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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0766.PDF
774 FLIGHT, 3 June AIR COMMERCE . . . discussing with potential customers a new vehicle, the Curtiss-Wright Air-Boat, designed to carry up to 14,0001b of cargo or pas- sengers over land, water and surfaces incapable of supporting awheeled vehicle." According to the 1959 annual report, just published, a 4ft model of this craft is undergoing tow-basin testsunder various wave conditions to determine its practicability. ANSETT ORDER SUPER BROUSSARDS A DEFINITE order for six Super Broussards has been•**• announced by R. G. Ansett, who expects them to be operating in Australia and New Guinea within the next two years. Theywill replace some DC-3s on Australian bush services and will introduce pressurized travel on non-Government internal servicesin New Guinea. Mr Ansett, who made this statement in Port Moresby, does however expect approval for Ansett-ANA tooperate internal services in New Guinea. Such development has not been allowed for in the Government's reorganization of NewGuinea air services. At present his only hope of entering the field of internal operation there is by taking over Mandated Airlines—and their price is understood to be £500,000. Mr Ansett's statement was followed up the next day by anotherfrom the Minister for Civil Aviation (Senator Paltridge), remind- ing him that he had no rights to operate in New Guinea at all.The Government has only given approval for Ansett-ANA to operate to Port Moresby. BEA's THIRD COMET ORDERT WO more Comet 4Bs have, subject to Treasury approval, beenordered by BEA, together with an option on one. This is the second BEA repeat order; after the partnership agreement withOlympic Airways was announced last year, BEA added one more to their original order for six. Aircraft against the latest repeatorder are due for delivery before March 1961; their value would be of the order of £2.5 million including spares. The original concept of the Comet 4B as a stopgap jet for BEAhas changed considerably: with its pool partner Olympic Airways —an operational integration which involves the pooling ofequipment as well as of revenues—it is to be a major jet operator traversing Europe's richest traffic routes with 13 Comet 4Bs,including Olympic's four. The Comet 4 order-book now accounts for 50 aircraft, asfollows: BOAC, 19 Comet 4s (delivery complete); Aerolineas Argentinas, six Comet 4s (five delivered); EAAC, two Comet4s (deliveries this month and next); BEA, nine Comet 4Bs (six delivered); Olympic, four Comet 4Bs (two delivered); Mexi-cana, three Comet 4Cs (two delivered, but not yet in operation, owing to pilot strike); Misrair, three Comet 4Cs (delivery beginsthis month); MEA, four Comet 4Cs (delivery from December 15). AEROLINEAS AND THE UNION INFORMED opinion in South America that Aerolineas Argen-tinas may become the sixth partner in the union of Sc^uth America airlines—Lineas Aereas Latinoamericanas—is significantbecause of possible repercussions on Comet sales in that continent. The ALA Five have already expressed interest in the Comet, andthe reasons might not be unconnected with the desire of Aerohneas to be included in the consortium. If Comets were bought they would be used for regional ancinternational services, leaving member-airlines to attend to thei.; own cabotage routes. Whether Aerolineas' Comets would btintegrated into the ALA fleet is not yet known, but it seem: unlikely that services to New York (now in competition withPanagra, PanAm and Braniff 707s and DC-8s) or to Europe could possibly be depleted. In the context of ALA, while Aerolineas are "in," LAN-Chile(otherwise the largest partner) is now reported to be "out," at least on the basis of a working partnership. Chile is reluctant to con-tribute to the expense of purchasing new aircraft at a time when the country is involved in a great national disaster, but theymight contribute on a shareholder basis to ensure reciprocity of traffic rights with other ALA countries. One of the purposes of the Latin-American Union—if asecondary one—is undoubtedly to wield a stick in international aviation, particularly in respect of Freedom rights in and out ofSouth America. The purpose of the project has been officially described as "defence of our mutual interests" and the implicationseems clear. Besides, faced with faster aircraft, the Comet will be used to sell frequency, and should ALA become reality there islikely to be much haggling over services to Europe and the US. So far, Brazil has kept out or been kept out of ALA, but they arefar stronger aeronautically than Argentina, with whom they are not on very good terms. Should Brazil decide to go into ALA,the consequences for European and North American carriers could be tough indeed. WHAT NAME FOR THE D.H.121 ? A PRIZE of £100 is being offered by BEA to a member of the-**• staffs of the corporation or the three Airco companies (de Havilland, Hunting