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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1062.PDF
17 April 1959 Correspondence Che 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 Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. I The Airline Pilot Market FEEL that I must reply to the letter from Mr. D. Austin[April 3] regarding the employment position for pilots. Whilst we must all agree that there are many experienced pilots nowunemployed, jobs are not impossible to find, and in many cases employers are more readily prepared to accept recently qualifiedaircrew than seasoned men who may be ageing a little. During February and March of this year five students graduatedfrom our flying school at Elstree, and all five are now employed as pilots in commercial aviation. Three have been absorbed into ourassociate company, Derby Airways Ltd., and the other two are flying Rapides with a charter firm.Elstree, Herts. DAVID F. OGILVY,- • Manager, Elstree, Derby Aviation Ltd. Historic Hops and Flights AT the grave risk of being termed frivolous or worse by my good-friend Charles Gibbs-Smith, I feel I must make three observa- tions on his article entitled "Hops and Flights" in your issue ofApril 3. The device by which he magnifies Orville Wright's first flight onDecember 17,1903, by 400-500 per cent, because it was made into wind, could be applied equally well to several of the other earlyhops and flights. The people concerned must surely have known that a kite flies better when towed into wind and some could havebeen expected to point their aircraft in that direction. Jt also raises an interesting technical point for those who drive their carson business in windy weather, at 9d a mile. It must always be borne in mind that the Wright biplane wasa dead-end design which (almost) in the words of the late C. G. Grey brought to a dead end everyone who. flew it—except theWrights, who retired young as pilots. History may one day give the greater credit to those who produced thoroughly practical (iflater) aeroplanes like the Bleriot monoplanes and Avro 500/504. This does not detract from the Wrights' well-deserved credit forintroducing science into aviation, and for inspiring those in Europe who built real aeroplanes. The fact that A. V. Roe's 1908 biplane was photographed at thetop of the pull-up slope at Brooklands proves nothing but that this was a good place to take a photograph. I have a splendid pictureshowing a Silvaire lightplane with a large number of young ladies sitting on its wing from tip to tip; but I am assured by the makersthat it neither takes off nor is supplied in this condition. Surbiton, Surrey. JOHN W. R. TAYLOR. "Radio Recognition" : What the Law Says ¥ ETTERS in your issues of November 7 and November 21,•" 1958, indicate that the writers have used wireless telegraphy apparatus for the purpose of receiving messages sent from aircraftstations. The information given below should be of interest to your readers and may clarify the situation about the reception ofmessages by radio. It is an offence under Section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act,1949, to establish or use any station for wireless telegraphy or install or use any apparatus for wireless telegraphy except inaccordance with a licence on that behalf granted by the Postmaster- General. Furthermore, Section 5(b) of that Act provides that: — "Any person who, otherwise than under the authority of the Post-master-General or in the course of his duty as a servant of the Crown, either— (i) uses any wireless telegraphy apparatus with intent to obtaininformation as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message (whether sent by means of wireless telegraphy or not) which neither theperson using the apparatus nor any person on whose behalf he is acting is authorized by the Postmaster-General to receive; or '(ii) except in the course of legal proceedings or for the purpose ofany report thereof, discloses any information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any such message, being information which would notnave come to his knowledge but for the use of wireless telegraphy apparatus by him or by another person, shall be guilty of an offenceunder this Act." The foregoing legal provisions are directed to maintaining thesecrecy of private messages sent by radio. It is an obligation of Her Majesty's Government under the International Radio Regu-lations to prohibit and prevent the unauthorized interception of wireless messages not intended for general reception, divulgenceoi their contents or even the simple disclosure of their existence. In short, the regulations are designed to prevent prying into otherPeople's business. Thus any person who intentionally receives messages from air-craft stations without the authority of a licence granted by the 519 Postmaster-General