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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0705.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 May 1961 715 A typical Jet Dragon seating arrangement is shown in the views of the interior seen on the left. The cabin is larger than that of the Dove As maximum cruising Mach number will not greatly exceed 0.7flying controls will be manually operated. Flaps will be double- slotted and will be supplemented with air brakes. The cabin ispressurized, but the rear pressure-bulkhead is forward of the turbine discs. The position of the intakes it is claimed, is such thatthey are protected from stones thrown up from the runway. Powerplants are Bristol Siddeley Viper 20s of 3,0001b thrust fortake-off. First details of this more powerful variation of the Viper were given in Flighi rather more than a year ago. A zero stage hasbeen added to the compressor of the Viper 11 (Jet Provost T.4 engine), increasing thrust by about 5001b and reducing fuel con-sumption. Working temperature has also been reduced, so that the engine is conservatively rated and there is considerable develop-ment potential. Cruising specific fuel consumption is about 0.845. No details other than those given above have been releasedconcerning Jet Dragon performance or weights, and it is apparently the intention to withhold full information until construction ismuch further advanced. There will be no prototype aircraft, production following directly upon the design stage; de Havillandpresumably have firm target dates of their own, but here again the only information that has been released is that deliveries will begin in 1963. This is the year in which the Swiss American AviationCorporation will be in production with the Execujet, and Aero Commander Inc with the new four-to-six passenger Jet Commander1121. First flight of the latter, which is to have a basic first cost of S475,000, is to be in April !962. Powered by two General ElectricCJ-610-1 engines of 2,8501b thrust for take-off, the Jet Commander has a maximum weight of 14,0001b and cruises at about 500 m.p.h.Other contenders in the executive-jet field are the North American Sabreliner, Heinkel-PotezCM-191, Israeli B-101-C,Saab 105 (Flight,April 20) and the Douglas-Piaggio Executive Jet (Flighi, April 27). What has been said so far lifts only a corner of the veil whichsurrounds de Havilland's new project. The aerodynamic similarity of the Jet Dragon to the Trident promises that many of the lessonsthat have been learned in developing that aeroplane may be applied to this jet successor to the Dove. It is reassuring also to know thatthe decision to go ahead follows a "long and detailed research" into market requirements, and as such may reflect the probablepattern of business aircraft operation over the next five years. DH 125 JET DRAGON (two Bristol Siddeley Viper ASV.20 of 3,0001b thrust). Dimensions: Span. 44ft; length, 43.5ft; height. 14ft; wing area, 342 sq ft. Weight. Maximum, I8,000lb. THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT APLEA for greater competition from independent companiesin the British air transport industry was made recently byMr L. C. Hunting, president of the British Independent Air Trans- port Association, when he addressed the sixth Air Transportcourse organized by the Royal Aeronautical Society at Oriel College, Oxford. "I believe there is room for further competition in the air,"he said. "We are told that BEA has plenty to do to look after the foreign airlines coming into this country. It's a fact, however,that BEA is in a pool with every one of its competitors. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but it could equally well be argued thatthis is a negation of true competition." He said that competition on routes such as London - Paris shouldbe less closely controlled, and added: "1 don't believe the public would suffer—and, after all, it's the public we are concerned within all of this." Even if a new company went bankrupt after a few years it would have "shaken up" the industry. Speaking of the difficulty of getting on to established routes, MrHunting cited the agreement between Qantas, Air-India and BOAC °^< the Far Eastern run. He also said that while there was no'ega! impediment to operating a shipping line across the Atlantic tnL' s^me was not the case with air transport. BiATA was virtually a trade association which represented overy0 per cent of the independent companies in this country, outside the [wo corporations BOAC and BEA. It existed for three main reasons: to make a profit, to give service, and to create and main-tain a reasonable level of employment in the industry. The 69 independent companies which operated just after thewar had now shrunk to about 20, not all of which were members of BIATA, and the process of amalgamation and take-over waslikely to continue. But the right to enter the industry should not be denied to those companies which "from absolutely nothing cameup the line." Mr Hunting went on to say he did not believe the BIATA wasskimming the cream off the corporations' traffic, but rather were taking the crumbs from their table. Basically, the question of running air transport was a matterof politics—whether it should be entirely under the State, entirely under private enterprise, a combination of the two as in Britain,or run by outside countries, as was the case in small countries like Luxembourg. Of the British system he said: "However good theyare, it seems to me that the corporations cannot be 100 per cent good 100 per cent of the time. 1 think this is where independencecomes in." BIATA could offer alternative employment in the industry, provide fresh thinking and act as a testing ground fornew ideas. "We offer an alternative market for the aircraft industry,"added Mr Hunting, "and we are there if the British manufacturer wishes to test out an idea which he knows has no chance of beingaccepted by the corporations."
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