FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0396.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 February 1959 193 ight and vel ANATION-WIDE competition isbeing launched by the Art Leagueof the British Empire for a sculp- ture symbolizing "Material Diversion." This phrase is well known to all sections of British air transport, but it is under- stood by no one. I quote from the appropriate Ministerial decree, which says that a new scheduled service must be "of such a nature as to generate a new class of passenger traffic without material diversion from the 'normal scheduled services' of any other pre- viously approved U.K. operator." The winner will be fascinating, because the subject lends itself well to abstract art forms. Straight and Level's art department is to enter a huge bronze impression of the 1949 Air Corporations Act, covered with mildew, cobwebs and dust, and with holes shot through it from cover to cover. • Ever since the Prime Minister ofCanada, Mr. John Diefenbaker, made his carefully worded statement on de-fence on September 23 I have been wishing I had kept a tally on the numberof times it has been reported in the Press that the Avro Arrow has been cancelled.I am sure that by now the total must have passed one hundred. All very fine,of course, except for the fact that the Arrow has NOT been cancelled. What was originally said was: "Thedevelopment programme for the Arrow aircraft and the Iroquois engine shouldbe continued until next March, when the situation will be reviewed again inthe light of all existing circumstances at that time." It is particularly worth noting that theprogramme actually accelerated steadily throughout 1958, and it is probable thatthe cost per day is now higher than at any previous time. The CanadianGovernment's willingness to bear this cost is surely proof of their sincerity, yetfrom one end of Canada to the other people are saying: "What's that?—theyhaven't cancelled the Arrow? . . . Oh well, they're going to, of course." • Cor strike a light! What a turn-up for the book! Quote from a U.S. journal, Novem- ber 1958: "Although the British tried to evoke interest [by Western Germany] in their P.1B [Lightning], it was ruled out of court by the unnecessary com- plexity of its two engines." Quote from a Swiss journal, January 1959, explaining the German choice of the F-104: "The . . . would nave been too heavy and too costly for *e given task. The English Electric1 -IB Lightning likewise, since it is a twin-jet model." View expressed to R. Bacon by an meri engineer (from Republic: "I cannot understand why you British don't like a single engine. Ican prove that the single-engine con- figuration is better." Quote from Aviation Week, NewYork, January 19: "Air Force in the future will not procure fighters withless than two engines. Better prob- ability of survival and more reliabilityoffered by multi-engined designs are considered essential because of the highcost and performance of upcoming designs. Same policy is favored byNavy." Oh, well. ... • "It is far easier," says Mr. JohnWatkins, T.A.A.'s director of engineer- ing, "to fill a Viscount at £10 8s fromMelbourne to Sydney than to fill a DC-4 at £7 10s." For the protagonists of the fare-differential that's a pretty significant remark. It isn't just an opinion—it's ahard fact, put on record by one of the airline industry's most respected execu-tives. It means that at least some airline markets are more elastic to quality ofservice than to fare-levels; and if the jet/turboprop "quality-ratio" is agreedto be about the same as the Viscount/ DC-4 quality-ratio, the jet operatorshave little to fear from a jet v. propeller fare-differential. • "This preoccupation with newmodels was one reason for poor financial results. For one thing, quite promisingmodels were not necessarily in produc- tion long enough to recover all theirinitial costs." These words were used of a leadingBritish motor manufacturer over 25 years ago—and might equally well beapplied today to one or two aircraft manufacturers I could name. Perhapscars and aeroplanes provide evidence to support the theory of the "managerialrevolution"—that some businessmen put their own wishes before those oftheir shareholders, public or private. Famed Top Brass Nix Hi Flite From my U.S. staff, to whomEnglish is a living language, comes this account of how plans for Opera-tion Hi Flite were progressing as Straight and Level went to press:— The mission commander wasdoing a compilation of the mission termination destination configura-tion which would provide the air- craft commander with a predictablesafetification based on environ- mental data predicated by a weatheractivity. The capability to abort prior to the termination of the sub-ject part of the mission was a must. The airplane to be used is afamed bomb ship in which the most famed aviators had gotten their ace-doms after finalization of two activated mission pastures fromFinchley Field of the Britishers aircorps in England London. Veteran commander of thefamed 10007th Bomb Wing talked about the competent evaluatoryexercise needed to put the Finchley airbase into an operational mis-sion posture situation. When the airplanes reachedEngland London they would ter- minate the mission by landing atthe new airbase. To integrate the inhabitants of the quaint old vil-lage of Finchley with their situation the City Hall would be invited to aBar-B-Q at which York Pudding, Fish 'n' Chips and American Teawould be dispensed by Airmen 2nd Class dressed as Beefeaters. Afterthe chow a citation was slated to be retropresented to the Mayor. • Vickers have just sent me a cutting from a Teheran newspaper which says that "the 880 could offer coach accom- modation for 510 passengers . . ." Vickers' comment is "So that's how you make the medium jet profitable." - ROGER BACON The steps of the Paris Opera would seem to be an odd place to find an Emeraude— or a car, for that matter. Explanation: they were prizes to be won at the "gala appearance of famous Greco-Italian singer La Callas"
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
