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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0551.PDF
274 FLIGHT, 20 February 1959 * Straight and v e I ON the eve of the Government'slong - awaited announcementabout the R.A.F.'s new strategic transport, Sir John Blackout-Jones, firebrand chairman of Scruggs Aircraft, called a news conference in London. "The way I see it," said Sir John, as a posse of 12 Scruggs brochure-bearers staggered laden into the conference, "the choice lies between half-a-dozen contenders. Obviously it would be ridiculous"—Sir John almost choked with mirth at this point—"for the R.A.F. to have two or three of each type com- peting for the order. So the only sen- sible alternative is for the Government to finance, and the R.A.F. to buy, an entirely new project which combines the technical and political merits of all the contenders." His staff then handed each member of the Press a copy of the brochure, which was entitled Scruggs —World Leaders in Econo- mic Air Warfare. The brochure gave the follow- ing details of a new Scruggs project: — Scruggs S.A.491 War- master: Jet and turboprop power by Burstmore Aero- engines Ltd., thus combin- ing "the best of both worlds of propulsion." Aft-load- ing, side-loading, ventral-loading, dor- sal-loading, front-loading, wing-loading and ability to carry 78.5 tons of equip- ment for 7,813 miles at a speed of 687 m.p.h., using 2,000ft airstrips. Delivery in 1960, price £250,000 each. COURT AND SOCIAL The merger announced between Scruggs Aircraft Ltd. of Plane Works Road, East Sheen, and Burstmore Aero- Engines Ltd. of Twitchington Manor, Essex, will not now take place. • "That independent airline—huh! Nothing but a shower of stunt-merch- ants, with an overdraft as red as your eyeballs. I tell you, old boy, we're not worried by those buccaneers." Who said that? A senior executive of another independent airline. I am all for independent rivalry, but there is no room for backbiting in an industry fighting for the same things. • Quote from Bendix International News Reporter:— "A man lived by the side of the road andsold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with hiseyes so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up a sign on thehighway telling how good they were. He stood by the side of the road and cried'Buy a hot dog, Mister.' "And people bought. He increased hismeat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He got hisson home from college to help him. But then something happened. . . . His son said, 'Father, haven't you been listening tothe radio? There's a big depression on. The European situation is terrible. Thedomestic situation is worse.' "So his father cut down on his meat andbun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand onthe highway to sell hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight." 'You're right, son,' the father said to the boy. 'We are certainly in the middleof a great depression.' " There may be something in this fable. On the other hand, the airlines have been selling their capacity ton-mile hot- dogs hard right throughout the recent recession. But, as the load-factor figures show, people haven't been buying much more than half. American pilots, have reservations about Vortac as the long-term answer to the air navigation problem. The reason why the pilots' preference is not more widely appreciated is prob- ably because they have avoided the use of trade-names, preferring for various reasons to use instead neutral generic terms like "area coverage" and "pictorial presentation." The result is that the full significance of the pilots' reservations about Vortac has never really struck home. • The neutrality of trade-names isimportant politically as well as com- mercially. I should think twice, forexample, about naming a new British aircraft—say—"John Bull."Brand me as a traitor if you like; but if we want tosell our goods in neutral- country markets we shouldacknowledge the psycho- logical importance of neu-tral nomenclature. "I just wanted to watch the planes," 70-year- old Mr. Andrew Bird said at Cleveland Airport on February 5, as he was explaining how his car came by its new sunshine roof. Mr. Bird had allegedly just driven the whole length of the runway and back, passing en route between the propellers of a four-engine U.S.A.F. transport warming up for take-off." I guess I took the wrong turning," Mr. Bird—who escaped injury—is reported to have said • Straight and Level is pleased to announce the purchase of an Air Trum- pet from Thinx Electronics Ltd. The version actually supplied will differ from the standard model: the volume control—which normally limits output to 350 db>—will have an override to permit short bursts of up to 400 db. This should give added emphasis to an important, and often overlooked, aspect of the Decca v. Vortac contro- versy between America and Britain. My adviser on air navigation, Dr. Homer Beamish, will attend the next I.C.A.O. air navigation meeting carrying the Air Trumpet, and at an appropriate moment during the proceedings he will arrange for it to deliver, at 400 db, the following message: — "Twelve thousand American airline pilots have stated their preference, through the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations, for a pic- torial-presentation, area-coverage air navigation aid." This often overlooked fact means that the world's airline pilots, including • In the military twin-jet v. single-jet squabbling match (this page, Feb. 6) the "single" protagonists make full play with simpli- city and aerodynamic clean- ness—internal as well as external. They remind me irresistibly of Patrick Stirling, the great locomotive designer of the last century, Stirling was a die- hard defender of the single-wheeler, and when taxed with his conservatism by a proponent of coupled driving wheels he likened the formula to "a laddie runnin' wi' his breeks doon." When it was proposed to fit a new type of external valve gear on one of his beautiful Great Northern singles this same stalwart declared, "I canna spile my grand engine wi' the likes of that machinery ootside of her." • While on the railroad track I find myself wondering what the boost-glide and Dyna-Soar boffins will have to say about this comment on trains that appeared in the Quarterly Review dur- ing 1829 (about the time of the Rainhill locomotive contest): "We should as soon expect the people to suffer them- selves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves at the mercy of such a machine going at such a rate." • "Police-constable Clifford Cross said yesterday in court at Leeds that while on motor-cycle patrol duty he saw an aircraft flying below him. "He was at a point 510ft above sea level and he followed the aircraft on his motor cycle and took the registration letters."—The Times, February 12. ROGER BACON
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