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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0076.PDF
78 (Left) The first turbine airliner on scheduled service to be refuelled in British West Africa. Pending arrival of high- speed pumping equip- ment, a temporary re- fuelling unit has been dev'sed by Unking a submerged 2flOO-gallon tank with a portable 60 gal/min pump. It must b? unusual to see a modern 30-ton airliner operating scheduled ser- vices through an airfield paved with P.S.P. (pierced steel planking). This is a close-up of the Viscount 700 nose-under- carriage at Bathurst. FLIGHT, 17 January 1958 SOMETHING NEW INTO AFRICA . . . vacant" columns of relevant British newspapers and magazines.Quite different advertising problems are posed by the African public. Since independence there has been a considerable increasein the number of Ghanaians travelling to Europe. Many of these have never before left West Africa or even flown. West AfricanAirways' posters suggest some possible paths worth exploring. Obviously, any people shown in advertisements should not beEuropeans; some air passengers are depicted carrying books of learning, suggesting that educated people travel by air; airlinersare shown in remote places, disgorging happy peasants and traders, implying that there is nothing special or disquieting about airtravel; the convenience, speed, safety and cheapness of flying is emphasized. But advertisements such as these are probably betterframed for tempting the uninitiated to use local services than for getting traffic on to the London-bound Safari Viscount. Most ofthe Ghanaians going abroad are associated with the Government in some way and so it is, therefore, possible to approach them ona selective, direct basis. Establishing and maintaining close liaison with government departments appears to be a particularly usefultechnique. But once Ghana establishes her own air service to Europe this will not, of course, be so straightforward.Shortly after Ghana achieved independence last year, it became apparent that Dr. Nkrumah and his cabinet were anxiousto form a national airline. During summer and autumn negotia- tions continued with a number of carriers which had come for-ward to offer their assistance. By December the list of contenders had been reduced to three, B.O.A.C., K.L.M. and W.A.A.C. TheMinister of Communications, the Hon. Yeboah Afari, paid a flying visit to Europeto review the situa- tion and returned toGhana early in January, presentinga report to his cabinet in which therespective schemes put forward by eachairline were compared.The basic re- quirement of theGovernment is to create a national air-line in which Ghana will have a majorityshareholding, and in which the "part-ner" must have a sufficiently largeshare to ensure its being keenly in-terested in achieving The Ghana High Commissioner in Lon- don, E. Asafu Adjaye, disembarking at Bat- hurst during transit. satisfactory financiil results. Unless W.A.AC, was selected—which is unlikely—no share would be held in the new carrier by W.A.A.C., or by the Nigerian Government. The principal opera-tion of the Ghana airline would be a trans-desert service between Accra and London. No other long-distance services are contem-plated, except possibly to the Middle East. Regional services would be operated, starting initially between Accra and Lagos, incompetition with W.A.A.C. Ghanaians feel that W.A.A.C. have lacked initiative in developing internal services. At present onlyTakoradi, Kumasi and Tamale are linked with the capital. It is the Government's intention to expand other internal services, notnecessarily at a profit, as rapidly as possible. Large-scale capital commitments are to be avoided by chartering aircraft to operatethe longer routes. For the shorter routes, a choice must be made between spending money on expensive aircraft and inexpensiverunways, or on cheaper aircraft together with costly landing facilities. An important section of the final contract will coverdetails for as complete an "Africanization" of the airline staff as is compatible with efficient operation. On purely economic grounds, B.O.A.C. is well placed. It hasunrivalled experience on the particular route in question. It has suitable aircraft available for charter. It is better placed tonegotiate traffic rights between Ghana and the U.K. But its case is weakened by the very fact that it is British. Ghanaians havealso noticed the recent improvement on services to their country and suspect that this change only came when B.O.A.C. realizedthat its hand would be forced. The Cabinet will probably reach a decision by early Februaryat the latest, for it is planned to begin operations by the summer. In Sierra Leone this trend towards independence in air trans-port is also evident. Largely through the initiative of the Governor, Sir Maurice Dorman, Sierra Leone Airways is in theprocess of being formed. The Government of Sierra Leone will own all or most of the shares. Three D.H. Rapides have alreadybeen purchased from B.E.A. This plan still awaits approval from the Executive and Legislative Councils, but should be agreedby the spring. The object behind the formation of Sierra Leone Airways is to facilitate administration of a country which,although small, is badly served by surface transport. A sad little song tells of the unhurried railway service running inland from Freetown to Bo:— . • •••:••-.'-: The train to Bo She no agree for go: The engine she done tire - "•""'"-'—'- For lack of plenty fire: The train to Bo J,. She no agree for go . . . To reach the outer villages of Sierra Leone at present takes atleast three days travelling overland from Freetown. Rapides will cut this journey-time to as many hours. Unlike the proposedGhana airline, Sierra Leone Airways have drawn up a manage- ment agreement with W.A.A.C. Mr. D. Malcolm Brown, generalmanager of W.A.A.C., is expected to be S.L.A.'s chief executive. Government officials in the Gambia appreciate the advantageswhich air transport will bring to Sierra Leone and unofficial plans have been put forward for opening air services between thecapital, Bathurst, and points up-river. Georgetown would prob- ably be the inland terminus for this service.* * * As the Airwork Viscount approached Bathurst on its inauguralflight, Captain Woolfe was asked by the air traffic controller whether he would oblige the local inhabitants by orbiting theairport, and thus give them a good opportunity to appreciate this great new aircraft. Nothing could better illustrate thegrowing interest that West Africans are taking in air transport.
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