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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0257.PDF
f LIGHT, 19 February 1960 Micks of blue and yellow to produce a most attractive effect.h mderstands that Mrs Eric Rylands played a leading part i dign The cost of the conversion of two aircraftoht mderst y g p• 'he interior design. The cost of the conversion of two aircraft, rnplete with Check 4s, is said to be between £15,000 and £20,000. READ IT AGAIN CAREFUL re-reading of the Bow Group's report* onJ\ Britain's airlines, reviewed in last week's issue, leads us to th" considered conclusion that this is one of the best, and certainlytir most comprehensive, studies of the subject to come our way. It "received rather an indifferent press, most of the national dailies oth<>r than The Times and The Financial Times ignoring itcompletely, while reviewers in two serious weeklies didn't really tell anyone what the report was about, being too busy pretendingthey knew more about the subject anyway. But this brief return to the subject is not intended to be a review of the reviews: we shouldhave picked up our pen again anyway to try to do justice to a work tof rare honesty and originality.The study has its imperfections. TWA did not kill 1,555 people in 1950-1958 (p. 68). And it is a widely held misconception thatBEA and BOAC integrate their commercial services (p. 46)— there is virtually no co-operation, commercial or technical. Therewere two, not three Comet 1 pressure-cabin failures. Sir Gerard d'Erlanger deserves (for once) a pat on the back, but BOAC'sDC-7C order was placed before his time (p. 59). The VC10 and - D.H.121 may not be able to have swing tails (p. 81), but why notswing noses? British landing fees are very nearly the highest in the world, not just the highest in Europe (p. 70).• Otherwise, apart from some hasty proof-reading and the fact • that events have overtaken some of the recommendations, this isi a work of historical and technical scholarship; though we have i never met the editor, one Tony Lucking, we imagine that few• could match the all-round professionalism to which his 50,000 \ words testify. It is particularly refreshing to read recommenda-tions based on an analytical appraisal of the issues. So much of the stuff we hear and read is based less on analysis than on pre-conceived political prejudices. It is a pity in a way that this book was sponsored by a group with allegiance to a political party. Oneinevitably reads it, or starts to read it, with the assumption that everything is angled to serve the cause of the Tory credo. Butthe political detachment of this study is platonic: apart from the bit about Sir Gerard, even the most rabid public-ownership fiendcould hardly disagree that this study is politically sweetly reasonable. It is odd that the daily papers did not get a story out of it. Doall those who advocate huge public subsidy for a new Queen know that two Boeing 707-420s costing £4m can shift 25 per cent moretraffic across the North Atlantic in one year than a new Queen costing £25m? (p. 57). And in all the recent rail-strike con-troversy, it was only in this report that we saw reference to the railways' coming competition from the air, a trend which raises"serious doubts as to the wisdom of spending almost £2 5000mon modernizing the railways" (p. 55). One of the best chapters in the report is devoted to suggestions (backed, as in the otherchapters, by analysis) for the future of the UK's Cinderella internal air services. In short, we recommend this book. Everyone interested in, orresponsible for shaping, the destinies of British air transport should read it. It takes three or four hours to digest, but it ispleasantly readable, and once read it will constantly be referred to—especially its useful collection of graphs. j. M. R. * "Wings Over Westminster," published by the Bow Group, 22 StGiles High Street, London WC2. Price 7s 6d 8s post free). VLF "IN A FEW WEEKS" ASKED in the Commons last week whether he could make a*x statement about the independents' proposed VLF (very low fare) services, the Minister of Aviation said that the necessaryconsultation with the other governments concerned was not yet completed. He hoped, however, to make a statement on the subject in a few weeks' time." He thought it "most unlikely" that VLFcould be introduced in April. NEW BASE FOR SCOTTISH ATC THE Scottish air traffic control centre, now located at Redbrae,-*- Frestwick, is to be transferred by March 1963 to the RAF radar site at Gailes, on the