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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2157.PDF
FLIGHT, 30 September 1960 541 be advisable. Proficiency in ground subjects should ensure thatthe pilot who is qualified under this scheme is aware of the functions and demands of the air traffic control system—withoutrequiring to make use of them in anything except more or less exceptional circumstances. What one would like to see is anexamination conducted on—and with reference to—the type of private pilot's manual which has been advocated on these pagesbefore. There are encouraging signs that a manual of this type may become reality before very long; the aviation committee ofthe Royal Aero Club were to meet and discuss the Ministry of Aviation's new simplified Light Aircraft Flight Guide (see Flight,July 29, 1960) last Monday, September 26. Meanwhile every private pilot who feels that he has a responsibility for the safeconduct of a flight in Britain's crowded air might well decide for himself what he would like to see in such a manual. In discussing light aircraft flight guides, Flight has, incidentally,been taken to task for apparently ignoring one or two of the very sound handbooks on flying training which are available, particu-larly H. H. Edwards' Student and Private Pilot's Handbook.* The point is that training and information primers are comple-mentary to, not in conflict with, the idea of a flight guide. The latter is to be carried in aircraft and reference to it made foraerodrome information, radio frequencies, call signs, weather services, and so on. The flight guide is intended to take some ofthe guesswork out of cross-country flying and to digest for the off-airways pilot the information contained in Air Pilot. It is amatter for consternation that so few private pilots know their way about their official publication or are conversant with theregulations that it contains. The flight guide, while still giving more information than United Kingdom Radio Facilities Charts,is intended to be a semi-official short cut, for use in the air, to the relevant parts of Air Pilot. A. T. p. Footnote: A question for all private pilots: Can you define,now, VFR and IFR flight? What difference, for instance, does 3,000ft a.m.s.l. (the QNH setting) make to the definition of VMCoutside controlled airspace? The answer is in Air Pilot, RAC 11. LESS THAN A YEAR from now the lease on Fair Oaks aero-drome is due to expire. Unless diligent steps are taken, by July 31, 1961, one more south of London airfield could be lost to privateflying for ever. Owned by the Air Ministry, Fair Oaks' 130 acres are leased toUniversal Flying Services, the wholly owned subsidiary of Black- burn Aircraft which also operates Fair Oaks Aero Club. Thecompany have applied for a 14-month extension of the lease and this is under consideration. But when it expires the aerodromecomes up for sale. Fair Oaks cannot be sold for continued use as an aerodrome because when Crown ownership is relinquished thesite comes under the aegis of the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, and it would have to be re-scheduled for use as anaerodrome before flying could continue. On past form Bagshot Rural Council will presumably object to this and press for areversion to green-belt farmland, as many local residents would welcome cessation of flying on the score of noise. In the hangars which form the only really valuable fixed instal-lations there are some 30 aircraft belonging to private owners, and there is no doubt that this is an aerodrome which has con-siderable potential for development along with British private flying. But money, equipment and above all security of tenureare urgently needed to freshen Fair Oaks' ageing face. Could there be a more urgent case for the sort of Government encourage-ment of aerodromes called for by Mr Masefield (see page 525) than here? Private flying may have to fight harder—and moresuccessfully—than it did over Croydon if this busy south London airfield is to be retained. THE CIVIL VERSION of the Bell HU-1 Iroquois helicopter,powered by a 1,100 s.h.p. Lycoming T-53L-9 turbine, is now to be offered for civil sale and will probably also be built underlicence by Agusta in Italy and Mitsui Bussan Kaisha in Japan. The time at which the first aircraft become available and the speedof completion of civil certification will depend on the interest shown by prospective customers, but first 204Bs could be deliveredat the end of next year and would cost $285,000 (about £102,000). The first public demonstration was to be at the National Busi-ness Aircraft Association annual meeting at Los Angeles on September 20. More than 20,000 hours' flying have already been completed byUS Army HU-1 Iroquois and the type has recently gained seven world records for time to height and speed and distance overvarious closed circuits and courses. The civil machine will be sold as a transport seating ten occupants, including the pilot,in rows of two, three and five. Alternatively a payload of 4,0001b could be carried internally or slung. Loads may project throughthe sliding side-doors and various cabin layouts could be arranged. Bell claim that the 204B is the most conveniently sized machineof its capacity available and that it has handling characteristics *Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd, London. Price 12s 6d. First deliveries of Bell's new Model 204B helicopter (above) could be made "during late 1961." Civil version of the HU-1, the T-53 powered 204B may also be manufactured for sale in Europe under a licence agreement with Agusta of Milan. (Below) There is accommoda- tion for a pilot and nine passengers (see col. 1) which "come close to those of fixed-wing aircraft." Full powerassistance with manual reversion is provided on cyclic, collective and rudder controls and the aircraft has been evaluated for all-weather flight by the US Army and approved for zero-zero take- off. The 204B is designed for simple maintenance without specialtools and has eye-level sight gauges, built-in work platforms, standardized components and units grouped and fitted with quickdisconnects. The complete engine or rotor hub can be changed in 20min and the transmission in 40min.Principal data are: rotor diameter, 44ft; fuselage length, 39ft 7in; internal cargo volume, 140 cu ft; gross weight, 6,5001b(8,5001b as freighter); useful load, 2,1821b (4,1821b as freighter); empty weight, 4,3181b; max speed at sea level, 147 m.p.h.; cruisingspeed for range, at 6,000ft, 126 m.p.h.; max rate of climb, 2,660ft/min. RETROSPECT From "FUght" of October 1, 1910 Flying at Brooklands: In connection with the annual race meeting ofthe Auto-Cycle Union, held at Brooklands last Saturday, a novel event was arranged in the shape of a race between a motor cycle andan aeroplane. The motor cyclist was F. A. McNab, mounted on his Trump motor cycle, and he had to cover four laps of the full course,while Blondeau, on Mrs Grace Bird's Farman biplane, was making five circuits of the aerodrome course—about an equivalent distance.Fine weather favoured the proceedings, which were watched by a large number of spectators. The aeroplane had a flying start, andcompleted one lap before the motor cyclist was given the word to go. After an exciting tussle, McNab won by 36sec. Subsequently somefine flying was seen by Blondeau, but he was surpassed by Graham Gilmour, who, taking Miss Bacon as a passenger on his Bleriotmachine, ascended to a height of about 1,000ft, and detoured over the surrounding country. Blondeau, at a height of 300ft, also ventured outbeyond the bounds of the aerodrome. While these flights were going on the spectators on the ground were much interested in short flightsby Macfie, on his biplane, and experiments by several other flyers.
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