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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0942.PDF
i -LIGHT, 3 April 1959 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the viewsexpressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. The Airline Pilot Market AS a commercial pilot and a regular reader of Flight I have been• increasingly dismayed to see more and more flying clubs and centres advertising advantageous rates to prospective commercial pilots. Whilst the principle is excellent on the surface it does tend tomislead young men into thinking, oh so wrongly, that here indeed is the possibility of entering aviation's ever-expanding sphere.Young men who dare not previously think of aviation as a career can now look at their meagre savings and see there a C.P.L.and an occupation for life. Articles in the "popular Press" (and occasionally, I fear, inpublications which should and, I am sure, do, know better), still insist on referring to "the pilot-starved airlines."Please let it be known once and for all that airliners are not "pilot-starved," and that employment as a pilot in these days oflarger and larger aircraft and smaller and smaller crew require- ments is more difficult to find than a needle in a haystack.Several of my friends have qualifications which in the past have enabled them to hold the post of captain with concerns ofrepute. This summer these same men would in most cases be more than pleased to take positions as joy-ride pilots.Please can you, Sir, find room in your valuable columns to print this letter before many more misguided enthusiasts helpto swell the 400-odd unemployed pilots in the U.K. today and accelerate business in Carey Street?Barking, Essex. D. AUSTIN. [In a recent Flight article ("Club Training for Commercial Pilots,"March 6) reference was made to "the current scarcity of opportunities for freshly qualified commercial pilots."—Ed.] I WAS extremely interested to read the article on training forcommercial pilots (Flight, March 6), as I myself am a sixth- former with limited financial resources endeavouring to becomean airline pilot. In the article, the scheme proposed by General Air TrainingLtd. was mentioned and it was suggested that it was not successful owing to lack of support. Soon after this scheme was announced(late 1957), I obtained details and discovered that employment after training must be guaranteed for at least three years in orderto pay back the loan. However, I found that on application to a number of operators, including B.E.A. and B.O.A.C., that nonewas sufficiently interested to sponsor me (or anybody else) and that in any case it would be impossible to guarantee three years'employment. It therefore seems that it was the airlines that caused the down-fall of this scheme and not lack of prospective pilots. I was also interested to read in the November 28 and December 5editions of Flight, an announcement by Ghanian Airways (an associate of B.O.A.C.) that Ghanian Nationals could apply fortraining as flight crew providing they had obtained G.C.E. "A" standard in maths, physics and chemistry. No previous flyingexperience was required. Trainees would receive part of their instruction in the U.K. and part in Ghana.Is it possible that we may one day have a similar scheme whereby the two Corporations would train Britain's students tofly Britain's airliners? Birmingham, 31. . P. W. SNAPE. Choice of a Freighter /^OULD it have been the unemployment bogy that lost Hertford-^ shire's aircraft industry a £20 million order a few weeks ago? At the risk of incurring the charge of Asop's sour grapes, I ventureto suggest it was the difference between a 1.9 per cent local unemployment figure and a 9.8 per cent figure for NorthernIreland that turned the impressive Handley-Page 111 strategic- freighter project into an aircraft as extinct as the dodo. Such a disastrous decision—to shelve what could have been theworld's fasiest, highest-flying, military transport aircraft—deserves a spirited protest from all those interested in preserving Britain'splace as a top-ranking air power. We in the industry regard the Government's action—in selecting a ponderously slow turbo-propmachine in preference to a 600 m.p.h. pure jet—as the worst strategic folly. Indeed, with a General Election imminent, it ispossible that political expediency has influenced their final choice. A little over three months ago Britain's aircraft industry wasjustifiably aghast at the Defence Ministry's rumoured inclination to spend £20 million (in dollars) in buying the R.A.F. twelveAmerican-built freighter aircraft. Our small, modern Army would, it was reliably stated, need long-range jet aircraft for quickly per- 471 formed "fire-brigade" duties in quelling globalwise trouble out-breaks. According to reports in the national Press, however, vigorous agitation by Labour M.P.s, plus a near revolt by Toryback-benchers^—all alarmed by the unemployment spectre in our aircraft factories—persuaded the Defence Minister, Mr. DuncanSandys, to change his mind. It was officially announced we would not buy American aircraft. