ju-52s by Gibbes Sepik Airways for use in New Guinea. Pratt and Whitney enginesand variable-pitch D.H. propellers were fitted in Stockholm and the aircraft were flown to New Guinea earlier this year. Ground Facilities. With its comparatively small population(9.45 millions) and limited budget Australia is always faced with the problem of developing its continent. The air transportindustry provides a logical method, but the big problem to be faced is the provision of sufficient aerodromes and groundfacilities to satisfy the pressing needs. Dr. K. N. E. Bradfield, Director of Airports in D.C.A., recentlystated that funds in the order of £A30,000,000 were needed to develop airports to a satisfactory standard to handle existingtraffic and the increases expected in the next few years. Current total expenditure on aerodromes is of the order of £A2,500,00Oper annum, which is less than the cost of the new Darwin runway, and Dr. Bradfield suggested that a revision be made of the presentprocedures of development, and that local authorities should be encouraged to own and administer their own aerodromes withFederal help. Plans are in hand for the building of a new overseas terminalarea at Sydney airport, and new instrument runways at Brisbane and Darwin are nearing completion. One project in whichAustralia has a vital interest is the development of a jet-transport class runway at Nandi, Fiji, by mid-1959 to enable the QantasBoeing 707/138 to be introduced on the Pacific run and beyond. Qantas will be the first non-U.S. airline to receive the Boeing jets.On the A.T.C. front, an order has been placed with Cossor Radar, Ltd., for the mid-1958 supply of two Type 21 surveillanceradar units for use in Sydney and Melbourne to monitor the area and approach control aspects of the A.T.C. organizationat these centres. The 200 Mc/s double-pulse D.M.E. installations in Australiahave been an unqualified success and enthusiastic airline pilots are continually discovering new ways in which the spreadingnetwork can be used. The D.C.A. has introduced new descent procedures and revised separation requirements for aircraftusing D.M.E., and the equipment may shortly be related to I.L.S. approaches by locating the station on the airport near theapproach end of the instrument runway. The A.T.C. centre at Melbourne Airport handled 247 aircrafton the eve of the Olympics, with a peak of one movement every 2.2 minutes for an hour. To assist in controlling the traffic anR.A.A.F. G.C.A. unit was pressed into service for area sur- veillance and talk-down purposes. Conclusion. The regular rate of growth of Australian civilaviation, and the immense task ahead of developing a new con- tinent, suggests a stable period of steady progress for the airtransport industry, and Australia is fortunate in having young aviation administrators of very high calibre. With enthusiasticdirection and firm Government support the future looks bright. For many years the DC-3 has been the main tool with which Australia has opened up its vast territories. Here is one of A.N.A.'s fleet of 14.
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