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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1390.PDF
264 FLIGHT, 19 August One of Sobelair's Cessna 310s departs from Stanleyville in the Congo Below, one of the Series 4 D.H. Rapides used by Caspair, at Entebbe, on their service around Lake Victoria people and indicates the major barrier to the establishment ofextensive airline network in the country. Apparently the de sU*1 ment of native traffic has been disappointing; in general, th; WtNigerian, although a frequent traveller, often likes to carrv a vaquantity of luggage and is rarely in a hurry. * ' st This is reflected by the withdrawal of the West African AirwavCorporation fleet of eight Herons at the end of March thr- y ein an attempt to decrease the loss on domestic routes. A stan dardized fleet reduced to seven 28-seat DC-3s now offers 1M"frequent services. In the consideration of a DC-3 replacement for this area it must be remembered that one of the main trafficgenerators is the northern resort of Jos; here the main runwav is a 5,100ft laterite strip located at an altitude of 4,250ft whichcombined with a mean maximum temperature of 90°F, neces- sitates large power reserves in aircraft which are to carry a fullpayload. On the charter front, Fison-Airwork at Port Harcourt areoperating Twin Pioneers (on behalf of Shell-Mex & BP) and Whirlwinds and Hillers, mainly for survey and agricultural workIn addition, Aero Contractors use an Apache for general charter duties, and Crop Culture are spraying the banana plantations inthe Southern Camerqons with three or four Austers; the latter company, together with the banana exporters Elders & Fyffesalso have an Apache for communication and charter work. There are very few privately owned aircraft in Nigeria, and the aerialactivities of missions are on a similar scale. The Sudan Interior Mission has five Piper Comanche 180s based at Jos, and a Cessna170 is used by a Catholic mission from Gusau. The present aviation picture is completed by the NorthernRegion Communications Flight, based at Kaduna, the capital of the North. Two Apaches are utilized mainly for the benefit ofregional government officials. Some 21 NRCF laterite strips, varying in length from 600 to 800 yards, supplement a similarnumber of DCA airfields in the region. Future developments mav LIGHT AIRCRAFT IN AFRICA By D. HYDE, MScfEng), Die, ACGI, I. S. GARTSHORE, MSc(Eng), Die, BASc, and W. H. MELBOURNE, PhD, Die, BE IN Africa today a total population of some 200 million peopleis concentrated into three main areas: Nigeria; East Africaaround Lake Victoria; and the environs of the gold reef of Johannesburg. Within and surrounding these regions the develop-ment of an adequate surface communication system would be an extremely costly scheme. Thus aviation facilities will play anincreasing part in the maintenance of communications within Africa and in the development of the continent's resources. In the areas investigated in this survey—Nigeria, the Congo,East Africa, the Central African Federation and the Union of South Africa—some 45 charter firms, communication flights, cropspraying units and mining houses were contacted; these organiza- tions represent a majority of the light aircraft operators in Africasouth of the Sahara. Nigeria, the most populous territory in Africa, has an area overseven times that of England, but the average annual income of approximately £20 per head reflects the relative poverty of the THIS article is the first of two describing the aeronautical aspects of theImperial Cullegc Africa »**d Americas Expedition. In mid-March of this year the expedition left London to travel by land through Africaand South America in order to study the operation of light aircraft within these continents. It should be added that the article was writtenbefore the outbreak of the current troubles in Africa. By submitting the plan for this survey, Mr Hyde won the 19S9John de Havilland Award administered by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors. The three-member expedition of former aeronauticalstudents from the Imperial College (University of London) was spon- sored by the Imperial College Exploration Board. include the freighting of beef by air from the north-east corner ofthe country to Lagos and Accra, using DC-4s. The vast flat Northern Region, with its dearth of surface communications, isthought to be very suitable for hovercraft operations; such vehicles would be ideal for the evacuation of produce from the upperreaches of the Niger and Benue rivers. Left, Mr Dennis Pharazyn of Pharazyn Air Charters, with his Bonanza at Kitale, Kenya. Right, Wg Cdr A. N. Frankel, head of the Kenya Air Police Wing, with one of tfce fleet of eight Cessna 180s. The Wing has been responsible for constructing numerous airstrips
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