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a panel of experts were studyingthe advice of our air marshals' "Prospect" conference last spring, and the comparative virtues of three British-designed contendersfor the newly conceived role of strategic "aerial fire-engines." In the running were: (1) the Bristol-Short Britannic, a Tyne-enginedversion of the Britannia; (2) the Vickers-Armstrongs VC.10, a pure-jet cousin to the Viscount and Vanguard; and (3) theHandley-Page 111 (or Treble One), a direct descendent of the Victor B Mk 2 bomber that had its successful maiden flight fromRadlett in February. After a fortnight of Ministerial silence, two newspapers openly hinted that the Air Staff preferred pure-jetmachines. The final choice, they said, rested between the VC.10 and H.P.lll. If speed, high-altitude and short runways were to influencethe politicians and brass-hats, the Handley Page employees weren't worried. Indeed, they suspected that in order to offsetthe unemployment threat over their rivals in Belfast, a suggestion was made that would enable the H.P.Ill's fuselage structure to bemade in Ulster; the wings and tailplane—that closely resembled those of the Victor Mk 1 and 2—were to be made at Cricklewoodand Radlett. The result we all know. For some reason—known only to theGovernment—they chose a Britannic with a top speed of 360 m.p.h. Even amateur strategists will agree this is a retrograde step. The relatiyely slow, low-flying freighter—no matter how welldesigned—will be vulnerable to even the most impromptu attack in active service conditions. Unable to take the rapid-evasionprerogative of its jet counterpart, any turboprop will be an easy target for even second-rate jet fighters. St. Albans, Herts. WILLIAM RICHARDSON. [The Government has stated that the Britannic was chosen by reasonof its adaptability to purely civil operations.—Ed.] Beacon Power TN your issue of February 13, in the article "Eastern Routes*- Jet," there is a contemptuous reference to the power of a non- directional beacon: ". . . only 100 Watts, about enough to lightmy 20ft living room ..." I would be obliged if I could have the freedom of your columnsto point to a very commonly held error, that of referring to an NDB in terms of Watts without any further qualification.The essential factor in deciding the effective range of an NDB is the amount of power actually radiated by the aerial system. Tospeak of 100 W leaves an ambiguity as to whether this is radiated power, radio-frequency power available in the transmitter outputstage, or even in some cases the D.C. power supplied to the transmitter final stage.If there is 100 W of radio-frequency power available in the trans- mitter output stage (this would be the commonly accepted inter-pretation) the radiated power would be less than 100 W, depending on the aerial efficiency. With an aerial efficiency of, say, 10 percent the correct description would work out as "10 W radiated power."Your readers may be interested in the following table of radiated powers necessary for NDBs of various ranges: — Range (n.m.) Wans Radiated 100 11 50 ' • ' 1 20 0.1 10 0.025 So much for house lighting! Hounslow, Middx. A. JAMES BOURNE. Machmasterpiece I PROPOSE that your columnist Roger Bacon should offer asuitable prize for the best prediction as to the probable contents of the Auditor General's report on the Civil AppropriationAccounts for 1979-80. My own entry follows: "The report deals mainly with the financial history of Britain'ssupersonic airliner, the Machmaster. It recalls that in 1960 the Treasury approved the placing of a development contract for theMachmaster with Super-Scruggs Aircraft Ltd., a consortium formed by various well-known British aircraft companies. Thecost of the project was estimated by Super- Scruggs as £93m, and this estimate was approved by the Ministry of Supply with theproviso that a further £5,750 should be set aside for possible increases in costs of paper and telephone services. In 1961 Super-Scruggs reported that their original assessment of design man- hours had proved to be slightly optimistic and that the estimatedcost of the project had risen to £382m. This was approved by the
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