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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0099.PDF
FLIGHT, 20 January 1961 99 or frequency limitations, and no limitations as to the number of cnrriers that may be designated on any route. There are, of -ourse, already three US scheduled carriers on London - New York (Pan American, TWA and Seaboard and Western) compared with the one British carrier, BOAC. And Cunard Eagle have two ,~rrong traffic bargaining counters in Bermuda and the Bahamas, where they are well established, and which are heavily frequented b'y PanAm, Eastern and Mackey services flying tourists to these British territories. Finally, there is the pull of die name Cunard which, when it comes to bargaining for trading rights in America, will not be unhelpful. Cunard Eagle have also filed applications to serve many of the European points applied for by British United, indicating thatthere has been no behind-the-scenes gentlemen's agreement as to which places will be applied for by which of the two leadingindependents. Cunard Eagle evidently do not intend to concede Europe to BUA. Footnote: Edition No 1 of the Air Transport Licensing Board's CivilAviation Licensing Notices appeared on January 11, listing the BUA applications reviewed last week (the earlier Cunard Eagle applicationhaving been held over, for clerical reasons, until Edition No 2, due to be published last Wednesday). Two interesting new points emerged:BUA specifies the eventual use of Tridents or VClOs, and quotes fares for domestic routes that are higher than BEA's first-class fares androughly the same as the corporation's tourist tariff. SHOOFNER AIRLINES GET FIRST AIR OPERATOR'S CERTIFICATE U£SED by the Director of Aviation Safety, Ministry of Aviation,to illustrate the requirements of the air operator's certificate, the name "Shoofner Airlines Ltd" appears on specimen certificatesaccompanying Notes for the Guidance and Information of Appli- cants for an Air Operator's Certificate, just issued by the MoA. The Notes, which have no legal force, are a detailed amplifica-tion of the requirements of the Air Navigation Order 1960 as they affect operators of public transport aircraft of over 5,0001b a.u.w.Operating agencies in this category, it will be recalled, must from March 30 hold an air operator's certificate.Broadly, before a certificate can be issued, an operator's organiza- tion must be surveyed by the ARB (who are responsible to theDirector for all engineering matters), and must have operating standards, organization and facilities inspected by the Ministry'sflight operations inspectorate; and a Ministry training inspector must examine the adequacy of training arrangements. Flight operations inspectors will, from time to time, fly in alloperators' aircraft in the course of normal operations, but it is hoped to avoid a furore similar to that which occurred betweenairline pilots and FAA inspectors in the United States by limiting the concern of Ministry inspection personnel to standards ofsafety and facilities. Professional skill of the crew is not their responsibility. Inspectors have the authority to board and flyin any aircraft at any time, and to enter and remain on die flight deck. Only if the aircraft commander considers that the safety ofthe aircraft would be endangered can entry be refused. Compulsory reading for any applicant for an operator's cer-tificate, the Notes include sections dealing with operations manuals, aircraft loading, flying-staff records and organization. They aremost comprehensive—no fewer than six foolscap pages, for example, being devoted to the requirements of die Director ofAviation Safety in respect of operations manuals. Some of the salient points are picked out below. Copies of all operations manuals and all amendments must belodged with the Director. It is not essential that a manual shall be confined to one volume, since it may be advantageous toseparate the subject-matter into parts that relate to, say, duties of cabin staff, base operations officers, and so on. Flight time and duty periods will now have to be set out by eachoperator. It is no longer sufficient to refer to Air Navigation Regulations; the limitations must be specified in detail. Theyshould include the time at which crews are to report for flying duty, give maximum duty periods and allow a reasonable periodfor pre-flight action. ; Technical information in considerable detail must be included; in the flight manual. The Notes list the requirements and also the : information required about operations in special conditions. This| includes operation from wet, icy, snowy or slush-covered runways, for which specific limits must be laid down (see note on page 97).Crosswind limits must be specified. It is not sufficient to say that a particular crosswind component has been found to be acceptable;limitations must be stated in unequivocal terms and the question of gusts, surface conditions and technique satisfactorily dealt with.Fuel-allowance formulae must similarly be given in detail, for instance on the way that consumption is affected with two powerunits inoperative, or where a loss of pressurization has occurred. There is no objection to an operator permitting flights on selectedroutes when the fuel carried falls short of the normal minimum, the Notes advise, provided that at any stage of the flight the fuelremaining is sufficient to continue to a suitable aerodrome for landing, then to divert to an alternate and to hold for 45min withan allowance for contingencies. More logical loading, weight and balance arrangements shouldfollow the issue of the Notes. It is now mandatory, for example, to show on the load and trim sheet that die e.g. lies withinpermissible limits, and the load sheet must show when average weights have been used. A special section deals with car ferryoperations, for which there is an instruction to the effect that a special traffic manual must be provided which gives explicit direc-tions on the checking of baggage weight in vehicles; checking of petrol tanks; lashing of vehicles, and die procedure to be adoptedwhen a vehicle does not appear in the list of kerb weights. All of these points are, in fact, covered by the two present operators.In the section dealing widi flying-staff records a reminder is given that checks of pilot competency must include a twice-yearlycheck of ability to perform asymmetric manoeuvres on instru- ments, unless only VMC operations are intended. Checks onprocedures in emergencies such as an engine fire, propeller over- speeding, engine failure before Vi, and so on, may be conducted ina flight simulator. This must be representative but checks on aircraft commanders ability to use approach-to-land systems maybe conducted on flight trainers Or Link trainers. In a small undertaking the chief pilot is expected to know indetail the general competence of each of his pilots and to arrange for special route training; in larger organizations a system ofcontrol not depending on personal knowledge will be necessary. Finally, the Notes demand "full information" from the appli-cant. Operators must provide a list of managerial and key executive staff along widi a statement of how duties and respon-sibilities are allocated, but the Director will concern himself with other personnel only if the number employed appears inadequatefor the type and extent of the operations undertaken. All in all, and as expected, an air operator's certificate demandsmuch preparatory work in the regulatory and managerial aspects of airline operation. Shoofner Airlines have set a high standardof competency for odiers to follow.
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