and Fairey) coining the "most suitable andappropriate" name for the D.H.121. Lord Douglas, BEA's chair- man, suggests that by this means the corporation may find aname "which will make BEA's new aeroplane as synonymous with the jet era as the Viscount has become among turboprops." The chairman also announced that BEA's traffic in April was30 per cent greater than it was last year. Although this was largely the result of Easter falling in April, instead of March, a widermeasure of BEA's increasing business is given by Lord Douglas's forecasts that in the six best months of 1960—from April toSeptember—2\ million passengers may be carried. This is more than the total for the year in 1956-57. BREVITIES It has been announced by Aviation Traders (Engineering) Ltd thatAnsett-ANA have under consideration the purchase of conversion kits for the ATL-98. The quantity is not specified. From an American source comes a report that KLM is shopping fora jet fleet, and there is inevitable speculation that, in the light of KLM's recent equipment rationalization talks with the SAS/Swissairconsortium, the choice may be the Convair 600. Price now reportedly being quoted by Boeing for the 727 short-hauljet project is $3.8 million (£1.36 million). Delivery date still stands as mid-1964. Gross weight, previously reported as 128,0001b Flight,April 29, page 611) is now reported as 128,000-136,0001b. It is reported in The Times that wreckage has been found near OveroVolcano (15,633ft) which might be that of the BSAA Tudor Stardust which disappeared in mysterious circumstances on September 9, 1947,on a flight from Mendoza for Santiago. AVM Sir Laurence Sinclair, GC, KCB, CBE, DSO, has been appointedController of Ground Services in the Ministry of Aviation and takes up his new appointment on July 1. He succeeds E. A. Armstrong,CB, CBE, who is rearing. Sir Laurence Sinclair is at present Com- mandant of the Joint Services Staff College but is retiring from the RAF. The American CAB's Bureau of Air Operations recommends thatPan American, hitherto denied US domestic rights, be granted an extension of its Pacific route between Hong Kong and San Franciscovia Tokyo with New York. The Bureau says that Pan American should be "equalized" with the rights that foreign carriers [including BOAC]enjoy between the Far East and the US eastern seaboard. The US Civil Aeronautics Board has given Eagle Airways (Bermuda)and Eagle Airways (Bahamas) permission to trade, as formally requested in March, under the name British Eagle International Airways. Itseems that the Eagle services between London and Bermuda /Nassau, due to begin on October 1, will be operated under this name. An appli-cation by Eagle to operate a service between Bermuda and Trinidad has, it is reported, been refused by the Trinidad authorities. The extension of London Airport's runway No 5 will be from 9,600ftto 11,000ft as a first stage; eventually the Ministry of Aviation proposes an extension to 12,000ft. Being considered is the diversion under therunway of the Duke of Northumberland and Longford rivers. As expected when British United Airways was formed in March,Fisons have relinquished their financial interest in the Fison-Airwork helicopter group. Operations will now be integrated with those ofAirwork's other helicopter subsidiary, Bristow, to form the helicopter division of British United Airways—which will be, say BUA, "the chiefhelicopter operator in the country." Package purchase by Maitland Drewery of five Viscounts from AirFrance, at a price which has not been disclosed, is at a late stage of negotiation. The aircraft are at up-to-date modification standard andwere to have been delivered to Marshalls of Cambridge this week. Operating from Gatwick after ARB re-validation they will be used thisyear for closed-group charters and next year for ITs. Some may also be chartered out on a bare-hull basis. A total of 300hr will be flown by Argosy G-APRN (the fourth air-craft) in the course of the route-proving programme now under way. This is the final phase of the ARB certification programme. The routetrials, which began on May 11, are in four stages: 50hr (complete), 75hr (complete), 75hr and lOOhr. The countries which the Birmingham-based G-APRN is visiting are: Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Eire, Italy. The route-proving programme is due to becompleted early next month. The possibility that Riddle will, after all, order the Argosy arisesfrom the pending decision by the USAF on the award of a military contract ("Logair") to this all-freight operator. Riddle are reportedto have intimated to Hawker Siddeley their intention, given the "Logai:' contract, to order five Argosies for delivery before March 1961, andthat a deposit was paid in March. An AWA spokesman said last week: "Riddle placed an order with us last year for three Argosies with anopdon on two, and this contract has never been cancelled."
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