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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0837.PDF
T, 15 June 1961 847 Correspondence flu Editor of "Flight" is not necessarily in agreement with the views exp essed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses ofitn ers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. Passenger Mileage A PROPOS "1961 Safety Record so Far" (Flight, May 18),airline traffic statistics based on "passenger-miles" are surelynov." well out of date. • Passenger-miles" was a term used in the early 1920s to make the air traffic of that day look a lot more than it really was. A publicity boost, if I may say so. When an aeroplane with a few—say five—passengers on board flew let us say from Croydon to Le Bourget it looked more impres- sive to record it as "1,200 passenger-miles" than "five passengers were carried on a two-and-a-half-hour flight," so it became a silly habit always to report the week's activity in terms of "passenger- miles." Now that aeroplanes carry so many more passengers per flight (up to 100 or so), on routes so very much longer and infinitely more frequent, the "passenger-mileage" nonsense runs into astro- nomical figures, which become incomprehensible and, of course, misleading. A "short-haul" aircraft on a two hundred miles' route carrying sixty passengers has to do five trips (making a total of three hundred passengers carried) to equal a "long-haul" aircraft on a one thou- sand miles' route carrying sixty passengers, on the "passenger- miles" reckoning. In the event of a total-loss accident, the accident rate in actual fact would be, in the case of the "short-haul" business, one per five passengers carried and in the "long-haul" case it would be one per one (or the lot); whereas—assuming of course the full route miles had been completed—on the "passenger-miles" basis in each case it would be one per 1,000 passenger-miles, which is absurd. With millions of people now regularly travelling by air, the accident rate would look quite as well if expressed without the mileage multiplication. Glasgow SW2 E. D. AYRE Commemorating Pioneer Names A PROPOS the presentation to the Shuttleworth Trust of the r\ Percival Gull Six (G-ADPR) by Hunting Aircraft, readers may be interested in another permanent record of Miss Jean Batten's historic flights. As we passed through Auckland, New Zealand, en route to England from Australia via Panama, we were delighted to see that this city had not forgotten Jean Batten's 1936 flight from England to New Zealand in 11 days (following her solo flight to South America the previous year). For these epic contributions to aviation Miss Batten received the Britannia Trophy for two successive years—1935 and 1936—and later was made a CBE. Whilst appreciating that odd streets and occasional blocks of flats bear the names of Air VCs, there seems to be room for much improvement in commemorating our pioneer airmen and airwomen. Where, in the UK, can one find any link with Jean Batten, Amy Mollison, Jim Mollison, O. P. Jones and the many others who led the way to the safe and smooth flights we now enjoy in the hands of our commercial airlines? Leigh-on-Sea, Essex LESLIE HUNT Auckland, NZ, tablet commemo- rating jean Bat- ten's (936 flight from England (let- ter from Mr Leslie Hunt, above) Realism in a radio-controlled flying scale model and—photographically —even in the "airfield" surface (see letter from Mr D. E. Thumpston) Flying Scale ModelsI NOTED with interest, in Flight for June 1, Sqn Ldr Crampton's article on his C.I 160 radio-controlled flying scale model. Without wishing to burden you unduly with modelling matters, it occurred to me that it might be of interest to your readers to learn that the first competition for radio-controlled flying scale models to be held in this country took place at RAF Wellesbourne Mount- ford on May 7, being part of the Sutton Coldfield Radio Control Model Aero Club's first annual rally. This attracted a varied field of beautifully constructed models, ranging from a Fokker D.VIII to a Luton Minor, and judging was carried out by J. M. Bruce and N. Butcher. The flying of radio-controlled scale models has been a particular interest of mine for the past three years and types flown include the BE2e, the Fokker Eindekker and the Sopwith 1 ^-Strutter. This latter, which is fully detailed and closely follows full-size construc- tion, including rubber cord shock-absorbing undercarriage, has recently completed flying tests and performs beautifully, take-offs and gentle landings being a joy to behold. Flying characteristics of these models are very similar to those of their full-size counterparts, this being particularly noticeable in the 1 i-Strutter's high degree of stability, resistance to sudden change of attitude in the air, and flat glide and float prior to touch- down. I enclose a photograph [reproduced above.—Ed] of this one-eighth-scale model, which is powered by a 2.5 c.c. engine and has thus far logged one hour's airborne time. Interest in these radio-controlled models has increased con- siderably during the last year and we can look forward to seeing many more replicas taking to the air in the future. This is certainly a splendid way to reproduce in our own times the spectacle, in realistic flight, of those early aircraft which no longer survive. Birmingham 13 D. E. THUMPSTON The Independent Spirit YOU gave perhaps more prominence than they deserved to afew words I said to the Royal Aeronautical Society's Sixth Air Transport Course at Oriel College, Oxford, in your issue of May 25. There is one impression that I seem to have given to your correspondent, and possibly to others, which I hope you will allow me to correct. I am quoted as saying that B1ATA existed for three main reasons—to make a profit, to give service and to create and maintain reasonable employment. These three reasons for existence I believe apply to the member-companies of BIATA and not to B1ATA itself, which is, of course, a trade association and must necessarily only reflect the joint views of its members. London SW1 L. C. HUNTING President. British Independent Air Transport Association Ltd. End of the R.38 FROM an old journal I used to keep 40 years ago, I note that onAugust 24, 1921, I stood in a street in Hull and saw the sudden destruction of a large British airship, the 2,700,000 cu ft dirigible R.38, during its fourth trial flight. Although official technical records of this catastrophe no doubt exist, it may still be of interest to some of your readers to hear of my personal observations, as from a "man in the street" on that tragic day, especially now that this type of aircraft is almost forgotten. I had just stepped out of the building in which I worked when my attention was attracted by the airship's great bulk, roughly a thousand feet up and almost directly above me, shining, a dull silver, in the sun. Within seconds, and before I had time to appre- ciate the great wonder above me, I was horrified to see a small blood-red flame appear, high towards its upper surface and approximately at a third of its length. Grim disaster followed at once. Fire spread crackling audibly and fiercely in all directions, tearing its way downwards round the vast belly of the airship, like some ravenous beast savaging its prey. Simultaneously, the great giant's back broke, and whilst the two unequal parts of its body scissored downwards, there issued from the blazing cleavage, with tremendous violence, a fantastic belch of flaming crimson gas. [Contd. overleaf. foot of page
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