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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0769.PDF
6 June 1958 785 B.E.A., 41 (240,000 hr); Aer Lingus, 2 (28,000 hr); T.A.A., 31(75,000 hr); T.C.A., 37 (155,000 hr); Hunting-Clan, 2 (4,000 hr); Airwork, 12 (9,000 hr); Capital, 32 (292,000 hr); C.A.A., 1(16,000 hr); Hong Kong Airways, 9 (3,700 hr); Indian Airlines Corporation, 31 (4,700 hr); Philippine Airlines, 14 (1,600 hr);Alitalia-L.A.L, 5 (7,600 hr); K.L.M., 3 (4,500 hr); Transair, 1 (1,700 hr); N.Z.N.A.C., 1 (450 hr). Of particular interest is a breakdown of questions which canfairly be laid at the door of the constructors of the airframe, engines and propellers, as compared with the number for whichancillary suppliers are responsible. Obviously, a prime constructor is always answerable for the ancillaries which he chooses to install:the fact that 36 per cent of all the queries listed in this document is the responsibility of suppliers is of academic interest to theoperators. The breakdown appears to be roughly as follows: Air- craft constructor, 83 queries; engine constructor, 22; propellersconstructor, 4; ancillary constructors, 61. NORTHEAST'S BRITANNIAS PUBLICATION of Northeast Airlines' annual report has evoked-*- a flood of speculation on that carrier's re-equipment intentions. Sentences from one particular section of the report have been sowidely taken out of context that it is appropriate to quote the relevant paragraphs in full: — "Your management still thinks well of the turboprop Britannia, itspassenger appeal and performance characteristics. These planes are ideally suited for first-class service in the Florida market and wouldcomplement our ten DC-6B Sunliners now operating in coach service. Accordingly, Northeast's present contract with Bristol Aircraft, Limited,has been modified and extended to cover delivery of the planes in the fall of 1958. "Among the terms agreed upon, the manufacturer has until May 1,1958, to obtain an American certificate, and, if certification is com- pleted prior to that time, your company has 60 days in which to arrangethe necessary financing and secure the consent of its lending banks to the purchase." The present position is that a firm order has been placed forfive Britannia 305s, valued at $ 17.5m, to include engines and spares. Advance payments of $456,501 had been made by lastDecember, of which $357,000 could be recovered, were the contract cancelled. Certification was obtained on April 10. The hesitations arise from the fact that any financing agree-ments concerning the Britannias must be consented to by North- east's major creditors (the banks responsible for financing thepurchase of DC-6Bs in 1955. Unfortunately for the airline (again quoting the annual report), by the end of last year, "the companywas in default under provisions of the [DC-6B] credit agreement requiring the maintenance of minimum amounts of net worthand or working capital and, as a result, the banks may accelerate the due dates."Aviation Daily, discussing Northeast's Britannia order, says "prevailing opinion is that Northeast will not be able to make it."This comment must be assessed in the light of the foregoing facts. Certainly a glance at Northeast's balance sheet indicates that,though the airline's financial position is not critical, its resources are strained to the limit. BREVITIES TO investigate the possibilities for the AW.650 Freightercoachand its variants in South America, a sales team led by Mr. C. S. Emery, Armstrong Whitworth's sales director, left Britain onJune 1. He was accompanied by Mr. D. L. Raffle, chief perform- ance engineer, and Mr. M. E. L. Spanyol, assistant to the civil aircraft designer. * * * Mr. C. R. Smith, president of American Airlines, said last weekthat his company expects to complete arrangements for the pur- chase of medium jets during 1958.* * * The Tu-114D, a modified version of the Tu-114, recently com-pleted a non-stop 5,280 St. mile flight from Moscow to Irkutsk and back at a claimed average speed of 497 m.p.h.j and at altitudes The new runway-lighting system of Washington National Airport is dramatically depicted in this view of a Convair 240 on the point of touchdown. The lighting system comprises 272 fluorescent lamps installed in reflectors along each side of the runway. between 33,000 and 40,000ft. The return flight encountered head-winds of up to 125 m.p.h., but sufficient fuel remained on landing for the aircraft to fly a further 930 to 1,240 miles. The pilot wasViktor Ivanov. * * * Costa Rica has now become a member state of I.C.A.O. Total membership is now 73. * * * G.E.C. have secured a £25,000 order from S.A.S. for 100air-circulation catering ovens. * * *From May 31 a Saturday return service between Newcastle and London has been operated by B.K..S.