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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0144.PDF
144 FLIGHT, 3 February America and the Supersonic Airliner . . develop aircraft intended for low-cost operation rather than formaximum cruise speed—an almost untapped market. Even today's transatlantic economy fares cannot be said to come within thedefinition of "low cost." A fare of, say, $150 for a round-trip transatlantic excursion would multiply current traffic severalfold.Of course, such fares are not realizable with today's aircraft, nor will they be feasible if the present line of design is pursued. Whatis needed are airliners designed exclusively for optimum economy. The Vickers Vanguard philosophy should be universally adopted. Instead of expending its funds on a supersonic type, the USGovernment might well put them to better use by supporting the development of a really-low-cost vehicle. Economical cargo trans-ports should also be encouraged; as silly as the supersonic pro- posals are the suggestions for cargo derivatives of the big jets.It is hard to imagine that a stretched 707 could carry cargo at anywhere near the fares of an aircraft optimized for low cost. In short, if we are to begin an aircraft project tomorrow simplyto help the industry through some bad times, there are certainly more worthwhile projects than the supersonic airliner. All thatwould be needed for die industry to begin work on such projects —perhaps even using their own or borrowed capital—would befor the Government to announce that on some day in the future the fares on a particular route were to be reduced by some sub-stantial amount. To prevent chaos, the number of flights initially approved at low rates would be limited to a small number, butwould be increased by a fixed margin each year. Several airlines could be granted certificates for these routes, and if carriers alreadyoperating over them were not receptive to the plan, new airlines could be brought in. If this or some better plan were adopted the airlines wouldseek out the manufacturers who could supply them with the most inexpensive aircraft. A market for the proposed low-cost air :aftwould be stimulated. Would such an innovation reduce traft _• atcustomary fares on existing aircraft? The answer is assuredh >j 0Speaking from personal experience, I have made over 300 c-m- mercial flights, every one of which was for business purpc ,es-but I have on several occasions driven an automobile upwan : of1,500 miles on a one-week vacation. Air fares are simph too expensive, and all the supersonic airliners in the world, all thefancy magazine advertisements, promises of exquisite cuisine ^nd so forth, will not change that simple fact. All of middle-ciassAmerica and a good part of the whole world is in a similar posi on. Sooner or later the airline industry will appreciate the signific neeof this simple statement. Then and only then will the a via ion industry achieve full maturity. None of the above remarks imply any disbelief in the ultirruuedevelopment of a supersonic type. As certain as my convicrion which supports the fundamental concept of low-cost transport,is an equally strong feeling for future increases in aircraft speed! Every minute spent on the previously noted 300 business flightswas a waste of my own and the company's time. Both of us wished that travel time could be reduced to zero. If faster transport wereavailable, even at some premium rate, it would have been useful. It will be more useful in the future. But the supersonic marketis presently small. The significance here is that business and pleasure travel are vastly different. In one there is an urge to usefaster and faster transport; in the other there is a necessity for economy. Perhaps Government support for a supersonic programmeshould be directed at developing an economical supersonic engine. The right engine will be needed in the not too distantfuture, and the industry has always shown that, given the right engine, it can develop superb aircraft. LIFE OF AIRLINE HELICOPTERS MECHANICAL defects have contributed to about one-quarterof the accidents occurring in scheduled helicopter operations, and of the 791 incidents examined, 22 per cent could be attri-buted to mechanical deficiencies. Accidents due to engine failure have been "extremely high," owing to the almost exclusive useof single-engined types and to the high engine-failure rate of the helicopter as compared with the fixed-wing aircraft. This wasstated by Mr H. E. Le Sueur, a senior surveyor of the Air Registration Board, in the paper he presented recently to the RAeSRotorcraft Section. Perhaps the most interesting part of the paper is that con-cerning fatigue, in which context the author suggests the establish- ment of safety factors which—as he confesses—"may cause