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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1660.PDF
FLIGHT, 12 June 1959 803 Straig hi ana AN American company, Gulf Oil,wanted to land its Convair atLondon Airport. The request was answered as follows: — ". . . Sympathetic consideration has been given to your application but I regret to inform you that because of the heavy incidence of scheduled traffic at the times of the proposed movements on the days in question the General Manager is unable to give you the per- mission you seek. . . ." Commenting on this, the American AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), says: — ':The facts: Latest annual traffic count for London—129,497 plane movements, putting it between Orlando, Fla (rank No. 83 among 196 U.S. airports with control towers), and Little Rock, Ark (rank No. 82). "Chicago Midway movements (rank No. 1) outnumber London 3.3 to 1; Teterboro, N.J. (rank No. 16, with no airline operations on field) outnumbers London 1.9 to 1. No U.S. airport has such restrictions. "The British frequently dominate international conferences on the con- tention that they're experts on traffic density, congestion, need for control, etc. Meanwhile, the Gulf Convair, carrying the Corporation's president, was forced to fly to an outlying airport." The AOPA obviously has not heardof the Croydon Airport Doctrine— which is to the effect that British airtraffic control is the master, not the servant, of aviation. • Can anyone tell me where I can get Sheet N.E.50/1, the I.CA.0.1 : 500,000 map of the Low Countries? The Royal Aero Club, who are normally able to supply maps for Continental air touring by return of post, say that this sheet has been unobtainable for a year. The pub- lishers—the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation—seem to have little idea of when a revised sheet will be avail- able, and meanwhile I must use a bor- rowed copy published by the War Office in 1950 and now obviously—and per- haps perilously—out of date. Is this the latest sinister plot by the M.T.C.A. to embarrass private flying? Or is it that the Low Countries are all below sea level, and so come under the province of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries? • My word, the Daily Clanger has started something. On Monday the front-page headline was: "BRITAIN'S WONDER PLANE IN TROUBLE"—and the wonder plane, as of course you must know, was the projected Scruggs S.A.394 Speedmaster. This project, said the story, was to be cancelled, and thousands of Scruggs workers sacked, because the firm had suddenly realized that the aeroplane's ". . . and I wag all set to do a test ejection on the tower at R.C.A.F. Portage La Prairie when I realized I'd left my bone-dome in the mess. So I figured this was the only thing to do. Now, will someone pull the bund for me, please?" estimated weight had doubled, speedand range had halved, cost had trebled, and delivery-date had gone back fiveyears. "A major row is raging," the storycontinued, "between Sir John Blackout- Jones, boss of Scruggs, and Sir CharlesBoost, chief of Plummet Air Lines, who has 75 Speedmasters on order. I under-stand," added the Clanger's reporter, "that Sir Charles has told Scruggs thatunless his Speedmasters are delivered next year he will cancel them and buyAmerican planes." • A statement issued the following day, signed jointly by Sir John Blackout- Jones and Sir Charles Boost, said: — "Our attention has been drawn to a report in the Daily Clanger that the pro- ject Scruggs S.A.394 Speedmaster is 'in Yes, U.S.A. F. armoured cars; and they're awaiting dis- posal at Burtonwood, that sprawling erst- while boom-town of some 30,000 souls in Lancashire—now a desolation. I know that long ago the R.A.F. used to do some brisk business witharmoured Rolls- Royces in the Middle East. But then the natives didn't even pretend to be friendly. I am wondering if the U.S.A.F. brought these Chicago bank- wagons as protection against the treacher- ous Picts, the ma- rauding Scots or the perfidious Albions. trouble,' that it is to be cancelled, andthat Scruggs's workers are to be declared redundant. "This report is completely false, un-true and without any foundation what- soever, and it is categorically denied inits entirety and on every count. The Speedmaster programme is years aheadof schedule, the aircraft is confidently expected to exceed estimates, and, asfor redundancy, Scruggs are about to launch a nation-wide staff-recruitingprogramme." • At the bottom of page 6 ofWednesday's Clanger appeared the following statement: "PLANE CHIEFS DENY TROUBLE: Reports that Britain'snew superjet Speedmaster is delayed were last night denied by a spokesmanfor Scruggs, builders of the plane." • The other day a British test pilot wasasked by a journalist what he thought about three-pointer altimeters. "I havenever misread one," he said, "or even nearly misread one. But that's not to sayI might not misread one this afternoon or tomorrow." Which, I think, is the most reasonableremark I've yet heard on this tricky subject. • The orange Day-Glo paint whichembellishes Flight's Gemini attracts just about as much attention on the groundas it does when airborne. At the recent display at Shoreham dozens of smallboys peered at the paint, rubbed it, and got close enough to it to lick it off likea lollipop. Only one boy was really practical. Hedraped his coat over one of the fins and got underneath to see if it really doesglow in the dark. ROGER BACON
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