FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0111.PDF
"^! FLIGHT, 22 January I960 INTERIOR INDUSTRY... specify fluorescent tubes, giving more light for less weight; but he is still limited by the capabilities of the electrical system, fluorescent tubes facilitate indirect lighting, with the tubes tstalled along the sides of the roof instead of along the centre- e; but, unless subsidiary tubes can be provided, heavy shadows y be cast under the hat racks. In the Airco D.H.121, the weight xated to the electrical system is insufficient for subsidiary ubes, and so Mr Gardner has proposed "floating" hat racks, .jiounted well away from the fuselage wall, so that the main tubes will provide light below the racks. As the racks serve not only for personal luggage, but also for carrying the air ducts and elec- al wiring for the passenger-service panels—which, as already ntioned, are required to be readily movable—many engineering problems must be worked out on the mock-up before this solution is accepted. There is, however, a school of thought which would abolish the hat rack altogether. With passengers now seated five- or even six- abreast, the provision of really adequate space for hand luggage is virtually impossible, but no satisfactory alternative has yet appeared. Operators are not over-anxious to exchange seating for storage cupboards. An overriding consideration in BEA's interior design policy is quick change of configuration; seats, pantries and coat-cupboards are all mounted on standard rails, and there has been a tendency to replace rigid bulkheads by curtains for the same reason. For window neatness, sliding rigid blinds are preferred to curtains, but this introduces engineering complications. In the Vanguard, the most recent BEA scheme finalized, the very large fuselage is divided into three distinct cabins. Special textiles and carpets have been designed to create a "comfortable" feeling. The side- walls are lined with a honeycomb-weave woollen material, which assists in heat insulation and sound absorption. The seats have black squabs with oatmeal flecks, and black-flecked red backs. There is an interesting contrast in approach between Mr Gardner, who caters for the short-range, high-intensity seasonal operator, and Gaby Schreiber, who has concentrated upon long- haulers. The former looks upon his aircraft as a bus; Mrs Schreiber sees it more as a travelling home-from-home, and emphasizes psychological considerations which Mr Gardner is inclined to discount. Mrs Schreiber's scheme for BOAC's Comet 4 fleet has been Passenger services panels (by GEC) are readily movable in the Vanguard to conform with changes in seating configuration. The seats seen here in the mock-up are not representative of those to be installed in BEA's fleet Ill The same co-ordinated approach to cabin design as in the Elixobethan was applied to BEA's 800-series Viscounts: first-class cabin of an 806, looking aft towards the plastic pictorial panel described many rimes. The choice of a fairly subdued colour scheme was dictated in the first place by the fact that the Comet has a modest cross-section. Strong colours in any quantity tend to make living space appear smaller, and were therefore "out" —at any rate in BOAC's context of long block-times. On shorter flights, more striking colours may be successful. For the Comet, therefore, neutral wall and ceiling trims were adopted in PVC cloth. To avoid the monotony of the long cabin, blocks of seats were upholstered in contrasting tweeds, again in subtle shades. Colour is introduced in the deep sea blue (Tiber blue) carpet, both pretty and practical, and in the head-rests and seat cushions—the latter in coral, Tiber blue, wheat, aquamarine, cyclamen pink and lime green. Not yet in service, the plastics meal trays depart from die usual utilitarian practice and are designed to complement the general design of the interior; they are in Tiber blue and pale turquoise, with linen or paper tray- cloths in mushroom and tan. Napkins are cyclamen, wheat and aquamarine, and the crockery is of black and white plastic. The same general scheme is being adopted for the Boeing 707-436 fleet, but because the aircraft is being built in the United States, American materials are being used. Moreover, as die 707 is much larger than the Comet, patterned wall trims can be employed without being overpowering. For example, a mottled grey-and-white pattern is an advantage for concealing the joints in the prefabricated plastics-faced aluminium panels that form the wall trim. In the toilets, facing materials include attractive new semi-rigid plastics in pale lilac and lemon. The movable cabin bulkhead is patterned with a bamboo-coloured Japanese grass design on one side of the aisle; on the other side is the stylized decorative "British grasses" design which was developed for the Comet. Mrs Schreiber has also been responsible for the styling of the elegant new lightweight Microcell seats for the 707-436, in co-operation with BOAC's development manager, J. R. Finnimore, who provided the basic dimensional data and criteria for safety and comfort. These seats, which will probably also be used in the VC10, are a vast improvement on the cumbersome monstrosities of a few years back. Another example of the details which come within the province of the design consultant is the restyling of the instructions to passengers on how to don their life jackets. Typo- graphy is one of the first crafts whkh must be mastered' by the industrial designer. Today, Mrs Schreiber is working out plans for the VC10 and she expects to present her suggestions to BOAC this month. She proposes to go "a step farther from the purely functional appear- ance." The VC10 is a very large and fast aircraft. Passengers will not be cooped up in it, and therefore it is possible to be relatively daring in the use of colour, pattern and texture. She intends to use the latest materials produced by British industry, including newly developed washable syndietic upholstery textiles. Crisp, straightforward lines with the minimum of fussy detail and the maximum of good engineering and serviceability, have been the objectives of Donald Diamond in the cabin of the
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