someconsternation with those who are concerned with the establish- ment of safe lives."In an example, he estimates the reliable safe life of a part whose apparent safe life is established as 10,000hr according tothe generally accepted method of factoring the S-n curve by 1.2, assuming "damaging cycles" of ten per hour. Using the methodhe outlines in an appendix to the paper, a safe life works out at not 10,000hr but 4,200hr. Again, he examines the safe life of ahelicopter with a rotor r.p.m. of 250 which has an apparent safe life of 10,000hr, this being based on the stress measured at normaloperating speed for 80 per cent of the component's life. Using the author's method the reliable safe life works out at a mere40hr. This, he admits, is "ridiculously low." But he concludes thatfor all normal level flying with vibration frequency of rotor order it is necessary to design for infinite life with a safety factor of 3.0for light alloys. Appendix 2 in Mr Le Sueur's paper is an important contribu-tion to the subject of helicopter fatigue, and obviously this brief summary is taken out of context. The full paper will appear indue course in the Royal Aeronautical Society Journal. EAR-TAGGING MOOSE BY HELICOPTER A NEW use for helicopters, that of ear-tagging moose to checkon the animals' whereabouts and numbers, has been dis- covered in Canada. The method, evolved by Officers D. W. Simkinand E. H. Stone of Ontario's Department of Lands and Forests, is for the helicopter (a Bell 47 variant on floats) to land behind themoose on a lake. The aircraft, piloted by Ben Kent, taxies up behind the animal as it swims until the pontoons are against itshead. The forestry officers then fix an ear-tag with pliers, an operation taking only three minutes. Previously, checks on the moose (Canada's finest game animal)had to be carried out by corraling them or rounding-up by cow- boys, both lengthy and often hazardous operations. The helicopter method has been found to be much quicker and more humane.In its initial trials good results were achieved, 73 moose being observed in llhr flying time and 50 of them tagged (ten calves,11 yearlings, 20 adult cows and nine large bulls). The bulls, it is reported, gave no more trouble in "finding and fixing" than didthe antlerless moose. As to the continuance of this method of checking on moose,a Canadian correspondent reports: "Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Branch now feels assured by this new helicopter use that muchunknown data can be obtained even in the next diree years, giving far more rapid answers than formerly to many still unknownfactors in the life of this magnificent wild animal." PRIDE OF UNICORNS TT was inevitable that, sooner or later, someone should write-*- the story of the Atcherley brothers : Dick, the brilliant pre-war RAF aerobatic pilot, member of the Schneider Trophy team,King's Cup winner, first post-war Commandant at Cranwell, C-in-C of the newly formed Royal Pakistan Air Force, finallyAOC-in-C Flying Training Command as Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley; David (a later starter in the RAF, joining from theArmy when Dick was already famous) CO of a night fighter squadron and then a wing during the Second World War, Chiefof Staff to Basil Embry as AOC 2 Group, finally AOC 205 Group and an air vice-marshal at the time of his tragic disappearance ona flight from Fayid to Cyprus in 1952. Had he lived, David might well also have become an air marshal and a knight, so closely didthe brothers' careers run in parallel; though their story, as told by John Pudney in A Pride of Unicorns (Oldbourne Book Co Ltd,121 Fleet Street, London EC4; illustrated; 21s) makes it clear that the Atcherleys achieved what they did through brilliant non-conformity. In the J. B. Priestley symbolism (from which Pudney's title is taken) of two elements in the British nationalcharacter, they were "unicorns"—men of ideas, continually prod- ding at the establishment, whose respectable members are the"lions." But Pudney rightly stresses how much the non-conformistAtcherleys contributed to the spirit of the RAF, especially when it was a new Service and "needed its own myth and legend aswell as discipline and a tradition." In that sense, they were in the right place at the right time, Dick making his name in theheyday of aerobatic flying and world speed record contests, David (and Dick) contributing their own unorthodox brands of courageand enterprise to Second World War operations. What they would have made of the missile-age RAF, had they started theircareers in the 1950s, is matter for conjecture. What they con- tributed to the spirit of the young Royal Air Force, and to itstriumphant emergence as a fighting arm, is matter for history— and gratitude. H. v.
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