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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2650.PDF
776 FLIGHT, 18 November 1960 AIR COMMERCE . . . Here is on impression of the new colour scheme in which Cunard Eagle's Bri- tannia, DC-6C, Viscount and Viking fleets are to fly. The previous scheme was illustrated on these pages on September 2. Note the stylish fin motif which replaces the former "E" per cent of all overhauled P & W JT4s are rejected because ofexcessive vibration, or that 80 to 100 tail de-icer boots a month on TWA's 707s need repair. A better yardstick for judgment is theoptimistic mood of the engineers and maintenance men themselves; their obvious delight with the maintained performance of the bigjets and their engines; and their confidence in the ability of manu- facturers quickly to devise a "fix" when things go wrong. And inan age when competition to fill jet seats has never been greater, air- line technical co-operation is increasing, particularly among theUS local carriers operating identical equipment. What are the ailments that afflict US turbine equipment?Firstly, delayed departures due to technical causes are still slightly higher than they are for piston-engined equipment. TWA'sexperience can be taken to be typical. The 13 per cent departure- delay rate recorded in the first months of jet services has now fallento the US industry average of 6.5 per cent, but technical delays on its piston-engined fleets are still two percentage points lower. As reported in the Aviation Week account of the ATA meeting,current technical snags with turbine equipment are as follows: — Boeing 707. Zone temperature controls are recommended toimprove temperature distribution in 707 cabins. Three problems have occurred with the main landing gear: tight turns on theground have shown up low fatigue-resistance of shock-strut cylinders; trunnion support structures have suffered brittle crack-ing, and there have been a number of cases of leaking strut seals. Tail-unit leading edges have often had to be removed in order toeffect repairs on de-icer boots. A TWA aircraft is now flying with instrumented de-icing boots in an attempt to find a solution.Fire-detection system failures average 0.2 per l,000hr; Nesa-glass windscreen panels failures average 0.67 per l.OOOhr. The lattertake up to eight hours to replace. DC-8. Heated windscreen panels on United aircraft have alsohad a high failure-rate, although this has been reduced from 2.2 per l,000hr to 0.5 per l,000hr. The fuel-quantity indicatingsystem failure-rate has been reduced from 4.3 to 0.3 per l,000hr after an engineering team visited every United station to explainmaintenance procedures. Under turning loads, the main under- carriage strut cylinder distorts elliptically, extruding and nibblingthe pressure seal and causing leakages. Other problems reported by United are short brake life and a number of difficulties withthe engineering of the Freon air-conditioning system. Convair 880. Reporting on its Convair experience, Delta toldthe conference that 880 fuel consumption was about 1,0001b/hr greater than anticipated. It is expected to be brought back to thedesign level after modifications by Convair and General Electric. A big drive is being made on component reliability; this year Deltahave released or have projected 95 system modifications, 71 struc- tural. 144 electrical and instruments, 79 powerplant and 87furnishing. F-27. Safe-life limitation on the 61 aircraft with unmodifiedwing centre-sections is 7,600hr; this was described as the "prime problem" with this aircraft. Some operators are to overhaul someof their F-27s in advance of centre sections becoming time- expired. Piedmont Airlines report overhaul costs of 40 cents perpassenger-mile against the 18 cents originally anticipated. Snags are reported on air-conditioning systems, water injection, propellersynchronization and a.c. generation, but wheels, tyres and brakes account for nearly half the spare-parts cost of some airlines. P & W JT3 and JT4 engines. Vibration troubles, on over-hauled JT4s appear to affect engines with steel compressor sections more than those with titanium sections, and engines are moresensitive to vibration with a Boeing 707 inlet than in a DC-8 installation or with a Pratt & Whitney bellmouth. JT3 engines areaDDarently not affected. In 420,000 engine hours, 95 JT4s and 73 JT3s have been removed prematurely. Pan Am reported the bas;ccauses of premature JT4 removals as inlet guide vane cracking, 15; improper balance, 6; diffuser case cracking, 5; and bearing sealfailure, 3. JT3 failures necessitating premature removal were turbine-seal erosion, 9; out-of-balance compressors, 5; bearingfailures, 3; and N2 accessory-drive failures, also 3. Earlier this month Fiji Airways received the last of the three Heron Is that it will use on inter-islands services in the Fiji group, to New Hebrides, the Solomons and Tonga HERALD SERIES 200 SINCE the entry for the Handley Page Herald (page 806) wentto press, more information has become available about the Herald Series 200, as it is now known. This is the 42in-stretchedversion, as ordered by Jersey Airlines; the present Herald, of which three are being built for BEA, becomes the Series 100. The following information therefore supplements that on page806 of this special issue: — Herald Series 200 Powerplant: As 100, except length, 75ft 5in. Weights: As 100, except zero fuel, 37,0001b; basic operational 24,9581b. Payload accommodation: As 100, except cabin volume increased;cabin length, 52ft 3in; floor area increased; max seats, 56. Fuel capacity: As 100. Performance: Cont cruising speed, 236kt (271 m.p.h.) at 20,000ft and36,0001b, with a fuel consumption of 184 Imp gal/hr; balanced field length at max take-off weight, sea level, ISA, 4,500ft; landing distancefrom 50ft, 2,325ft; range A and range B, as for Herald Series 100. ONLY HALF AN INCH AWARENESS of the dangers of slush, sharpened by the-**• Munich accident, is now general. In the United States, where NASA have carried out their own original research into the effectsof slush on take-off performance, the Federal Aviation Agency has issued draft slush operating rules to the airlines. These rules are not in force (in any case there is no slush yet)but the FAA propose, among other things, that all jet take-offs should be banned in more than half an inch of slush. The airlinesand the pilots are now making comments on this the FAA's proposal. Additional research will be needed before permanentregulations can be enforced. BOAC'S "DIRECTIONAL FARES" A NEWSPAPER report last week about a BOAC proposal to•**• introduce "directional" fares, which if implemented could bring radical changes to the IATA fare structure, is believed tohave originated in an article published in the November issue of BOAC Review. The article outlines the way in which BOACis planning to develop its North Atlantic business, and the appropriate extract is as follows: — "The problem is basically economic—the cost of travelling to theUSA is at present still beyond the pocket of the average European. For example: whereas it would take, say, a secretary working in NewYork six weeks' salary to cover the cost of her fare to Europe, it would take her counterpart in Paris or Brussels 16 weeks' salary.<4 What is the solution?"Majority of the world's airlines feel that only IATA, governing body of the world's air carriers, can finally solve the problem. Perhaps byintroducing 'directional fares'—which would set fares in ratio to salaries. But an international solution lies in the future. In the meantime, theairlines must find their own solutions." A BOAC spokesman said last week that the plan was no more than a tentative idea at this stage and would, of course, have to be fully discussed in IATA.
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