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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1484.PDF
FLIGHT, 22 May 1959 MM Straight and Le ve I IN a letter to The Times on May 8,1959, Sir Gerard d'Erlanger said:"We now have the equipment and we have the capacity to introducecheaper fares and we are both willing and able to do so on cabotage routesand on our international network, but we have been frustrated by our inabilityto secure the requisite international agreement." And in hearings before the Malta AirLicensing Authority on April 22, Mr. Henry Marking, secretary of B.E.A.,said: "B.E.A. hope to reduce their fares [London - Malta] next year and they aregoing to I.A.T.A. for this purpose." I sometimes wonder whether weBritish make too much obeisance to the International Air Transport Association.Granted that, without I.A.T.A., anarchy would reign over the world's air trans-port—and that as a nation we should do our best to make it work. But I cannot quite see why we shouldallow it to influence what we do in our own cabotage backyard. • A South African colleague sharesmy amusement at this, sent to me as a result of my note about apartheid atairports: — The new Predikant watched the oldZulu walking up the steps of the Dutch Reformed Church at . "Don't youknow that this church is for white masters only?" he asked. "You don't understand, Baas," saidthe Zulu, "I'm only the boy who cleans out the church." "In that case you can come in," saidthe parson. "But Heaven help you if I catch you praying." • "Steady burning of fuel along theexternal surfaces of hypersonic vehicles may be used to decrease drag, increaselift, replace conventional air-breathing engines, and cool the entire vehicle."—Aviation Week. Nurse! My sedatives and cold com-press, please. This picture, taken by a Flight colleague in a B.O.A.C. Comet 4 between Singapore and Colombo, illustrates the latest jet airliner gimmick—floating a coin in a tumbler of water. It works, though make sure the coin isn't too heavy • Flight recently used the term para-trooper in a description of the recent airborne support demonstration atNetheravon. This, apparently, is a frightful boner.The correct word is parachutist—and the guardsmen who drop into battle arethe Independent (Guards) Company, 16 (Parachute) Brigade Group. Did you see that effective double-page ad. in Flight a couple of weeks ago (small reproduction here) listing the airliners which fly only on Esso Aviation Turbo Oil 35? An airline pilot who nearly had his final nervous breakdown when he saw the picture writes to ask who supplies the track-separa- tion equipment. Any claimants? • Just how fast is it possible to fly pas-sengers from place to place? The limit seems to be set by tolerable acceleration,a maximum of say ig being about the most that could comfortably be with-stood by the "old lady" design-case. If this acceleration and a similar decelera-tion were applied continuously on the journey from London to Paris, the tripwould take about 8£ minutes, the theoretical average speed being aboutMach 2. But the vehicle would have to be capable of 2,800 m.p.h. If the same acceleration were appliedto a Mach 1.2 transport, the journey time would still only be 16 minutes and thetheoretical average speed approximately sonic. In the excitement over super-sonic transports for the North Atlantic, it is sometimes overlooked that short-to-medium and medium-range aeroplanes will some day become supersonic, too.But Mach 3, perhaps the most likely speed for transatlantic supersonics,could be simply too fast for continental stage lengths. • Here, possibly, is the basis of anargument for a low Mach number super- sonic Viscount-replacement type with a1,500-mile range. Technical arguments aside, I only wish that I could believethat Mach 1.2 was the right speed com- mercially. On longer stages, Mach 1.2airliners will be in competition with others more than twice as fast, and theywill have to be sold as a replacement for types cruising at 630 m.p.h. on stageswhere the difference in block speed will be negligible. • In anticipation of the next editionof Roger's Thesaurus I cannot resist advance billing of a contribution fromTed Tennant, Folland's chief test pilot: "Not quite so up to date but still inconstant use in the Royal Navy is the word 'straddle' to mean 'miss.' "I hear quite unauthoritatively that amemorial is being erected at Whale Island in honour of the Naval GunneryOfficer who thought of this." • I liked the story told by Mr. AlanLennox-Boyd at the recent R.Ae.C. dinner to Lord Brabazon. Three people, one of whom was a Civil Servant, had lost their way in acar in the wilds of Dartmoor. At last they met a local inhabitant, and thedriver put his head out of the window. "Where are we?" he asked. "You'm be in a moty car," repliedthe local, and walked away. The driver and one passenger wereindignant. Not so the Civil Servant. "I think that was a very sensible reply,"he said. "It was clear, it was true, and it adds nothing to the information wealready have." • "In the new jets, pilots are respon-sible for ISO passengers' lives and $5,000,000 worth of equipment. I don'tknow of anyone, including members of the medical profession, with a greaterresponsibility. Sure, pilots get a lot of money—nearly $25,000 a year for someveteran captains. But they deserve it." —Mr. W. A. Patterson, president ofUnited Air Lines. • "An American woman, Mrs. HerbertMay, the former Marjorie Merriweather Post, has bought a 44-passenger Vis-count jet for her personal use. "The aeroplane cost £550,000 andwas built by Vickers-Armstrongs. It has plush bedrooms, a drawing-room,and a fountain that spouts champagne at the dinner table. It is furnishedthroughout with antiques, some in Louis XIV style."—News Agency report. • A colleague who flew in the Tu-104Awhen it visited London the other day on a pre-service proving flight remarkedon the profusion of British police officers lurking about in anticipation (the Rus-sians must have thought) of goodness knows what. But someone saved the day with'the right comment: "In a free country," he said, "you can have as many police as you like." ROGER BACON :•#•••
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