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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 2287.PDF
238 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. I The A.T.C.O. is Willing "pROM recent comments contained in Roger Bacon's excellent*- column one gains the impression that he is not quite fully conversant with the limited influence which the Air Traffic Con-trol service—M.T.C.A., military or otherwise—exercises over day- to-day matters in the actual running of an aerodrome. Acceptanceor refusal of a movement into or out of an aerodrome is always the function of Administration. Of course, A.T.C. handling capa-city could be a factor in this consideration; but on movements alone I do not think this has yet intruded, as nowhere to ourknowledge is there an A.T.C. unit incapable of accepting a greater load. I hope your contributor will not feel that we are being over-sensitive on this matter, but in fairness I should like to record that the Guild (and for that matter, I think, all Air Traffic Controlofficers) consider themselves to be the servants of flying, and we in particular are constantly fighting to maintain that status. Veryoften we regret that at times we are not permitted to serve more people in the air, particularly the small operator and the privateflyer. So please, Roger Bacon, do not malign the A.T.C.O. or the service he operates but rest assured that you have the fullsympathy of the Guild in your endeavours to obtain a greater freedom in the air for all flyers large or small. London, W.I. K. I. PEARSON,Master, the Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers. Pioneer Airlines TVf E were interested to see, on page 59 of Flight for August 21," the reference to the "significant dates in the formative years of scheduled air transport," but we were surprised that noreference was made to the Instonc Air Lines. Instone Air Lines was one of the pioneer air companies andoperated a regular service London - Paris, which commenced on October 13,1919. Later on there were regular services to Brusselsand Cologne. Instone Air Line, with Handley Page Transport Ltd. andDaimler Hire Ltd. were subsequently merged into the Imperial Airways Ltd. and thus can be said to be one of the forerunnersof the present B.E.A. and B.O.A.C. The late Captain Alfred Instone tells of the efforts of these pioneers of civil aviation inhis book "Early Birds." Instone's connection with commercial aviation is continued intheir associated company, Instone Air Transport Ltd., one of the leading firms of air chartering brokers. London, E.C.3. S. INSTONE & Co. LTD.L. W. Galer, Secretary. [In effect, the table dealt with 25 pioneer services inaugurated atvarious dates up to September 24, 1919, which just excludes the well- remembered Instone service as well as a number of others. Theremaining three items in the table, relating to services started in 1921, 1922 and 1926, were added by reason of having special claims (firstAustralian service, first sustained U.K. internal service and first U.S. passenger service).—Ed.] "Independent" Aircrew CompetenceI HAVE read with interest the summary of the report of diepublic inquiry on the Southall accident and I have been dis- turbed by certain implications, made in this report, on the profes-sional abilities of independent airlines' flying personnel. The conclusion goes on to say that in small companies, thepersonnel are "largely recruited from men who, for one reason or another, had formerly been employed by the Corporations or thelarger companies but who had lost this employment, or from men who would scarcely have been eligible for employment with acompany of established reputation." Let us remember that in the past a great majority of air accidentshas happened, unfortunately, to "companies of established reputa- tion." Accidents to public transport in general are unfortunatehappenings. Let us admit it, no organization can claim to be fully protected from accidents, not even the British air corporations. Furthermore, all civil flying personnel are licensed by the sameauthority, in their respective country. To question their profes- sional abilities is also questioning the competence of the licensingauthority. All the men I have been working with are highly competent intheir profession and amongst the finest airmen in civil air trans- port. The truth is that a great number of them would not consider FLIGHT, 11 September 195* employment with "companies of established reputation," forreasons other than lack of recognition of their professional abilities. The past has shown that the small independent operators havea safety record as good as any. , .... • . Erith, Kent. W. G. COLEMAN. The Seven Days of Farnborough v •'•'. On the first day of Farnb'rough I really hoped there'd be • - ' Something new from the S.B.A.C. ' ' On the second day of Farnb'rough All there seemed to be Were two purpl'. Doves Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. On the third day of Farnb'rough All there seemed to be Were three Yes Men, Two purple Doves Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. On the fourth day of Farnb'rough; -;" All there seemed to be , ; •; Were four Whirlybirds, ~- ' Three Yes Men, Two purple Doves Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. .: ••"••-••.. _. - On the fifth day of Farnb'rough • All there seemed to be Were five cold Pimms, Four Whirlybirds, Three Yes Men, Two purple Doves "•.•'•• Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. \ On the sixth day of Farnb'rough All there seemed to be - Were six peasants paying, Five cold Pimms, •"';•.. Four Whirlybirds, -••'.'.." Three Yes Men, -•_•••.. Two purple Doves Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. On the seventh day of Farnb'rough All there seemed to be Were seven salesmen swanning, Six peasants paying, Five cold Pimms, Four Whirlybirds, Three Yes Men, Two purple Doves Nothing new from the S.B.A.C. London, S.W.7. CLAUD AND PAMELA POWELL. [While the sentiments expressed in this rendering of the traditional carol stand discredited by the contents of this issue, the deftness of the transcription commends it for publication. The contributors are, in fact, among the industry's staunchest supporters.—Ed.] Croughton Pinpointed ""PHE article by Betty Roberts on the U.S.A.F. 53rd Weather•*• Reconnaissance Squadron in Flight for June 5 was most in- teresting, but her statement that Croughton radio station was nearUxbridge is literally miles out. I recall similar inaccurate locations for this unit put forwardin your correspondence column, in connection with (seemingly) illicit reception of R/T. messages. The unit is in fact locatedon the former R.A.F. airfield at Croughton, Northamptonshire, where it still uses some of the hangars once full of Masters andHotspurs of No. 1 G.T.S. Bristol. P. H. DOBBS. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sept.7-13. S.B.A.C. Display and Exhibition, Farnborough. Sept. 11-13. German Aero Club: Rally, Baden-Baden. Sept. 13. Newcastle-upon-Tyne Aero Club: At Home, Woolsington. Sept. 14. Institute of Transport: Brancker Memorial Lecture, "World Peace through Air Transportation," by Capt. E. V. Rickenbacker. Sept. IS. Battle of Britain Day. Sept. 19. International Spherical Balloon Concours, Zurich. Sept. 20. British Gliding Association and London Gliding Club: National Glider Aerobatic Contest, Dunstable. Sept. 23. R.Ae.S. Graduates' and Students' Section: Film Show. Sept. 24-25. AGARD: Ninth General Assembly, Aachen. Sept.24-25. Aerodrome Owners' Association: Conference, Bristol. Sept.26-27. Genoa Aero Club: Rally. Oct. 4-16. Seventh Anglo-American Aeronautical Conference, New York. Oct. 6. I ATA: Dr. Albert Plesman Memorial Lecture. "Supersonic Flight," by Hall L. Hibbard, at Delft, Netherlands. Oct. 7. R.Ae.S. Graduates' and Students' Section: "Lunar Probes," by J. E. Ailen. Oct. 27. Radar and Electronics Association: "Electronics in Super- sonic Flight," by F. W. Page. Oct. 28. R.Ae.S. Graduates' and Students' Section: "Setting of Aircraft Specification," by R. H. Whitby.
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