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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1663.PDF
This week's "Flight" bear? striking witness to foreign transport developments. Here, to complement the Tu-114 and Friendship pictures on other pages (for Electro progress see below) is the rolling-out at Seattle of the first production Boeing 707. It is due to fly iust after Christmas. On the right is the first production DCS after wing-to-fuselage mating at Douglas Long Beach. It is due to fly next March. CIVIL AVIATION B.E.A.'s FARE INCREASES FOR U.S. domestic operators, who have been unsuccessfullypressing the C.A.B. for fare increases for over a year, the comparative ease with which British European Airways can raisetheir fares must be a matter for envy. It was announced recently that B.E.A. fares to the Channel Islands—the airline's most com-petitive domestic route—are to be increased by ten per cent on April 1 next year, and increases in other domestic fares of up to25 per cent are reported to be imminent. Disappointment in the prospect of these increases is in no way lessened by the knowledge that they were expected, and thatB.E.A. had declared in their annual report that they did not believe that it was possible or desirable to make internationalservices finance the loss on domestic routes. Even the timing of the announcement, just after B.E.A. proudly announced a netoperating profit of £lm on the results of August operations, can occasion little surprise; the Corporation have to make a substantial I profit in the short peak summer season in order to balance their [unprofitable winter services. i But John Public, as owner and user of the national airline, isI justified in asking what steps have been taken to limit these i increases to the irreducible minimum, and whether an organiza-; tion on the lines of the C.A.B.—which could investigate (and if i necessary veto) changes in the fare structure—is required in GreatBritain. When B.E.A. decide that an increase is necessary (not a decision that is lightly taken) consultations are arranged with theRegional Advisory Councils concerned. These councils, the chair- man of which is a Board member of B.E.A., serve the public in:much the same way that a chamber of commerce serves the i businessmen of a borough. The decision of the council (the regionsare Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Is.) is then put before the independents (who are unlikely to bemoan an increasein the Corporation's fares) and passed to the Minister of Trans- port and Civil Aviation for approval. If he disagrees with theffare increase, or if the independents do so, the Minister can call upon his advisers within the M.T.C.A., but the Air TransportAdvisory Council is not concerned with die regulation of B.E.A.'s ; fares. • ; Thus, apart from the general desire of all the parties concernedito avoid increases in fares, there is no expert and authoritative | public body, with the avowed intention of keeping down fares by; forcing maximum efficiency from the airlines, that can say "think 'again"; and for the second time in twelve months, B.E.A. domestici fares are going to be raised. The contrast between B.E.A. and the I U.S. domestic airlines is all the more marked when re-equipmentproblems are considered; the latter are struggling to support the purchase of a jet standard of living in the face of capital shortage,whilst the nationalized Corporation are able to rely upon public loans for financing their new equipment. . But the problems of the American airlines are largely self-fflflicted. They are crying out for higher fares and greater profits to attract more capital into the business. American Airlines, for•example, have already borrowed £48m to finance the first phase :™ their jet-transport programme, and are hoping for earnings of*.9m a year to support the acquisition of jets. Without higher fares •On the words of C. R. Smith, president of American Airlines) thePublic will not have the full benefits of turbine service by 1961 jand would miss a "major breakthrough to a new phase of travel."i, *et however rosy-hued the attractions of jet speeds may be to we airline passenger, these are only incidental advantages of pro-S^ss in air travel. The biggest pull, as only the C.A.B. now seems t0 recognize, is the attraction of the low fare. A.T.P. THE COMET 4C LAST week the de Havilland company announced a further• addition to the Comet family. Designated 4C, it combines the lengthened-fuselage capacity of the 4B with the longer-span wingof die Comet 4. Thus is the Comet, like the Boeing 707, now offered with twosizes of wing and two lengdis of fuselage, which can be matched as required in any desired permutation to produce die Comet 4,4B, or 4C. It seems likely, however, diat the Cornet export sales campaign is now being centred on two basic versions—each withthe same Rolls-Royce Avon RA.29 power and the same volumetric payload capacity: die clipped-wing 4B for maximum block speedsover die shorter stages (as exemplified by B.E.A.'s requirement), and die 4C for maximum payload over die medium stages. The Comet 4C can, it appears, be most simply regarded as abigger-capacity stretch of die Comet 4, offering about 25 per cent more payload at the expense of about 15 per cent in maximumrange. For example, die 4C can carry a payload of 21,785 lb (85 mixed-class passengers) over a stage lengdi, widi fuel allowancesand reserves, of 2,475 statute miles. The 4C seems to be such an improvement on die 4 that it ismore likely to appeal to operators looking for medium-haul equip- ment. Such airlines will be more interested in payload dian inrange: the Comet 4's 3,000 st. m. stage-lengdi widi capacity payload is more than adequate for a medium transport, and isindeed overlapping into die realm of die big long-range jets. This point is not likely to have escaped B.O.A.C., none of whose"Empire" stages gready exceeds 2,000 statute miles. It seems logical to assume diat some of dieir 19 Comet 4s may in fact bedelivered as Comet 4Cs. The de Havilland company describe die Comet 4C as an aircraftof "exceptional economy and versatility of operation in con- ditions where neither very long nor very short stages are the mainconsideration," adding that it is likely to find its principal applica- tion "among operators having medium-to-long stages branchingout from a metropolitan network of short-stage routes." MEXICO'S FIRST BRITANNIA "COLLOWING unusually speedy acceptance trials, Aeronaves •* de Mexico have taken delivery of the first of their two Britannia 302s. With the airline's chief executive Sr. CarlosRamos aboard, the aircraft (XA-MEC) arrived inMexico City from Bristol on November 4 amid "scenes of wild endiusiasm."It is Aeronave's intent to inaugurate services on theirnew route to New York on December 6. Here, complete with self- explanatory label, is Lock- heed's first production Electra for Eastern Air Lines. It will be delivered in October of next year. The first Electra "looks ready to fly."
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