is guilty of an offence under the WirelessTelegraphy Act, 1949. In this connection I ought to mention that neither the Broadcast Receiving Licences nor the Amateur (Sound)Licence authorize the reception of messages sent by wireless telegraphy from aircraft stations. The Broadcast "ReceivingLicences authorize only the reception of sound or television pro- grammes transmitted for general reception by authorized broad-casting stations and the reception of messages sent by licensed amateur stations, while the only messages authorized to be receivedby the Amateur (Sound) Licence are messages sent from other amateur stations.London, E.C.I. T. A. O'BRIEN, Public Relations Officer, General Post Office. Supersonic Airliners:_The_Wrong_Objective? TN your editorial for March 27 you suggest that aviation progress•*• is concomitant with speed, and that therefore Britain "must" build supersonic airliners. 1 disagree with this view on manycounts, and especially as regards the technical stagnation you refer to. It would not be true of this country, where we have (.forexample) research leadership in boundary-layer control, and the jet flap and honeycomb structures. Admittedly much researchinto these and allied subjects is applicable to supersonic travel, but need research effort, necessarily limited, be diverted to the latterend specifically? Surely our research budget should be concentrated on safer andcheaper forms of travel (it is difficult to contend that supersonic travel will be safe or cheap). One can think of more mundane, butsurely vital, research—into navigational aids, aviation medicine, flight safety, and panto-base undercarriages, to name a few. I amtrying to make the point that any specific research towards the supersonic airliner will draw money away from what surely aremore valuable and rewarding subjects, even if they are less in the limelight.The reward may take a number of forms, not least in income and employment. Our research should be directed towards air-craft which in their manufacture and repair provide not only steady and widespread employment, but also concomitantly satisfythe travelling needs of a large number and wide variety of people, i.e., the voting and taxpaying public who ultimately foot the bill.Can you foresee that the allotment of Treasury funds to a super- sonic transport will fulfil either of these objectives?It is an important question, not only economically but ethically. Is it right that one portion of the nation should be taxed merely toprovide employment and prestige for another? We have at the moment several "bread-and-butter" aircraftwhich not only promise to provide continuing personal income and employment but to achieve these ends without a pennydebt to the Treasury: in fact they might well provide positive revenue (through profits tax). Returning to the beginning, do theArgosy and the Westland Westminster represent technical stag- nation? Notice that they are both private ventures. Surely it isbetter to place the aviation industry on a surer foundation by diverting money to encouraging such exportable projects beforeentering the exotic field of supersonic travel. If you doubt this, visit employment exchanges in Gloucester or Bristol. As you suggest, there will always be passengers willing to payfabulous sums for such travel; but will they be numerous, will they be British, will they be unsubsidized via expense allowances, andabove all, will they provide a profit for the airline that carries them? If not, we should leave such luxuriant travellers to investin their own research with their own ample funds. It is perhaps apposite to recall that both the land and water absolute speedrecords were gained without State support. Cheshire. A. B. KNIGHT. FORTHCOMING EVENTS April 17. Institute of Navigation: "The Dectra Trials," byCol. C. Powell. April 21. R.Ae.S.: All-day Discussion on the Structural Effects ofKinetic Heating. Apr. 21-23. International Airline Navigators Council: Ninth AnnualConvention, New York. April 22. Women's Engineering Society: "Development of the GasTurbine Engine," by A. B. McKenzie. April 24. Fourth Tangier Rally, Morocco.April 28-30. French and British Institutes of Navigation: Symposium on Automatic Navigation, Paris.May 2. British Interplanetary Society: "Inertia! Guidance and its Application to Astronautics," by D. J. Cashmore.May 2. Aerial At Home, Woburn Park. May 4-14. I.A.T.A. Technical Conference, Berkeley, Calif.May 5. R.Ae.S.: "The Potential Use of Aircraft for Agricultural Purposes," by R. H. Scott. Junel2-21. Paris Aerc Show. Sept. 7-13. S.B.A.C. Display and Exhibition, Farnborough. R.Ae.S. Branch Fixtures (to April 24): April 22, Hatiield, discussionevening. April 23, Preston, a.g.m. and film show; Souihend, a.g.m. and film show. April 24, Hatfield, annual dinner.
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