main road between Prestwick andirvine. There, new buildings, estimated to cost £300,000, will accommodate both the traffic control centre, the Scottish AirCommunications Centre and the North Atlantic high-frequency raaio telephone installations which are now at Birdlip, Glouces-ershire. The VHF radio telephone units will continue to serve Do^i the North Atlantic and the EuMed region. I he Ministry of Aviation has taken over from the Airministry the long-range radar equipment at Gailes, and will ran • o g ir into operation. This will be the first use of ATCiaar in Scotland, and one of the main functions of the Gailes 257 Major advertising effort by BOAC in New York: a 75ft mon "spec- tacular" in Times Square with animated cartoons of scenes from countries to which BOAC operates unit will be to cover the Atlanticapproaches—a sector on which most of the intercontinentaltraffic, eastbound and west- bound, converges. Airfield radar equipment,with a range of up to 40 miles, has also been installed atRenfrew Airport and is now in experimental use. Similar equip-ment will be employed at Prest- wick Airport when the new con-trol tower is opened next year. Removal of the traffic-controlcentre from Redbrae was first made necessary by the decisionto extend the airport. The exist- ing buildings—a small mansionand a range of war-time hut- ments—are to be demolished tomake way for the new terminal. The site at Gailes extends to 180acres. Initial development is being undertaken as part of the£5m development scheme for the whole of the UK air trafficcontrol system. DOUGLAS CARAVELLE 'T'HE question: "Will Douglas build the Caravelle?" posed in•*• these columns on January 29 has been answered in the affirma- tive. In an historic statement issued in New York on February 10by Donald W. Douglas and Georges Hereil it was announced that Douglas have rights to manufacture the Caravelle in the US,that they will co-operate with Sud in Caravelle development, and that they will represent the French firm in "all matters affectingthe Caravelle" in what amounts to every part of the world except continental Europe and French-speaking areas. Sponsorship of the Caravelle by Douglas, a firm that rarely"flies a kite" (an exception was the DC-9, now presumably shelved) suggests that a US airline order is now a certainty. Thefirst will probably be UAL, who are expected to buy 20 plus an option on 20. No mention of powerplant was made in thestatement; but it is known that GE's aft fan CJ805-23 is a strong contender as well as the Avon RA.29/6. General Electric willcarry out a test installation on a Caravelle to be delivered to GE next July. Other by-pass contenders are Rolls-Royce, whoseRB.141/3 is already selected for the 1963 Caravelle 7; Allison, who may licence-build this engine as the ARB.963; or Pratt andWhitney, whose fan JT3D series could be in the running. The implications of the Douglas Caravelle's challenge to theD.H.121's export market are not easy to assess: one newspaper report last week suggested that plans are afoot for the D.H.121to be jointly developed by D.H.-Hawker Siddeley with a US manufacturer. Stop Press: As we go to press it is announced that Unitedis likely to place its order for 20 Caravelles with Sud. They will be Avon-powered. .' .-_•• BREVITIES ^K>:-y .:;• It is now officially confirmed that the Minister of Aviation intends tosponsor the development of flight recorders for installation in both military and civil aircraft. The Spanish report on the accident to a Transair DC-3 near Barcelona in August 1959 has been received by the Minister of Aviation, who is now studying it. Eagle Airways have again applied to the ATAC to serve the London -Manchester route. This time both fixed-wing aircraft (Viking, Viscount and DC-6C) and helicopters are specified. A previous application wasrejected by the ATAC in 1957. The date fixed for BOAC to resume services through Egypt is April 10.Initially there will be four Comet 4 return services routed through Cairo on BOAC's Far Eastern route. During the past 3i years BOAC'seastern-route services have been operated through Beirut. As forecast in Flight, Austrian Airlines have placed a contract withVickers for six Viscount 837s to replace the four 700s on charter from Fred Olsen. The first four aircraft will be delivered in March, theremaining two in June and July, and the first aircraft will go into service from April 1. A total of 416 Viscounts has now been ordered, includinga recent executive sale.
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