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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0446.PDF
462 FLIGHT, 4 April 1958 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns.The names and addresses of the writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. R.A.F. Navigator ShortageI AGREE with "E. P." (Flight, March 21), and I would suggestanother reason. It is that the general public, including the prospective aircrew candidate, is notoriously ill-informed aboutthe part played by a navigator in the modern aircrew team. To the man-in-the-street, all the glamour of flying still rests with thepilot; and present-day advertising in no way alleviates this misapprehension. Mr. Ward's new flying programme for C.C.F. and A.T.C. boysin Chipmunk aircraft will not produce more navigators. A separate training programme must be devised to arouse the cadets'interest in navigation. In addition, the Flying Scholarship scheme should be extended to cover navigation training. If this was done, and the public was given up-to-date informa-tion about the navigator and his work, the present "worry" might be removed.Maidenhead, Berks. M. W. Closing of Croydon IS Croydon really going to close down this summer? I revisitedthe airport recently expecting to see signs of the preparations to leave, of broken spirits after a so-far-vain fight against a sense-less Ministry decision. It may interest the hundreds of readers who have an affection for Croydon that the spirit there is one ofrefusal to believe that this historic airfield will cease one day to be the "spiritual home" of civil aviation in Britain. The currentscene is best illustrated by mention of the number and variety of types of aircraft seen on this apparently typical morning. There were 118 aircraft representing 28 different types, asfollows: 20 Tiger Moth, 11 Auster, ten Rapide, ten Chipmunk, nine Heron, seven Dakota, seven Dove, seven Proctor, five Gemini,five Consul, three Leopard Moth, three Hornet Moth, three Avro XIX, two Miles Hawk, two Oxford, two Otter, and oneexample each of Anson, Piper Apache, Sealand, Piaggio 136L, Prentice, Taylorcraft Plus D, Prince, Argus, Scion, D.H.60 Moth,Owlet, Whitney Straight. It is regrettable indeed to think that the present Minister ofTransport and Civil Aviation, when asked years hence, "What was the most significant happening for which you were responsibleduring your tenure of office?" will in truth have to answer, "I closed down the most flourishing centre of private and businessflying in the United Kingdom." Sanderstead, Surrey. R. HERON. "Prop-Jet with Jet Emphasis"W ITH reference to Mr. E. Hall's letter in your March 21 issue,there are indeed some formidable detractions accompanying his combined turboprop-turbojet scheme. For instance: — (1) Turbine assembly design: When the propellers are disengagedand feathered, the power which they had been absorbing must be deleted from the turbine assembly output. Reduction of turbineinlet temperature or the variation of nozzle guide-vane angles would seem to be the obvious solutions. The first solution incursa specific output penalty which may outweigh any improvement in specific consumption which might be expected. The secondwould undoubtedly give a poor turbine efficiency in one or the other of the two configurations. (2) Cruising power: weight ratio: The turbojet would have anintake cluttered up with a reduction gear and clutch. There would also be the drag of a feathered propeller to debit from its poweroutput. None of these components would be performing any useful work during cruise and the turbine assembly would be larger thannecessary. The cruising power:weight ratio would certainly not attract any economically minded air transport service. (3) Just imagine what a clutch to transmit these orders of powerwould be like. Bristol, 6. R. A. HARVEY. B.E.A. and Jets I HAVE been reading J. M. Ramsden's article "The CorporationsSwing to Jets" (Flight, February 28) with great interest. I am, however, puzzled by what look like two contradictory thoughts.On page 269, above Table 1, he asks "why . . . the need for 150 per cent more capacity?" and one is left with the feeling that,as an informed observer of the situation, he considers that B.E.A. have over-ordered. But two paragraphs later he writes: "It cannotbe said that B.E.A. have over-ordered. . . ." Perhaps what he intended to convey was that he personallyfound it strange that B.E.A. should switch to a new type of aircraft when on a reassessment