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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0671.PDF
334 FLIGHT "Flight" photograph The two privately oper- ated Britannia 300-seriez referred to in col. 1 are seen here: left, ths British aid Common- wealth 317 at Bombay, below, Air Charter's 307 at Stansted after its round-the-world flight AIR COMMERCE . v. ... :, . PRIVATE ENTERPRISE BRITANNIAS * THE two pictures on this page are heartening in as much asthey show the biggest products of the British aircraft indus- try in the markings of independent airline operators. The BristolBritannias concerned are two of the three now in private enter- prise hands: one (a 307) is operated by Air Charter, and two317s are operated by Hunting-Clan on behalf of British and Com- monwealth Shipping, whose name the aircraft bears. The Air Charter Britannia had, when the picture was taken,just returned from a round-the-world flight carried out in the course of a Government trooping contract. The aircraft leftStansted on Thursday, February 5, carrying 100 Service personnel to Adelaide and Sydney. It arrived in Australia on February 8,whence it flew to Christmas Island where 112 new passengers were taken aboard and flown back to England by way of SanFrancisco and Montreal. Total flying time was 72i hr. The British and Commonwealth Britannia 317 was caught byFlight's camera at Bombay early last month while in the course of its first commercial flight. Ships' crews of five differentnationalities—a total of 170 men—were carried between this coun- try and India, from Germany to Japan, and from Hong Kongback to England. During the ten days that the Britannia was away, January 31 to February 9, it covered 20,000 miles in justover 60 hr. The British and Commonwealth Britannia had a Bristol team on board "to keep a watching brief and to offer anyassistance should it have been needed." Representatives included a test pilot, radio officer, flight engineer and also aircraft andengine maintenance engineers. NO GRANTS FOR MUNICIPAL AIRPORTS A PROPOSED scheme of Government grants for municipal air-ports, suggested by the Aerodrome Owners' Association as an incentive for local authorities to take over aerodromes at presentState-run at a loss, has been rejected by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. This was announced at the annual dinner ofthe Association by Mr. John Hay, M.P., Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry. The Government was keen to encouragemunicipal ownership, Mr. Hay said, but the intention was to remove completely the financial loss on the airports concerned assoon as possible. The chairman of the Association, Alderman V. J. Ross, reportedthat its present strength consisted of 42 ordinary members, 34 associate members and 38 affiliate members, and suggested thatA.O.A. interests might be better served by a separate civil aviation ministry. Other speakers at the dinner were A. Cdre. Whitney W.Straight, Mr. T. J. Owen, Col. R. Mould-Graham and the Parlia- mentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, Mr. W. J. Taylor,M.P. CIVIL BRITANNIC?I N the House of Commons on February 23, the Minister ofSupply, Mr. Aubrey Jones, was asked by Mr. Frank Beswick (Lab., Uxbridge) whether he could give the date by which it wasestimated that a civilian version of the Short Britannic—the strategic freighter recently ordered for R.A.F. Transport Com-mand—would be available. Mr. Jones explained that the Britannic had been designed tomeet both military and civil requirements and that the two ver- sions would be closely similar. "Being designed to carry bulkyand heavy loads over medium and long distances," he said, "the aircraft should prove exceptionally economical in operation andtherefore of interest to civil operators." He went on to say that a civil version would be available at about the same time as themilitary type. Mr. Beswick asked whether the Minister really thought that in four or five years' time the industry, including Shorts and itsdesign team, would be more—or less—competitive as a result of producing the Britannic Mr. Jones replied that the use offreighters was increasing by 20 per cent a year in the U.S.A. and it was desirable that Britain should enter the new market. TheBritannic was the most ready aircraft. He could not say how many Britannic 3s had been ordered for the R.A.F.: negotiationswere still proceeding. Mr. Beswick asked the Minister whether he appreciated that theBritannic would have to compete with freighter versions of the 707; and did he think that the money involved placed our industryin a competitive position? Mr. Jones replied: "If the hon. member wishes to compare the Britannic with the 707 he will findthat the ability of this aircraft to carry equipment is much greater." THE TWIN-JET AIRLINER TPHE cleverness of the French in creating the Caravelle becomes-*• more evident day by day. Not only is that jet airliner soon (on May 15) to present the rivals of Air France and S.A.S. witha resounding competitive challenge, but the design formula also— twin jets and light weight circa 100,000 lb)—is receiving thesincerest form of flattery. In America, according to American Aviation, Douglas haverecently scaled down the long-projected DC-9 (Flight, January 18, 1957, p. 81) from 125,0001b to around 85,000 lb to 95,0001b. And,more significantly, the Santa Monica projects team still appears to be wedded to the P. & W. J52—the engine which has always beenthe Douglas-preferred candidate for their "scaled-down DC-8." And now, of course, a fan version of this engine is available:there are no figures for it yet, but power must be of the order of 12,000 lb, and no doubt the fan confers an improvement onoriginal J52 consumption comparable with that conferred upon the J57—namely about 10 per cent "leaner." Two of these engines would make a perfect match for a less-than-100,000 lb, 80-passenger DC-9. The American report sug- gests that the weight and capacity of the Boeing 727—likewiselong-projected—are of this order also. It is this sort of jet airliner which Mr. B. S. Shenstone, chiefengineer of B.E.A., recently referred to as the object of "average airline" thinking. His own company is, of course, firmly com-mitted to the three-engined, 80/100-passenger Airco D.H.121) and will remain so. But the idea of a smaller twin-engined -Aairliner to "fill in the lower-range gap" (as someone down Bristol way put it) has caught on since the 121 formula was settled, ar.dparticularly since the fan-craze started about six months ago. The questions that now need asking—with some-of the possice
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