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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0766.PDF
782 FLIGHT, 6 June 1958 CIVIL AVIATION The first service into Gatwick Airport wa^ operated on May 30 by this Transair Viscouni^ seen disembarking passengers after a troop- ing flight from Malta. (Feature article on London's new airport: pages 770-774.) THE DC-8 FLIES AN historic event for the Douglas Aircraft Company, and for•**• the world's air transport industry,.took place at Long Beach California last Friday, May 30. The first DC-8 jet transport madea successful 2 hr 10 min maiden flight on that day. The text of the Douglas statement which followed read: —"Before a crowd of 50,000 spectators, the first Douglas DC-8 made its maiden flight at ten o'clock this morning. After a notably steady take-offthe giant jetliner climbed to 5,000ft before turning nordiward over die Pacific Ocean parallel to the shoreline. "Following pre-flight test plans, the landing gear, flaps and controlswere checked before the plane soared higher into the California sky. Two hours and ten minutes later the 150ft long DC-8 made a perfectlanding at Edwards Air Force Base. "Chief of the three Douglas test pilots aboard, A. G. Heimerdinger,commented afterwards: 'Of all the DC-models I have flown, the DC-8 is the greatest of them all.' "Seventeen airlines had invested more than $700,000,000 in thepurchase of 138 DC-8s before die first one flew. The first nine of the 600 m.p.h. DC-8s to be produced will undergo the most extensivecertification tests in civil aviation annals before the jediner enters service in the last half of 1959." Two hours before the DC-8 took off a Boeing 707-120 flewacross the Long Beach airport, a gesture which appropriately symbolized the operational rivalry which will exist between thesetwo transports during the next decade or more. Unlike the 707, which is several months ahead of the originalBoeing schedules, the DC-8 has fallen a little behind: the first flight was originally scheduled for last March. However, Douglasare confident that certification will be completed on schedule by October 1959 THE GUILD DINE OUT AT the Dorchester Hotel, London, on May 28, nearly three•**• hundred freemen and guests of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators were welcomed by the Master and Wardens to theGuild's annual banquet. Speakers included the Master and imme- diate Past Master of the Guild, Sir William Hildred, director-general of I.A.T.A., and the Rt. Hon. the Viscount Knollys, chairman of Vickers, Ltd., who presented the Guild's awardsfor individual or collective feats of skilled piloting or navigation during the past year. In characteristic vein, Sir William Hildredoffered high praise to G.A.P.A.N. from I.A.T.A., and he reminisced upon his own travels about the world with various pilots in hisposition as director-general of the airlines' association. The fore- runner of the much-discussed I.A.T.A. sandwich, he said, was a2ft X 2ft x 2ft box with which he was presented while being ferried in a Liberator during the war. He ate 67 of the sandwiches itcontained before two air marshals joined him for lunch. . . . The Master of the Guild, Sir Frederick Tymms, took up apoint of Sir Hildred's—that G.A.P.A.N. should continue to foster character and responsibility in its members—by outlining whathad been done to raise standards of instruction. He told his listeners that, following a deficit, fees had had to be raised in thepast year. He concluded by mentioning that the Guild had out- grown its headquarters in Londonderry House, and that for theconvenience of freemen new accommodation would probably be found elsewhere in the West End. Presenting the awards, Viscount Knollys appealed for continuedGovernment support of the British aircraft industry to overcome "crippling development costs" of new aircraft—much as had beendone in the U.S.A., where Elcctras had been ordered in quantity for air reconnaissance. "The reorganization of the industry," hesaid, "depends upon assurance for the future." The Cumberbatch Trophy for reliability of air operation, or development of aids tosafe flight, was presented to Malayan Airways, who have had a ten-year accident-free record. The award was received on theairline's behalf by Capt. R. P. Mollard. The Derry and Richards Memorial Medal for the best achieve- The Cumberbatch Trophy, the safety award presented annually by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators, is here being accepted on behalf of Malayan Airways by Capt. R. P. Mollard at the Guild's annual dinner in London last week (see news item on this page). ment in experimental flying during the year was awarded to MiktfRandrup, chief test pilot of Napier (who was unfortunately unable to be present at the dinner), and the Johnston Memorial Trophyto S/L. J. H. Lewis, whose award is recorded on page 786. B.O.A.C.'s COMET PLANS 'THOUGH B.O.A.C. are still saying nothing officially about the•*• date on which they hope to introduce Comet 4s into North Atlantic service, it now seems possible that a service will beinaugurated in October of this year. This news was revealed in a "confidential" notice to pilots, issued by the management lastweek, and reported in three national newspapers. The same source—which was not apparently a firm statemenfcof Corporation policy—suggested that the service in October will" be of a token nature, and that regular daily Monarch servicesbetween London and New York will be introduced by Comets in January. In the following May, according to the statement, itis possible that Comets will take over Tokyo services from. Britannia 102s, and December 1959 may see Comets operating the*Kangaroo service to Sydney. (Under B.O.A.C.'s original plan, the Comet 4 was to have been introduced on to the London - Australiaroute first—in February 1959. The fact that this route may not now be operated by Comets until the end of 1959 indicates that?"Qantas' Boeing 707-120s will have a jet monopoly of the partner- ship-service for perhaps six months.) PanAm's transatlantic 707-120 plans are still subject to com-,mercial security, and to the outcome of certification trials and Parti of New York noise-tests. It will be surprising, however, if the!American airline is able to inaugurate even token jet services-: before B.O.A.C. According to the American publication Aviation-Daily, PanAm are considering the possibility of using 707s oaf scheduled cargo services between Baltimore and Puerto Rico, to •;•gain operational experience before the completion of certification * tests (now scheduled for July 18). VISCOUNT SALES REACH 390 A NEW order and repeat orders from four companies have•<*• brought the total of Viscount sales to 390. As announced in Flight last week, Ansett-A.N.A. have confirmed their order forV.810s. The British independent, Hunting-Clan, has now placed forders for three 810s to supplement their V.732s. These will carry" the customer-identification number 833 and will be delivered inthe "first part" of 1959. Hunting intend to avail themselves of the more powerful Dan 541s that will be available in 1960 andwhich form the basis of the 400 m.p.h. Viscount. - B.E.A. have ordered a further V.806, which will increase theirtotal fleet of this type to 19, and Aer Lingus will add a further three V.808s to the three they now operate. Another repeat orderhas been placed by Capital, who have asked for an additional V.745 to bring their total of this type to 60. The order standing againstBlack Lion Aviation (V.825) no longer appears on the order book.
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