it was decided that the Vanguard orderwas insufficient in quantity. I should be interested to know whether in fact it is generallyaccepted that B.E.A. have not over-ordered. It could be, of course, that B.E.A. have made an over-generous allowance for delays anddifficulties in getting the D.H.121 into service—an understandable attitude after the disappointments over the Comet. If the fullfleet of D.H.121s is in fact not in service with B.E.A. until 1967 or 1968, then there is presumably no question at all of over ordering. PETER H. ARMOUR-BROWN. Lichfield, Staffs. [J. M. Ramsden comments : "The question: 'Why ... the need for150 per cent more capacity?' was by way of introduction to the capacity calculations which followed in Table 1. Those calculations were intendedto show that—though making generous assumptions about the growth of B.E.A.'s traffic and the disposal of existing fleets—B.E.A. may not in facthave over-ordered. But the question su'll remains: Are they right in apparently leaving no room for new turboprop capacity? Finally, it ishardly likely that B.E.A. have made allowance for D.H.121 'delays.' Mounting competition suggests that de Havilland will strive to beearly, rather than late, with this new transport."—Ed.] London Terminalr appears that certain parties consider Victoria as the mostsuitable site for a London Air Terminus (Flight, February 14). I beg to differ, and suggest Charing Cross for the following reasons:(1) If the Strand station is regarded as part of Charing Cross (it is below the main-line station), it is possible to travel by tubedirect to any of the main line train terminal stations from Charing Cross. (2) Trains to and from Gatwick Airport Station could ter-minate at Charing Cross. (3) A roof on Hungerford Bridge could be used for helicopteroperations. (4) There is space available for the building of tourist and air-line offices, etc. (5) It is near the centre of "visitors' London."Feltham, Middx. J. DAVIES. Aerobatic AircraftI HAVE noted with great interest how the Zlin 226 two-seaterhas been modified into a rather ugly, but spirited, single- seater aerobatic aircraft. I am not qualified to discuss the necessityfor a British equivalent, but in my opinion it would be eminently desirable for a club or private owner to experience the joy of solo •aerobatics in a comparatively modern monoplane. Just as the Czechs have gained prestige by their "Akrobatics," I personallyshould like to see an equivalent British team chosen by an elimina- tion contest among the flying clubs—though such a scheme, andmy idea for a suitable aircraft, are without doubt too expensive for times like these when the clubs struggle to keep their headsabove water. The aircraft which I suggest would be a Chipmunk with thefront cockpit removed. I have done a limited amount of aero- batics in the Chipmunk and found it very pleasant indeed, althoughone instructor told me that in his opinion the aircraft was under- powered. There again, I am not able to weigh the pros and cons;doubtless the experts could do so. Edinburgh, 12. ROBIN BARNES (aged 16). Civil Helicopter Operations "VOUR contributor John Seekings is singularly ill-informed when•*• in his article "Helicopters in Civil Operation" in your March 21 issue he attributes the first scheduled passenger helicopter serviceto New York Airways in 1953 and the first European service to Sabena in the same year. For his information, British EuropeanAirways inaugurated the world's first passenger helicopter service on June 1, 1950, between Cardiff and Liverpool. A furtherscheduled helicopter passenger service was begun on June 4, 1951, by B.E.A. between London and Birmingham. E. Croydon, Surrey. T. E. SCOTT-CHARD. [John Seekings comments: "If Mr. Scott-Chard had turned to B.E.A.'sannual reports he would have read that the Cardiff - Liverpool service was 'primarily for research and development' and that the London -Birmingham service 'was designed to study internal helicopter operations into control zones.' Neither of these extended proving-operations lastedfor more than a few months. In contrast to this, N.Y.A. and Sabena have always had as their basic purpose the provision of permanent publictransport services. If B.E.A. deserves a 'first' it surely should be for the night mail service between Peterborough and Norwich during the wint.rof 1949-50. This was the first regular commercial service to be operated under night blind-flying conditions."—Ed.]
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