FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0921.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 July 1961 21 (T) Straig ht and ve I •rp("\O an extent which we have no means of assessing, the advent of another operator... may generate new air traffic; but there will be diver- sion, and probably material diversion, from BOAC in the sense that a Cunard Eagle service, if successful, will inev- itably carry traffic which might otherwise have been carried by the corporation. Nevertheless, we do not regard this as necessarily a bar to the grant of a licence," says the Board, "because to do so would preclude the grant to any operator of a licence on any route already served by another United Kingdom operator, thus freezing the existing situation on such routes—a result which we cannot believe to have been intended when the 1960 Act was passed." I am so glad the Board has got that off its chest. Those sterile bogy-words "material diversion" defy rational definition and, like the words "sched- uled service," should never have appeared in the 1960 Act. In this respect, the Board's lack of previous air transport experience, which caused concern a year ago, can be seen to have been an advantage: it enabled the members to grasp the basic truth that traffic forecasting is at best an incon- clusive business, made still more so by the introduction of abstractions like material diversion. • I was fascinated by the reportin Flight that the USAF display at Wethersfield included a LABs demon-stration hi which the bomb-burst was simulated by a buried 40-gal drum filledwith nitro-glycerine, napalm and smoke- bombs (presumably, since "Partnersfor Peace" was the theme of the display, this represented some sort of ultimatedeterrent). It reminded me of a display I attendeda few years ago, when the setpiece—an "enemy ammunition dump"—wasabout to be decimated by an attacking force of bombers (I seem to rememberthat they were Tiger Moths). The commentator spent a full five minutesbuilding up the tension, and then the formation came in sight, a good threemiles away. At that instant there was a shattering detonation, and flame, smoke,wood and canvas shot skyward. Was the loudspeaker voice dismayed ?Not a bit. "Ektually," it said (it was that sort of voice), "these would bevery high-speed aircraft, and they would take the enemy completely by surprise,as we've just shown you." He probably got a job afterwardswith BBC Outside Broadcasts. • I quote the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury: "A missile was successfully sent from a launching pad at RAF North Luffenham on Wed- nesday and safely reached its destination,Vandenberg air base in California, USA." • Extracts: (1) "The kite was in use in Chinacertainly as early as the fourth century B.C. . . . From the earliest times, evenB.C., there has been a tradition that man-lifting kites were used . . . but it isdifficult to establish any facts about them. However, the Chinese werecertainly ingenious enough and brave enough to have experimented withthem, and may well have succeeded." Charles Gibbs-Smith in "The Aero-plane, an Historical Survey" published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.) (2) "Kite-flying, a favourite pastime among the Chinese, has been banned in certain areas of Hong Kong because it might endanger aircraft landing at Kai Tak Airport. The areas in which the ban is to operate are on the approach path to the airport where aircraft sweep low over the urban district of Kowloon. A Government spokesman, however, reminded the Hong Kong public that the flying of kites at any altitude is prohibited within a three-mile radius of the airport. The Government was particularly concerned with kite-flying near the approaches to the runway, he said." (News release from Hong Kong Government Information Services.) • Displayed at a recent Boy Scouts' jamborette (sic) at Chiswick was this (apparent) Turbulent. A notice read: "This aircraft is an exact, full-size replica, or near enough exact, of a Druine Turbulent and the following materials went into its construc- tion: 51b of one inch nails; 15 sheets of thin plywood; 400ft of wood; one gallon of paint (free); 61b of self - raising flour; 16ft of con- duit; 3 doz copies of The News of the World; instru- ments & wind- screen by courtesy of Rollason Air- craft & Engines Ltd; propeller by courtesy of Fairey Aviation Ltd ; wheels on loan; plus 5,000 man hours of work by the scouts, senior scouts, scouters and ex-scouters of the Sixth Brent- ford Air Scout Group. Total cost £8 10s 6d." / thought you would like to meet the famous French aeronaut Count Henry de la Vaux in his survival suit. This is another picture from "The Autocar" archives and bears the date September 21, 1907. The original caption reads: "A French aeroplanist ready for flight or a fall" • Those whisky bottles at LondonAirport have been described in the House of Lords as "an architecturaloutrage" by Lord Conesford, who has demanded their immediate removal."Why did the Government," asked Lord Conesford, "employ a distin-guished architect like Mr Gibberd to design the building and then disfigurehis work by such an architectural outrage ?" But it was the following exchangethat nearly made Uncle Roger reach for his hip-flask: Lord Conesford: "Mr Gibberd is amember of the Royal Fine Arts Com- mission and is outraged by what hasbeen done. Can we have the name of the firm of consulting architects whoapproved ?" EarlJellicoe: "I do not know whetherI should disclose this, but the firm was Mr Gibberd's own firm." (Laughter.) ROGER BACON
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
