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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0883.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 June 1958 901 Straight and vel ONE gets so accustomed to moansfrom Britain's independents thatit is refreshing to hear of one which recognizes the facts of British airtransport life and makes the most of them. I should like to mention names,but perhaps I shouldn't. The indepen- dent concerned, while as dissatisfied asany other with the structure of British air transport, has a philosophy whichmight be expressed thus: "We are not one of those who think that the Cor-porations are inefficient, and we do not aspire to taking over their business. Itis easy to say that we would do their job more efficiently, but to talk like this isprovocative, and no way to win friends." Unusual talk, and probably unrepre-sentative of independent-operator opin- ion. But it is a point of view worthnoting, because this philosophy has made the airline concerned into a verysuccessful and respected one. • You recall my quoting the U.K.Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers to the effect that men in the tower are todayworking "on the edge of reason"? I thought of these words when I heardabout the effect which the recent collision between a Capital Airlines'Viscount and a T-33 is reported to have had upon three Washington air trafficcontrollers. The control tower supervisor, AustinM. Stampf, apparently had a nervous breakdown while preparing paper-workon the accident, and is now having psychiatric treatment. A controllernamed Charles A.Laymon has collapsed twice and is now in hospital. The con-troller who was directly in charge of the Capital Viscount at the time of thecollision has been given sick leave and will probably seek a transfer. Guilds and Associations and otherbodies can utter as many warnings as they like: but it is only when you hearabout controllers actually cracking up under the load of their responsibilitiesthat you really realize the magnitude of the A.T.C. problem. It is quite likelythat these men were not in any way at fault; but it is a bad thing that anyman's livelihood, not to mention the lives for which he is responsible, shouldbe in danger because a system is wrong. • In a recent Flight editorial it wassaid that all hopes for the future of collision-avoidance rest upon the factthat in the Western systems of govern- ment it is civil law which must prevail. It looks as though this is being assertedin America: I think that what may come out of the present A.T.C. furoreover there is that a new Federal Avia- tion Agency, responsible to PresidentEisenhower and to Congress, will assume the A.T.C. responsibilities at present borne by the Civil AeronauticsAdministration and the Airways Modernization Board. It will, as pro-posed, be headed by a single civilian administrator, with power to regulateboth civil and military traffic. That's the stuff. But pause to thinkof the exasperation this will cause to Service pilots. How would you like tobe in a jet fighter squadron which has to wait so long to get a take-off clear-ance from—if you please—a civil con- troller that the mission has to be aban-doned in disgust? This is now happen- ing at U.S.A.F. training bases inAmerica under the interim emergency system of civil control. But pausealso to reflect on these wise words from the CA.B.'s chairman: "Do not let usabandon what we have, good or bad, and replace it with a shiny new agency thatwill somehow, magically, produce abso- lute safety in the air." • Last week my reporter interviewed the famous veteran pilot, Capt. Dorset Horn (pictured above), on the subject of flight engineers, and their place in the airliner cockpits of the future. The captain said: "Baa-baa" and butted his horns through the windscreen. • Mr. Frank Tomney [in the recentCommons debate on the aircraft indus- try]: "In this respect, my right hon.Friend ... is at cross-purposes with himself, since he also supports agricul-ture. For my part, if it is a question of bigger and better onions and bigger andbetter carrots against bigger and better aeroplanes, I am all for the bigger andbetter aeroplanes." Mr. George Brown: "It will give myhon. Friend indigestion." Mr. Tomney: "We will make more money. That is what we must consider." • B.O.A.C. Spokesman (quoted byThe Times on April 11): "The resale of Stratocruisers is not connected with thepurchase of the Boeing 707s." Mr. William Allen, president ofBoeing, in a statement to shareholders (recently quoted by Aviation Daily):"I do not know whether Boeing can dis- pose of the 14 Stratocruisers returnedby B.O.A.C. at the same modest allow- ance made to B.O.A.C. on its 707 order." • "Unless Britain puts up her ownSputniks and spaceships she will indeed be a third-class Power."Thus was Sir Robert Renwick, presi- dent of the Radar and ElectronicsAssociation, recently quoted. I suggest that, if we do put up our own Sputniksand spaceships, we shall be a fourth- class power at least, because the cost ofthese toys will bankrupt us. The implication, incidentally, is thatwe are already a second-class power. Measured by what values? So far asI am concerned Britain is a first-class power. • Congratulations to Lockheed onlanding an order from the U.S. Navy for 80 sub-hunter versions of the Electra;now, I suppose, ihey are all set for a similar number of ambulance/crew-trainer/transport versions for the U.S. Air Force. The effect of this on Lock-heed's ability to market the airliner will, to put it mildly, be considerable. What a curious thing that the onlyViscount ever to bear R.A.F. markings should have been the old 630 prototype,G-AHRF, which once bore Service (M.o.S.) livery before being painted inB.E.A. colours. Anybody care to take me on if I say that the R.A.F. will buythe Vanguard? VC.10? D.H.121? • Baggage may beat Rotodyne This was the big front-page head-line which shocked me into buying the midday Evening Standard recently. Allof a tremble, I read: "The Aber- gavenny Plate (3.30) at Lewes this after-noon is the most interesting race. . . . Baggage is fancied, and may win fromRotodyne." I read on: "Rotodyne is a neat, well-balanced sort. My Newmarket reports of her exercise spins are promising." • "Most airlines," Trans-Caribbean's president has asserted, "spend too much money in non-transport directions. If they cut out these expenses and con- centrated on transportation, they wouldn't have to cry so much." ROGER BACON
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