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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0374.PDF
382 FLIGHT, 23 Marc/i 1961 Straight and Level THE arrival at Holy Loch of Pro-teus, the Polaris submarinemother ship, resulted in quite a few headlines. The ones I liked best both appeared on March 10, and were:— Proteus seaman coshed —Daily Herald Proteus welcome pleases U.S. —Daily Mail • "The United States Line has can- celled the voyage to Europe of the liner America, scheduled for Saturday, because of lack of bookings. The 450 people who booked passages have been told they can transfer to the liner United States, sailing on Friday, or to a later sailing. The United States, which can carry 1,700 passengers, had bookings for about 900.' '—Reuter. Is this the beginning of the end for Britain's new Queen liner ? The Govern- ment are to spend £18m on this ship, on the basis of an unpublished report and believing (T quote Lord Mills) that "sea traffic is increasing." Is it? North Atlantic passenger traffic has declined every year since 1957, and last year it was the lowest it has been since 1952. Has there ever been pro- posed a grosser misuse of public money ? • In this column the other week I expressed my pleasure that the Minister should actually have appointed men with civil aviation experience to two new civil aviation offices. One was Sir Miles Thomas, chairman of the Welsh Advisory Committee for Civil Avia- tion, and the other was Wg Cdr R. C. Preston, chairman of the similar body for Northern Ireland. 1 may have thoughtlessly given the impression that the previous holders of these posts (who under the old system were filled by BEA) were, by implication, men without civil aviation experience. This is not so: Mr S. Kenneth Davies (a private pilot for 30 years and founder of Cambrian Airways) and Sir Walter Edmenson could not be re-appointed because they are both members of BEA's Board. 1 am so sorry that my enthusiasm for the new appointments should have made me careless of the previous chairmen's feelings. • An American reader writes: "One of the evening papers last week carried a note to the effect that it was 'rumored' among some engineers that the turbo- fan idea was embodied in the Rolls- Royce Conway." Possibly the aviation commentator of Time has seen the reference, for he writes in the current issue: "Engineers have long known that the turbofan is the most efficient engine for subsonic aircraft. Rolls-Royce pioneered turbofan development, turned out a prototype of it's famed Conway by-pass engine in 1950. But US enginemakers, under pressure from the military to produce regular jet engines that are more efficient at supersonic speeds, lagged behind." Rolls-Royce developed the engine. Uncle Roger's Heartache Corner I AM an airline flight engineer, andyesterday I was rostered for themorning jet service to Potters Bar. When I entered the cockpit I found that all six seats were occupied by pilots, each one armed to the teeth. I protested but was immediately shot in the legs by the captain. What shall I do if this happens again ?—DISGUSTED, HEATHROW. Uncle Roger writes: Don't let it happen again—always make sure you get into the cockpit first, preferably armed with a twelve bore. TEN days ago the wing of one of ournew aircraft "failed safe," but wedidn't discover this until yesterday when the safe bit went too and the whole wing fell off, severely damaging the hangar floor. This happened during a Check 4 when a canteen tea trolley bumped into the wing by accident. We have com- plained to the manufacturers, pointing out that aircraft structures should not break as easily as this, but all we can get out of them is a puncture repair outfit. Ought we to report the matter to the SBAC?—WORRIED CHIEF ENGINEER, HAMPTON WICK. Uncle Roger writes: No, do not report the matter to the SBAC—that would be too extreme an action. You must tell your canteen girls to be more careful. AS an airline stewardess I would likeyour advice on a problem that hasbeen worrying me for some time. A captain I know has been doing some- thing which 1 am sure is wrong but I daren't tell anyone in case I get him into trouble. Please help [full details enclosed].—DORIS PINKFIT, 36-24-36, GATWICK. Uncle Roger writes: Yes, this captain is definitely acting improperly. You must stick to your principles and tell him that it is wrong to fly in controlled airspace in IMC conditions without first filing an IFR flight plan. Cover the top half of this picture, and then guess from the trousers and footwear the ranks, names and nationalities of the officers on the left and right. Answers: left, Air Marshal Sir Charles Elworthy, C-in-C, RAF Middle East Command (Aden); right. Col Stewart Carter, commander of the Trucial Oman Scouts. Their nationality —-it seems rather unnecessary to say—is British Sir Frank Whittle invented it. Yes, thisis Straight and Level's Be British Week. • Do you remember how TWA were caught a bit short by the jet age because (it is said) no one could find Howard Hughes, the man with the money? So they advertised their Lockheed L.1649A Super Connies as JETSTREAM STAR- LINERS. "Let's not undersell these fine piston-engined airplanes," I can imagine TWA's advertising boys saying at the time. Now it seems that American Airlines feel they have been caught short by the space age. Their turbofan Boeings are advertised as introducing "STAGE II OF THE JET AGE." Not only that, but the turbofan Boeings are billed as "ASTROJETS." Passing thinks: Wasn't it the Comet 4 that introduced Stage II of the jet age two and a half years ago ? • Here's another example of the soft jet sell, from a Civil Air Transport (Formosa) advertisement in Time maga- zine: "Soon—THE MANDARIN JET . . . In Convair's 880 . . . aircraft design has reached the peak of structural integrity and grace. Uninterrupted Airflow . . . Super-Streamlining . . . Unbridled Power . . . and aircraft skin smoother than Chinese Silk ..." Confucius he say: Never ride in rick- shaw with unbridled coolie. ROGER BACON
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