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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0656.PDF
666 FLIGHT, 18 Afa> ,6l HERALDIC ERA . . . routes not served by BEA; but by the energy and efficiency of its operations, and as a result of ever-expanding traffic, the company earned the right to share in BEA routes to the Channel Islands. Thus towards the end of 1955 there was an agreement between Jersey Airlines and the Corporation for Jersey to take over (from April 1956) some of the schedules and services being operated by BEA with de Havilland Rapides. At that date (November 1955) Flight commented that Jersey Airlines "have expanded at an impressive rate," adding that "the success of the company is closely linked with that of the DH Heron feederliner. . . ." In March 1956 the MTCA sanctioned the proposal for Jersey to take over from BEA (from April 22) certain Channel Island routes, including those between Guernsey and Southampton, Alderney and Dinard. Thus, from being allowed certain crumbs from the rich man's table, Jersey Airlines have asserted their right to an equal share with BEA in main routes from the UK to the Channel Islands; and now, with tomorrow's introduction of the Heralds, they will be able to offer their passengers travel at turboprop speeds and standards of comfort. With the growth of Jersey Airlines, and increasing services to the Channel Islands by BEA and the independents, there has been a comparable growth in airport services and control facilities. Both Jersey and Guernsey have runways long enough for Viscount operations (5,100ft and 4,800ft respectively); Jersey Airport with its Marconi S.264 equipment has radar surveillance extending as far as the London FIR; and the Channel Islands Control Zone, though almost entirely within the Paris FIR, has authority for all traffic through its area up to and including Flight Level 190. These developments reflect the general growth in air transport since the war, but are particularly epitomised in the Channel Islands, whose only alternative means of communication is by ship. Busy Jersey Last year, there were 62,158 movements in the Cl Control Zone and Jersey Airport handled 39,170 of them—more than half. These figures include all types of aircraft, and it should be noted that Jersey is one of the few major airports in the UK that allows club flying (by the Channel Islands Aero Club) on its premises, a condi- tion being that all flights are made under radio control. At the height of the season, when Jersey Airport handles well over 300 aircraft a day (on July 25, 1959, there were 366; on August 6 last year, 337). a three-minute landing rate is achieved; and last year—the first full year of Marconi S.264 operation—holding was avoided because aircraft were ""seen in" by this long-range radar installation. Mr J. R. Curry, the Jersey Senior Air Traffic Control Officer, refers to the Cl Zone facilities as "an area control service." Key year for the zone was 1959, for it was in that year—when, on June 26, Princess Margaret inaugurated the S.264—that the zone's upper limit was extended to 20,000ft to provide for Viscount traffic, and Blue 32 (the Paris - Shannon airway) was introduced, passing directly over Jersey—though under exceptional traffic conditions there may be temporary re-alignment over Dinard. Blue 32 continues as an advisory route, ADR 592 (to the Scillies, then north-westwards). Then last year a seasonal airway. Blue 26, was established for operations between Gatwick and Jersey from March to October and it has been re-introduced for the same period this year. For ATC reasons this airway is restricted to Decca- equipped aircraft, the only aid permitting accurate reporting to ATC. With Red One (Southampton - Jersey), Blue 26 provides a two-way traffic system into Jersey Airport, variable according to the landing direction. Another route entering the Cl Zone is ADR (advisory route) ay via 3ut the aris the 160, serving the West Country and the Midlands via Weym. and Chepstow. There is a proposal to replace it by a new air Amber 25 (Manchester - Jersey), realigned farther westward Ebbw Vale and Start Point. This is still in the project stage. 3ut could be put into operation this summer using existing D :ca Navigator coverage as the basic navigational aid, supporter by other facilities in a "crash programme" effort. All negotia jn's affecting the Cl Control Zone are triangular, between Jersey MoA and the French, because of the zone's situation in the'. FIR. The Commandant of Jersey Airport, Mr G. Griffiths, it absence of an Aviation Ministry acts in the capacity of Dire tor- General of Aviation for the States of Jersey. When Mr Curry recently described the control zone in a p.,.per he wrote on it he made special reference to certain aspects the density of traffic, so that at weekends in peak months there rmiv be up to 550 movements in one day: the fact that, since almosi the whole of the zone is over the sea, the siting of beacons is restricted (there are three NDBs, on Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney); and the basing of routeing procedures, of necessity, on these beacons ]n this context, the SATCO commented, international acceptance of an area fixing-aid such as Decca "would open up a wide field of application" in the Cl Zone. Mr Curry added that a limited number of Decca routes were being introduced in the Zone on an operational trials basis. Monitored by radar, these Decca routes would give an added flexibility in Control Zone routeings, so urgently required. The Marconi S.264, said Mr Curry, fulfils the dual function of an area radar and approach control radar, coverage extending over the whole of the zone area and beyond, from 5,000 to 20,000ft. Refer- ring again to the problem caused by sea surroundings, he said that because of this environment it was impossible to mark the zone boundaries; thus controllers had to rely on estimates received from aircraft to provide standard separation. When MoA com- pleted their radar installation programme for the south of England, full coverage would be provided for aircraft flying between the London area and the Channel Islands; and it should be possible "to reduce the existing standard procedural separation of aircraft flying at the same speed and altitude from ten minutes to five minutes or less, and at the same time to add to the safety factor."" The Heralds which are coming into service with Jersey Airlines from May 19 are Decca-fitted, so will be equipped for precise navi- gation from the start, able to determine their position exactly in relation to the zone boundaries. The Heralds' advent will not add appreciably to the Channel Islands' air traffic problems, since only two aircraft are involved initially and they will be using approximately the same slabs of sky as the Viscounts; bul the symbolic significance of the Heralds for Jersey Airlines is quite strong, for it puts the company—however modestly—in the turbo- prop market. (When Flight visited Jersey recently Mr Thomas commented bluntly: "If we don't get a modern aircraft we might as well wrap up.") There is another significance, too, for Jersey and the Channel Islands as a whole—which are as intensely air-minded as they were in the 30s when the DH Dragons and Expresses used the sands—in the coming of the Heralds. They will provide faster, more capacious services than the Dakmasters and Herons; and this means a lot to an island community which looks on itself as part of Britain but has to cross a hundred miles of water to get there. The islanders are socially and economically accustomed to air transport. As Senator W. H. Krichefski, president of the Jersey harbour and airport committee and chairman of the Cl Air Advisory Council for Civil Aviation, graphically puts it: "When 1 was a boy, we used to get our daily papers by the evening boat; now, if we don't get them first thing in the morning, we wonder what's wrong." Holidaymakers, too, are accustomed to "flying there": out of 442,276 who travelled to Jersey last year, 389,357 went by air. The Heralds, in making their Jersey Airlines' debut, will take their place in an air-minded community for the service of air-minded commuters. H. W. The Herald's entry into service has been preceded by a comprehensive programme of overseas flying to prove the aircraft in extreme conditions and to conduct sales demonstrations. This is the Series 100 aircraft that took part on the first South American tour; it is seen at Rio
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