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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0071.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 January 1961 69 JP.4: THE ARGUMENT IN 1953 CONSIDERATIONS as to whether it is more practical orv more economic to use kerosine or JP.4 "are dwarfed in importance by the positive reduction in the fire risk which is pro-vided by kerosine. The most disastrous aircraft fires following :i mishap or minor crash are caused by the ignition of a mixtureof vaporized fuel and air, which in certain proportions will burn -o rapidly as to prevent the rescue or escape of the occupants ofae aircraft. All types of aircraft fuels—gasoline, JP.4 and kero- sine will, when spilled from aircraft tanks, burn rapidly or »j:plode in this fashion under certain specific conditions. In thecase of gasoline and JP.4 it can be said that the conditions for the rapid spread of fire always exist, whilst in the case of kerosine theconditions exist only rarely." This is an extract from a technical discussion, under the head- utg "Kerosine or JP.4?" published in the de Havilland Gazette forAugust 1953 (which we rediscovered by chance while looking for something else). The article concludes : "No airline with a senseof duty to the travelling public can afford to ignore the implications." A great deal can happen in aviation in seven and a half years,and nowadays de Havilland are non-committal about the relative safety of kerosine or JP.4. In those days de Havilland wereemphasizing that the Ghost-engined Comet, a kerosine-bumer, need not use wide-cut gasoline fuels such as JP.4 which, they said,were "at best an expediency made necessary only by the fact that production of kerosine would not be sufficient in the event of aglobal war. If this factor had not arisen it is likely that kerosine would have remained the universal fuel for jet engines and thetemptation to make a virtue out of necessity would not have arisen." But it would be interesting to know whether de Havilland'sfuel experts still privately hold to the opinions they had so long ago. It should be noted that these extracts are taken out ofcontext; but there is no doubt about the main conclusion of the article, which is (to quote again) "that JP.4 cannot be consideredas acceptable for commercial operation." The year previously, also in the de Havilland Gazette, Mr J. E.Walker, senior engine installation designer of the de Havilland Aircraft Co (who remains today responsible for these aspects ofD.H. design), wrote about fuel systems for turbine-engined air- craft. An extract from this article, again out of context but in noway misrepresenting the author's evident thoughts at that time, is : "The lower the fuel temperature drops below 30°C [sea levelflashpoint of kerosine], and it is seldom above this figure, the more difficult it becomes to start a kerosine fire, while gasoline of31b/sq in Reid Vapour Pressure* remains highly dangerous down to — 23 °C. The significance of this is that in the event of a crash,unless this happens immediately after take-off in a hot climate, kerosine must be heated up considerably to enable the flame totravel, whilst gasoline is ready to be ignited immediately. It is this interval before kerosine ignites which gives the crew andpassengers in a crashed aircraft a chance of escape and also gives the fire-fighting crews a chance to extinguish the fire before ittakes control. This considerable safety advantage now offered to civil aircraft should not be lost by the use of higher-volatilityfuels. Kerosine fuel may add more to safety than the heavy and costly fire-preventive measures now being built into aircraft, andwhilst it is not suggested that these measures are unnecessary, the combination of modern fire precautions with kerosine fuelcan result in a new standard of safety for future civil aircraft." It seems that Lord Brabazon has only been saying what deHavilland were saying seven or eight years ago. "JP.4: An Airline Replies"—pages 51 and 52; leading article, page 39. *Typical kerosine RVP is 0.12lb/sq in compared with typical JP.4RVP of 2-3lb/sq in. THE CHAIRMEN VISIT THE COLLEGE ON Wednesday of last week the two chairmen of the nationalairline corporations, Sir Matthew Slattery and Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, had their first joint aviation engagement. They madea tour of inspection of the National College of Air Training, one operational enterprise in which BOAC and BEA have jointparticipation. Surprisingly, in view of what had previously been said by thecorporations about the dearth of applications from boys wishing to become airline pilots, the chairmen subsequently expressedtheir optimism about the recruitment of pilots. A photograph appears on page 65.Sir Matthew Slattery said that prospects for the college were much better than he had expected, that the boys looked a goodtype for "the most responsible job" of ultimately commanding large airliners full of passengers, and that BOAC did not antici-pate any problems at the moment regarding pilot recruitment now that the college was established. Lord Douglas added thatit was planned to extend accommodation at the college in later years for up to 300 cadets and this would probably fill pilotrequirements for a good many years to come. BEA say that as part of their recruiting drive they haveapproached the universities and the 2,500 headmasters of every grammar school and public school in the country. But it mightwell be asked if sufficient emphasis has been given to attracting the boys themselves; the pilot's profession has more intrinsicappeal than simply that of good prospects and a good salary. So great is the demand for boys with good academic qualificationsfrom industry, the Services and the universities that schoolmasters and school magazines are becoming inundated with recruitmentmaterial; the corporations may have to find new ways of appeal- ing for applicants in the advertising campaign upon which theyare just embarking. The magnitude of the task which this campaign must accom-plish was given dimension by the principal of the college, AVM E. C. Bates, at the time of the chairmen's visit. He saidithat, to maintain the high standards the corporations required, I for every 100 students who were received into the college 600applicants were wanted. BREVITIES KLM intend to inaugurate a once-weekly Super Constellation servicefrom Amsterdam to Accra via Zurich, Tunis and Lagos on January 17. It is understood that Cunard Eagle are negotiating to acquire threeViscounts and two Britannias. Starways also are reported to be negotiating for two Viscounts. It is reported that Swissair are to order four Caravelles to supplementthe four currently leased from SAS, who own the 18 Caravelles operated by the SAS/Swissair consortium. According to Aviation Week the overhaul life of the Ivchenko NK-4turboprops of Ghana Airways' Il-18s is 500hr and "complete scrapping of the engine after 2,000hr is recommended." Air-India is planning to buy two more Boeing 707-420s for deliveryby March 1962, according to Mr J. R. D. Tata, the chairman. This would increase the Air-India 707 fleet to six. Cunard Eagle Airways (Bermuda) Ltd has become an active memberof IATA as well as Cunard Eagle of London. The Bermuda-registered Cunard Eagle operates the Britannia service to London, and also thescheduled services between Canada and the USA and Nassau and Bermuda. At the year's end TCA fleet was as follows : seven DC-8s, threeVanguard 952s, 49 Viscounts, 12 Super Constellations, six DC-3s, and 21 DC-4M North Stars (including four retired). 'TCA withdrewSuper Constellations from the North Atlantic route after the last flight on January 1, all services now being operated by DC-8s. Three moreDC-8s and 17 more Vanguards will be delivered this year. An unofficial strike by BOAC and BEA maintenance workers onJanuary 4, which caused the corporations' managements to suspend their pay for one day, led to an extended stoppage which seriouslydislocated both BOAC and BEA services on January 4 and January 5. The dispute was over a "totally inadequate" pay rise of 8s 9d to 10s 6dper week, which was subsequently accepted by the union leaders. The men returned to work on January 6. Capt James Thain, captain of the BEA Elizabethan which crashed atMunich in February 1958, has lost his appeal against his dismissal by the corporation. The NJC, according to BEA, said that "they could findno grounds for upholding his appeal." According to Capt Thain, as reported by The Times, at the time of the Munich accident there wereno instructions about taking off in slush. Subsequently, BEA set a limit of two inches of slush for take-off, and last month this was reducedto one inch. Here is an impression of the new terminal building now being built at Beauvais for Skyways. This independent's Coach Air service from Lympne carries, at peak times, up to 7,500 passengers a day as well as freight. Part of this fine new terminal should be in operation before the end of next summer, when Avro 748s should also be in service
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