FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1406.PDF
496 FLIGHT The first Britannia for export. El Al's first 313 4X-AGA, is seen here at Bristol on Sep- tember 12 shortly before tak- ing off for Tel AYIY. El Al reckon to start transatlantic services on December 1. CIVIL AVIATION 707s FOR VARIG ARIG Airlines of Brazil, who have for some while beenmaking a close study of the jet-transport market (an order for Convair 880s recently seemed a strong possibility, and Cometsand Caravelles have also been mentioned) have now signed a purchasing agreement with Boeing for three 707 Intercontinentalwith 110-seat interiors to be delivered from July 1960. It is not known if these will be the 320 or 420 versions, as the choice ofpowerplant—Pratt and Whitney JT4s or Rolls-Royce Conways— is as yet undecided. The value of the order, including sparepans and engines, is about £7,160,000. Varig's 707s will be used on new 9j-hour non-stop "de luxe"services between New York and Rio de Janerio, and will about halve the time taken on this route by the airline's three Super-GConstellations, which make stops at Belem in Brazil and Cuidad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The airlines domesticroutes are flown by Convair 240s, C-46s and DC-3s. Varig have a further two Super-Gs on order. CATHAY PACIFIC BUYS ELECTRAS T'HE British independent airline Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong-*• Kong is to buy two Lockheed Electras for delivery in June and August 1959. At present Cathay Pacific operate one DC-3, oneDC-4, and one DC-6. A DC-6B is on order for delivery in 1958. Based in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific operate services to Bangkok,Calcutta, Labuan, Manila, Rangoon, Saigon and Singapore. The order brings the Electra order-book to 140. THE BIG DOLLAR DEAL "C URTHER chapters have been added to the Howard Hughes-•*- Britannia story. They concern the financial penalties Mr. Hughes would have to pay to get the 15 Britannia 310s he wantsfor T.W.A. by next summer. Recent reports have been unanimous in suggesting that, if heis to secure early delivery of Britannias at the expense of other airlines, Mr. Hughes would be asked to pay heavy compensationto the customers he had queue-jumped. Referring to these reports at his Press conference in London last week, Mr. Gerardd'Erlanger, chairman of B.O.A.C, said that he would not stand down in favour of T.W.A. unless the Government consideredit necessary for him to do so in the national interest. In that event, B.O.A.C. would certainly want financial compensation. It isreported, however, that Hunting-Clan and the Government (for the R.A.F.) might be prepared to accept a delay in their Britanniadeliveries on payment of compensation. But Mr. Hughes, undaunted, is said to have offered four Con-stellations (presumably 049s or 749s, of which T.W.A. has 71) for each Britannia anyone might be prepared to give up. Thisoffer was evidently aimed at El Al, who have three 049s; and in terms of cash it meant that Mr. Hughes was quite happy to payabout double the Britannia's market price. El Al—who took over their first Britannia 313 on September 5 (see picture above)—apparently found no difficulty in turning the offer down. Reports of Pakistan Air Lines' interest in the Fokker Friendship are lent weight by the visit of the Pakistani ambassadress to the Netherlands, Begum Liaquat Aly Khan, to Schipol on August 30. The Begum is seen here by the aircraft with Fokker and Pakistani officials. NEW GROUND SERVICES CONTROLLER 'T'HE Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation has appointed-*• Mr. E. A. Armstrong, C.B., C.B.E., as Controller of Civil Aviation Ground Services in succession to Sir Alfred LeMaitre,K.B.E., C.B., M.C., who is retiring at the end of the month. Mr. Armstrong has been in charge of the Civil Aviation Safetyand General Group, with special responsibility for overseas ground civil aviation facilities, since the Ministries of Transportand Civil Aviation merged in 1953. Sir Alfred has been Controller of Civil Aviation Ground Services since July 1948. THE CARAVELLE IN DEMAND THE possible T.A.A. order for Caravelles is the subject ofrenewed speculation in the American Aviation Daily, which reports that the airline's choice now lies between the French jetairliner and the Lockheed Electra. Mr. W. McDonald, chairman of the Australian National Airlines Commission, is quoted assaying that a final decision may be expected before December 31, when T.A.A.'s option on two Caravelles expires. As previouslyreported in Flight (August 16), a verdict in favour of the Caravelle depends on the aircraft's ability to carry full payload on theAdelaide-Perth stage (1,320 st.m.), and also on whether "certain other modifications" can be made. The Caravelle has another prospective customer: Aero O/Y-Finnair has asked the Finnish government to approve the purchase of three aircraft for delivery in 1959. Finnair would operate itsCaravelle fleet on international services at present run in associa- tion with K.L.M. and B.E.A.) from Helsinki to London viaCopenhagen, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Paris. Convair Metro- politans are at present used on these services. T.E.A.L.'s FLEET PLANS A HINT that T.E.A.L.'s re-equipment policy might be decided•**• entirely from the New Zealand side of the Tasman Sea was given recently by Sir Leonard Isitt, chairman of the T.E.A.L.,who mentioned that transport re-equipment proposals for the air- line should take into account closer association with theR.N.Z.A.F. Sole ownership of T.E.A.L. by New Zealand has long been advocated by the airline, and this view seems to bereceiving increasing support in Australia. Integration between the requirements of the airline and the R.N.Z.A.F. would meanthat T.E.A.L.'s utilization problems—it has been estimated that three modern jets or turboprops could handle the whole of theair and sea traffic potential over the Tasman—might be largely solved. THE TU-104 ON AMERICAN SOIL i~\N September 8, the first Soviet passenger aircraft ever to^-' have landed on United States soil arrived back in Moscow, leaving behind it a trail of repercussions.Originally the Russians wanted the Tu-104—bringing Soviet delegates to the United Nations in New York—to land atIdlewild. The Port of New York Authority refused permission because the aircraft had not passed the noise tests requiredof all jet airliners (including American) using Idlewild. Despite Russian objections, the Tu-104 had to put down at McGuireBase in New Jersey, a 60-mile drive from Manhattan. On his return to Moscow, the captain of the Tu-104 statedthat American jet bombers, "obviously interested in data con- cerning our plane," had tried to shadow them on the last lap of rieoutward journey, but "we increased speed and left them behind " A U.S. Air Force spokesman subsequently denied that any suchtrailing occurred. Reporting the Tu-104's flight, Moscow Radio is quoted asaying that the aircraft was banned from landing at Idlewild "ml because of the noise factor, but to prevent a public display ^admiration of the Soviet airliner." A crowd of several hundred is reported to have witnessed the Tu-104's arrival at McGui:eU.S. Air Force Base.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
