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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0587.PDF
GHT, 4 May 1961 597 Straight and Level bravest man was Captain Brown, :io played his ukulele as the ship went down. WATCHED Panorama on BBC Television the other night, and -i. was intrigued by a feature on the jture of the shipping industry—with articular reference to the North Atlan- :•: route. One of my pet subjects. Traffic figures were presented to show ne beating that the shipping lines are diking from the airlines: sea traffic, 70 ;>er cent of the total ten years ago, is now only 30 per cent, and is sinking rapidly. Air traffic overtook sea traffic in 1958, and is now double. The spokesman for the ships was Mr C. M. Squarey, general manager of Perhaps there was a picture hanging on this wall of the Luton Flying Club bar. I can't remember very well. Anyway, there is no doubt which picture should replace it when repairs are completed—a framed enlargement of this one. And for the Miles Messenger's log book the following entry: "April 19, 1961—Ron out of control during propeller swinging, went for a spin round the airfield and finished up in the bar. Nobody hurt" Ocean Travel Development, well known for his ukulele-playing whenever the future of shipping is discussed. Never, never, never—not even as the last Atlantic liner is tugged to the breaker's yard—will Mr Squarey concede that shipping is sinking, or even that it is on the rocks. He dismisses proposals for very cheap sea fares as "uneconomic," thereby helpfully contributing to the develop- ment of North Atlantic air traffic. He evades the question (and no wonder) of hether it is right for the Government l • spend £18m of public money on a! ; w Cunard Queen, a national invest- ment in a project that Mr Jo Grimond has described as the "status symbol of the thirties". Mr Squarey is on a burning deck, but he is true to the traditional discipline of his industry. He knows his ship is being abandoned and that it is sinking; but he means to go down with it, standing stiffly at the salute on the bridge. Rather like Alec Guinness as the sea captain in Kind Hearts and Coronets, he awaits submersion with unflinching loyalty and devotion, until all that will remain is his cap, floating bravely away over the waves. Shipping may make a comeback; but if it does it will be in spite of Mr Squarey's blind heroism. • Tucked away at the bottom of page eight of a special April 1 supplement of the French aviation journal Les Ailes was a brief news item headed "LA GRANDE-BRETAGNE RENONCE AU D.H. 121." The report stated that the British Government has decided that de Havil- land will renounce the D.H. 121, to avoid prejudicing developments of the Caravelle—a decision made in "l'esprit de cooperation traditionnel entre l'indus- trie aeronautique britannique et 1'indus- trie franchise." Moreover, it was said, BEA have ordered 30 Caravelle 10s from Sud Aviation. Flight did a little note about this and we despatched a deadpan telegram to Sud Aviation: "Please comment urgently on Les Ailes report of BEA order for Caravelles." We have now heard from our col- leagues on Les Ailes. They want us to know that our telegram to Sud Aviation, which was passed to them, is "jusqu'a ce jour, la meilleure reaction que nous avons observee a notre page fantaisiste et traditionnelle du ler avril. Seul un anglais pouvait apprecier cet humour aussi justement." I don't quite know how to say this, but it appears that le rire est sur nous. Anyway, only Frenchmen can lick their wounds with jokes as good as this one. And the only way in which we, the British, can now save face is for BEA to issue a confirmation of the Les Ailes news item. • A recent report in the Daily Tele-graph referred to the Ministry of Avia- tion's flying training unit at Stansted,and also to the separate special 707 and Comet conversion training courses thatMinistry check pilots are now under- going. A Ministry spokesman, it wasreported, said he "could not divulge the cost of the unit, nor the cost of the con-version courses." I should think not, indeed. Howcould a newspaper be so impertinent as even to think of asking such a question ?Next thing we know the Press will be saying that the public has a right toknow how public money is spent! I mean, really. The Ministry's information office hasevidently taken note of that famous exchange during the Peninsular Warbetween the Duke of Wellington and a foreign diplomat. The diplomat, seekingmilitary information, asked the Duke a question. In reply Wellington asked:— "Can you keep a secret?" "Oh yes," said the foreign diplomat,agog with anticipation. "So can I," thundered Wellington,and showed him the door. We Are Slipping • Report in the Daily Express, April 24, 1961:— Britain is not expected to get a Mach 2 prototype airliner into the air until next year at the earliest. . . ROGER BACON Stand clear, laddie— right out of my way, there's a good fellow. I, Sir Hiram Maxim, haven't tried this out yet and I wouldn't like you to think that I have got the whole thing round my neck
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