* * * An Avro York of the British independent airline Dan-Aircrashed near Gurgaon, 25 miles from New Delhi, on May 25. Of the crew of five, only the radio officer survived.* * * G.A.P.A.N. announce that as from July 1,1958, fees for instruc-tor's certificates will be as follows: initial application, £4 4s; re-test, £3 3s; renewal, full instructor, 15s; and renewal, assistantinstructor, £1 Is. GATWICK (continued from page 774) the aerodrome control room (surrounded by sloping triple glazing)is built on two levels; the lower level will only come into full play when daylight viewing radar is installed. At the moment there isone radar set used only to feed aircraft into the traffic pattern controlled by the Southern Air Traffic Control Centre at LondonAirport. Approach control is situated in a room under aerodrome control. Emphasis has been laid upon clear radar presentation ofaircraft position and the operational role has been planned around the dual displays of the Cossor ACR 6 10cm and Marconi S23250cm radars. Both are equipped with Moving Target Indication and rain removal aid, and the wavelength variation of the two setsprovides definition irrespective of the weather. An additional facility is video mapping, which can be superimposed on the radarscreen to assist in position identification. The approach control room operates in semi-darkness, but special artificial lighting isprovided to illuminate the control desks carrying the flight pro- gress strips. The desks are of M.T.C.A. design and embody theresults of many years of practical operating experience. It is intended to make extensive use of radar sequencing at Gatwick,even in V.M.C., since it has been found that the landing rate can thus be appreciably increased. Just what level this may reachmust remain a matter for conjecture until the system is in full-scale use; air traffic control are not willing to hazard a guess until thesystem has been tried. In the approach control room space has been left clear to addto the installations precision approach G.C.A. radar. At present this is contained within a truck at the edge of the runway, but latera landline will be adopted that ties the display to a remote-mounted aerial head.Communications systems at Gatwick include radio and navi- gational aids to aircraft, radio communication facilities and fixedservices—among them a semi-automatic signals centre and tele- phone facilities and the STRAD (Signal Transmitting Receivingand Distribution system) fully electronic teleprinter exchange. The system will handle 3,000 messages daily. The radio com-munication facilities follow the pattern at L.A.P. Central. Aero- nautical V.H.F. speech channels are duplicated to provide mainand standby services and special precautions have been taken against failures due to interruptions. Gatwick is also the first airport to use a multi-channel taperecording system (manufactured by the British Communications Corporation) with which M.T.C.A. are replacing the singlechannel embossed film type of recorder. The equipment will record seven communications channels on a single tape and anextension to fifteen channels is possible. Among the more important fixed installations is the Esso andShell-Mex and B.P. fuel farm on the north side of the apron. Fixed hydrants have been abandoned in favour of mobile fuellers carry-ing the four grades of aviation fuel—100/130, 108/135 and 115/145 octane and DERD 2482 turbine fuel—that are available.The Esso installation contains 12 fuel tanks each holding 12,000 Imp. gal and the Shell-Mex and B.P. installation has a similarfuel capacity. Provision is being made for dispensing aviation lubricants and water methanol.The first commercial service into Gatwick has already become Transair history; B.E.A.'s inaugural flight, on June 9, is tobe a charter to Surrey County Council, who have arranged for a DC-3 to fly a V.I.P. party and a message of goodwill to theStates of Jersey and Guernsey. Subsequently there will be 162 departures and 163 arrivals a week by B.E.A. DC-3s and Viscount802s to and from the Channel Islands and a few additional DC-3 flights to Salzburg. A. T. P. and J. C. S.
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