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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0839.PDF
FLIGHT, 17 June 1960 847 AIR COMMERCE THE 2,000-HOUR AVON AFTER only nineteen months in airline service the Rolls-Royce**• Avon 524 has been approved by the ARB for an overhaul life of 2,000hr. The approval applies to BOAC's Comet 4s. The sameengine is in service with, or on order for, seven other Comet 4 operators and ten Caravelle operators. The Avon is the firstcommercial jet to reach the 2,000hr figure, and now has one of the highest lives approved for any type of transport aircraft engine,being exceeded only by the earlier Dart and Proteus turboprops. The Avon entered service in October 1958 with a l,000hr life,itself a record. During the 2,000hr overhaul period no internal inspection is required, and the only parts scheduled to be changedare two igniter plugs. Rolls-Royce said last week that total Avon maintenance time between overhauls, including installation andremoval, averages "substantially less than four man-minutes per flying hour." MASEFIELD INTERVIEWED "THE airlines may come to adopt the differential fare—premium-*- rates for supersonic jets on the one hand, and fares perhaps 40 per cent less for subsonic 500 m.p.h., 200-seat aeroplanes. Thiswas one of the points made by Peter Masefield during the BBC television programme Press Conference on June 10. He was beinginterviewed by Andrew Schonfield of The Observer, Denis Desoutter of Aeronautics, and Gilbert Carrer of the DailyHerald. Other points made by Mr Masefield were as follows: — • A decision to go ahead with a British supersonic airliner must bemade by the end of this year. It would take about six years to develop if the go-ahead were given now, but "I think the airlines won't be readyfor it for eight or nine years. . . . • "The supersonic aeroplane is in the frontiers of technology. It is themodern manifestation of national prowess. If we are not there we lose that vital link in our technical chain right through, not only in aviationbut in every other industry as well. • "I would advocate collaboration with the United States in producinga supersonic transport. I think we might be able to bring Europe in as well, but if we had collaboration between one of our large new groupsand a major manufacturer in the US, then we could expect (1) to be commercially sure that we weren't going to be leapfrogged by somebodyproducing a Mach 3 aeroplane when we were producing a Mach 2; and (2) the combined resources of the US and this country would producea better technical answer. • "The real problem is not the capacity of the aeroplane: it is rapidlybecoming the capacity of the hotels. This is going to be the thing that's going to stop aviation developing. . . . • "Traffic is going up so fast that I think there's room for additional[United Kingdom] capacity to be provided in addition to the two corpora- tions, and not always in strict competition with them. I think we've Communist feederliner 1: This is the first reproduceable photograph to reach us of the MD-12, Poland's new 20-seat feederliner ("Flight," November 20, page 613). Four 320 b.h.p. Narkiewicz WN-3 radials comprise the power plant. Designed to meet a LOT requirement for internal services from short fields, the MD-12 first flew last August got to be very careful not to undermine the two corporations . . .but I think there's room alongside them for a number of stronger independents than we've got today. • "The new Air Transport Licensing Board will, I hope, have a meansof sorting out this very difficult skein in the future with fairness and without undermining or diverting traffic from the two corporations. • "The honest answer is that there's no answer to the noise problem,and it's going to get worse, I'm afraid. I have every sympathy with those who live round aerodromes because they are going to, I thinkand I'm afraid, have a rather uncomfortable time. You can't redesign the engine. The by-pass engine is only slightly less noisy." SET FREE AIR TRAMPING A BOOKLET published by the Airbrokers Association* strikes•**• a blow for more freedom of the air in the air charter business. The Baltic Exchange Airbrokers, commonly known as Air Baltic,remind everyone—particularly governments and IATA, to whom an appeal for greater freedom is made—that "air charteringoperations are greatly hindered by international restrictive practices." Explaining the way in which scheduled services are controlledby bilateral agreements (and this part is a useful plain man's guide to the subject of nationalism in air transport), the brokerspoint out how charter flights are subject to special government clearances "which can be, and often are, denied without anyexplanation." Air Baltic, whose purpose is to co-ordinate supply and demandin the "large and growing field of business that lies outside the scheduled operations of the airlines," considers that the businessis being frustrated by governments who refuse clearances in order to protect their national carriers. The authors cite in some detailseven specific instances of charters that have been frustrated in this way, even though the national airline concerned (the name ofAir-India occurs twice, as does that of PIA), could not do the charter itself. The Airbrokers hope for a freer outlook. *"Freedom of the Air," available free of charge from The AirbrokersAssociation, Baltic Exchange Chambers, Bury Street, London EC3. PNYA v. FAA "I AST week we referred to the disagreement between the Port-•—' of New York Authority and the Federal Aviation Agency about the FAA's proposed noise abatement rules for New YorkInternational. The differences of opinion are now explained. The Port of New York Authority, whose approach to the jet-noise problem has been in many ways exemplary, was quick to criticize the FAA's proposed rules. It welcomed the fact that noise-abatement procedures were to be given the force of US federal law [the PNYA's rules have no such teeth] and it welcomed the FAA'sproposed minimum height regulations for landings, which the PNYA have never been able, for ATC safety reasons, to enforce.But the PNYA regretted (1) that night jet take-offs were not, as required by the PNYA's rules, prohibited except when flight pathstook the noise way out to sea (i.e., from runways 25 and 22); and (2) that no specific noise limitation was proposed—i.e., while thePNYA requires that noise shall not exceed 112 PNDb (perceived noise decibels), the FAA say only that a climb to 1,500ft shall bemade "as rapidly as practicable." Footnote At London PanAm take a portable VHF set in a car to apoint on the airport previously established by the Ministry of Aviation. This point is just prior to the first built-up area along the flight path ofthe runway concerned. As the jet approaches the vehicle the operator begins to count-down "—5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The pilot gains as much altitudeas possible before 3 and 2, and as these counts are reached he reduces power and hence noise. Pan American have a similar aid at Idlewild. Communist feederliner 2: Now believed to be flying on test is the An-24, a 32-40 passenger Dart Hsrald or Friendship type of feederliner designed by Oleg Antonov for Aeroflot. No details of the turboprops are available
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