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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0101.PDF
FLIGHT, 20 January 1961 101 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views ^pressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses ojl - riters, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Using a Six-letter Word THE correspondence published in the January 6 issue of Flightbetween Lord Brabazon and Sir William Mildred shows thatsafety in airline operation has at last been discussed in front of the general public—the people, in fact, who pay for the not-inexpensive IATA organization. I have no wish to join in the controversy about JP.4—alreadybeing handled efficiently without amateur assistance to cloud the ;ssue but I do feel that this could be the breakthrough inthe matter of public discussion, by the airlines themselves, on matters affecting the safety or otherwise of civil flying. For several years—as you, sir, are well aware—I handled pressrelations for more than one airline. At no time was I ever permitted to refer to safety, on the highly dubious premise thatthis word automatically made the reader think of danger. Frankly, I have never heard such arrant, ill-informed nonsense. Does everycar manufacturer eschew this dirty word because it might make the potential buyer assume that his new vehicle will probablykill him? Are passengers diverted from the railways because their operators announce from time to time how safe it is to travel that way? Self-preservation is the first law of life and the use of rearward-facing seats because they are safer will attract passengers to the line which is courageous enough to announce that they are beingused because they reduce the already small risk of flying still further. Safety awards are given to bus drivers. Does thetravelling public refuse to be driven by that company? Of course it doesn't. The late C. G. Grey had a creed which he recited inand out of season: "Aeroplanes must land slowly and not burn up." Perhaps we did get a little fed up with seeing it so often, butI have yet to hear of anyone who disagreed with his views or his public statement of them.The popular press is, of course, not helpful in this matter. Their job is to provide news, sensational if possible, and one can'tcomplain if they do so. But it would not hurt anyone if they added a statement to their report of an accident that so-and-soairline had flown XYZ millions of passenger miles since its last accident. This would not destroy the sensationalism of the basicstory, but it would put it into its true perspective. Airline passenger capacity has grown immensely since the bigjets arrived and sales managers have a very large job selling the seats. May I suggest that they should try using this vital aspect ofattraction? D. H. Lawrence got away with the use of several four-letter words; perhaps the airlines could experiment with onesix-letter word. A friend to whom I have shown this letter points out that verymany passengers are more concerned with speed, cost and comfort than safety. I agree; but the fact that an aircraft or an airline isknown to have a high safety-factor won't discourage those passengers. It will, however, attract some who are currently: nervous. In the meantime let us hope that Lord Brabazon and other: influential men in public life will keep at it. If they only bring out .- for all to see what the airlines try so hard to hide, the fact thatf flying is one of the safest means of transport, they will deserve [ well of us. Thames Ditton, Surrey BASIL CLARKE Club Flying in Iran V/f EMBERS of the Iranian Civil Aviation Club were very inter--*_ ested to read the article by Mr David Lomax entitled "Auster o Everest" which you printed in your issue of December 2. Inparticular we appreciated the experiences of the group in flying ight aircraft in the Persian Gulf area. Like our neighbours inKuwait we operate a club for instructional and sports flying. In our case we also operate regular scheduled postal services to thetowns in the south of Persia. Our aircraft strength at present amounts to three Austers, five Tri-Pacers and a Twin Pioneer. Weare now anxiously awaiting our first Chipmunk. Une of our mail routes is from Abadan down the east side of the<JUU to Chabahar, and thence inland to Zahedan. We fly the cir- cuit Abadan - Zahedan - Abadan twice weekly. One of the callson this roUte is at Jask, where Mr Lomax landed. The "postal/ n"1 ?cer" to which he refers is ours and in fact it lands at Task rour times a week. ofT?:s°her con(*itions are indeed severe in summer. Temperatures" are common, and there is much dust with strong winds over the Khusestan area. Humidity is usually low but reaches Tri-Pacers of the Iranian Civil Aviation Club, seen on the Isle of Kharg, Persian Gulf (letter from Mr H. E. Martin-Leoke) 90 per cent sometimes. I am enclosing a few photographs [one ofwhich is reproduced herewith.—Ed] of some of our light aircraft which were taken during weekend flights last summer. In conclusion we would like to congratulate Mr Lomax and his'crew on a very creditable achievement. Abadan, South Iran H. E. MARTIN-LEAKE Secretary, Iranian Civil Aviation Club Renfrew Replacement I FEEL I must draw attention to an incorrect statement inMr J. D. Gillies' letter in Flight for January 6. It certainly is not true to say, as he does, that apart from two small shipyardsthere is hardly any industry within a ten-mile radius of Prestwick. The adjoining town of Ayr may be concerned mainly withagriculture (although it keeps its 45,000 inhabitants employed). However, my own town, Kilmarnock, eight miles away, boastsseveral large firms manufacturing hydraulic machinery, carpets, shoes, railway locomotives and plain bearings (not to mentionwhisky), to name only a few products. Incidentally, every one of the firms concerned is, I believe, larger than either of theshipyards. In any case, has Mr Gillies never heard of Scottish AviationLtd, who manufacture and overhaul aircraft at Prestwick Airport? Having said this, I completely fail to see any correlation betweenthe density of local manufacturing industry and the usefulness of an airport; surely the density of population is a more importantcriterion. What really matters is that the travelling time from Prestwick to Glasgow by diesel train is liable to be a dependable35 minutes—I challenge Mr Gillies to prove that a time of 16 minutes from Abbotsinch to Glasgow can be consistentlyattained. His point about incompatibility of long-haul and short- haul traffic surely applies only to extremely busy airports such asLondon, if at all. Let us hope that Mr Gillies gets his club airport. Then perhapshe will appreciate the very real problem of fog, and poor visibility generally, which forced Glasgow University Air Squadron totransfer its Chipmunks from Abbotsinch to Perth some years ago. Members of this unit now consider the disadvantages of a two-hour train journey to be considerably outweighed by the superior weather factor. Kilmarnock, Ayrshire A. J. DOUGLAS AS I write this letter, BEA and other aircraft are diverting into•**• Prestwick Airport due to fog at Glasgow (Renfrew Airport). The latter has now been virtually closed for three successive daysand in this month alone there have been diversions from it on seven days out of 15, not to mention days on which aircraft wereoperating into it in marginal conditions. A similar history of dis- ruption of services can be found, taken over the years. Now thatit has been deemed incapable of further development, the Govern- ment propose to create virtually a new domestic airport in replace-ment of it at RNAS Abbotsinch only two miles away, which is subject to similar weather conditions, has the same cross-windproblems as Renfrew due to the shortness of the subsidiary run- way and is also close to built-up areas. What improvements thenare to be gained for an outlay variously estimated at between £Hm and £3m? So far as can be ascertained from the technical informa-tion issued, it would boil down to some 600ft additional take-off and 200ft landing run, with little prospect of further extension. I hope that this small return for a considerable expenditurewill not escape the notice of the sub-committee of the Commons Select Committee on Estimates appointed to examine the proposed1960-61 expenditure on British airports, particularly as it must be viewed against an operating loss of £6m at State airports andthe fact that the other airport serving the Glasgow area, Prestwick, which is already developed and equipped as an international air-port capable of handling any type of civil aircraft flying or envisaged and with a proven availability record of 364 days inthe year, is standing under-utilized, mainly because of a Ministry
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