FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0116.PDF
116 FLIGHT, 27 January 19t] The BEA Vanguard cabin. Note the ceiling edge-lighting paml, and how the corporation's crown motif is worked into the decor Furnishing and Finishing... conditioning, lighting, and so forth) that the final result is acompletely co-ordinated whole. This detailed control has produced for BEA interiors which,from the user's point of view, are second to none. The latest of these is the Vanguard, shown in one of the accompanyingillustrations. Visual Appearance In all this work the greatest care has to beexercised to obtain, in the end, a pleasing visual appearance— and I don't just mean a colour scheme. In the Ambassador (seepicture) we introduced a fundamental innovation to interior design, and we have carried it through to the latest interior—that of theVanguard. This is the use of panels, sight-lines, etc, to give the visual impression of the aircraft being wider and more spaciousthan it really is. It is extremely easy to do the opposite. There are many interiorsin service in which the lack of appreciation of this vital point has led to them providing a visual appearance of being smaller andnarrower than they reallv are! Detail Finish One of the problems we have had to face in thiswork is that of getting everyone concerned—from the maker's draughtsmen and the workshops to the accessory manufacture.-,—to realize that there are other and better means of fixing th. :i wood strips, tacks and glue and that, if care be taken, most fixirr scan be completely concealed. There is nothing worse than ;JI interior with half-round beading running round the walls ar dceiling, giving an impression of the inside of a whale. All su n detail must be also designed with an eye to rapid maintenance.Panels must be interchangeable and fastenings reliable, conceal- d and replaceable. All finishes, paints, anodizing, etc, must 'ehard-wearing, and reproduceable when damaged. Lighting We take the greatest care with this difficult part >fthe job. Here again we have introduced innovation into interior design. As part of the process of avoiding the "tunnel" effect aidgiving an appearance of width, we have deliberately avoided the long line of lights down the centre of the cabin. The lighting nthe Ambassador was interesting and unique. In the 800-series Viscount the transverse lighting strips were used to assist in thiseffect. We took a bold step in the Vanguard, and its wide fiat ceiling with edge lighting is singularly effective. Colour and General Styling As to the often-vexed questionof colour schemes, here we enter the area of personal preference —the "I like" or "I don't like." Let us first say that no colourphotograph, however good, seems to do justice to an aircraft interior. There is a simple reason for this: a good interior isdesigned not to look at but to be in, and can be judged only on this basis. It has to be pleasant and right on a grey winter's day,but it must not be tiring in bright light at high altitude. The grey and red of our earlier interiors has been developed intoschemes now more in line with our house styling. The co-ordina- tion of BEA design policy throughout the airline by the advertisingmanager, Mr A. J. Burkart, ensures that the visual impression of advertising and sales and booking offices will be seen also in theaircraft. We aim at a truly British product, well-tailored but not flashy, crisp in design and detail. Each new interior moves alongwith our general house style in the presentation of the airline to its public, maintaining continuity of appearance of fleets overmany years and displaying the best of British craftsmanship. The Latest Interior The Vanguard and the Comet present tothe public our latest examples of this co-operative effort. In this short article I have not been able to touch on many other aspectsof interior design, such as toilets (a subject in themselves), the passenger service panels, door entrance design and styling, bulk-heads, carpet fastenings, and so on. Those who fly in these magni- ficent aircraft will be able to see for themselves examples of thekind of things I have mentioned. I trust the Editor will allow me through these pages to paytribute to those who have contributed to this work—Mr James Gardner, the BEA development staff, and the men on the designstaffs of the aircraft firms. THE INDUSTRY'S CONTRIBUTION —to Passenger Comfort and Convenience: Some Representative Equipment SEATING THE PASSENGERS GIVEN the aeroplane, the crew to fly it, a fare just short ofextortionate and a shapely, soft-voiced and smilingstewardess, the average airline passenger is concerned most about the seat in which he is placed for the duration of hisjourney. Will it comfortably accommodate his generous, expense- account girth (or her willowy frame, painfully acquired on a dietof lemon juice and lettuce leaves)? Is there room for the knees? Can he doze without slumping against his neighbour—or will hebe kept from oblivion by the pressure of an adjacent elbow? Is there a comfortable pad, at the right height, against which he canrest his head? The designer of aircraft seats, presented with the full spectrumof airline passengers, from the over-obese to the ultra-thin, fr;>m long, lean streaks of six-feet-six to sawn-off types of four-feet-rsni Part of a seat production line at one of the Microcell factories at Blackwater, Surrey
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
