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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1057.PDF
'LIGHT, 3 August 1961 159 Correspondence The Editor of "Flight'' is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by co-respondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. ATLB Public Meeting No 21 From Gp Capt John A. McDonald, CBE, AFC. (Retd). WHEN a retired officer like me writes to the Editor most peoplesay he has nothing better to do, or that he is indulging inanother bout of exhibitionism. At the risk of being so labelled may 1 give you my impressionson the recent trial of strength between BEA and British United heard by (as I thought) an often confused and at times bewilderedLicensing Board? My first impression is the cost to the partici- pants of a hearing which carried on for weeks, absorbing the timeof so many highly placed executives and bringing in its train a mass of charts and data (some of it not always accurate and, likemost statistics, at times misleading). Behind BEA's view that an iron curtain should protect theirEuropean routes against predatory incursions by the independents, and British United's counter-claim that competition on the mainroutes would be in the public interest and would generate new traffic, there seems to me to be one datum not mentioned at thehearing, and on which everything hinges: "are strong indepen- dents a recognized part of the Government's policy for civilaviation?" What is the answer to that? Have we forgotten that only ten years ago Airwork were flyingwith RAF roundels and with their crews in RAF uniform on flights to the Middle East? Have we forgotten that the indepen-dents carried more than half the load on the Berlin Airlift? Have we forgotten the independents" part in the Suez and more recentMiddle East operations? In the present international climate surely the independents arean essential reserve to Transport Command (assuming the Cor- porations would be under Government control for special duties). A strong independent group cannot live on traffic crumbs thatfall from the Corporations' table, or should the independents be dependent on buying fully amortized aircraft thrown up for saleby the Corporations? Isn't it incumbent on the Government to see that the independent group (whose existence it sponsored) getsthe business it needs to keep it sound and healthy? If you accept this premise it is then a question of ways and means, and no sacredcows like "bilateral agreements" should be allowed to obscure the aim. The independents must have some scheduled services tolive on, and they need not clash with BEA's main flag routes. A scheduled service to Italy need not terminate at Rome or Milan,or a scheduled service to Spain at Madrid or Barcelona. There are other points already extensively in use, especially for touristtraffic. My impression is that public meeting No 21 need never havetaken place at all. There are too many problems already facing civil aviation for time and money to be wasted on internecinewarfare—that is what it is. One is left with the feeling that, even if the problem bristles with difficulties (which it does), a littlepatience and some give-and-take round the conference table would have been a far better method, and one more in keeping with thedignity and tradition of the service. Pinner, Middx JOHN A. MCDONALD Railways and the Air FOR once I think that Roger Bacon has forgotten his history. Inthe first paragraph of "Straight and Level" in your issue ofJune 29 he asks the intelligent question of whether the railways are thinking of getting into the air, forgetting, perhaps, that they havealready tried to do it. Not only were Railway Air Services operated in conjunction withImperial Airways before the war, but the original concept of BEA involved joint ownership by the railways, coastal shipping andBOAC. A lot of planning was done on that basis, but a Labour Government quickly stopped the idea. That is now all water over the dam, and the important point isreally that the passenger should have the choice. If he chooses air, then the railways have every reason to curtail passenger services ifthey do not pay their wav. Fundamentally, each method of trans- port should aim at providing the type of service which it is best atdoing, and if the railways cannot continue to attract passenger traffic, which is certainly what has happened to a great extent inUSA, they would be wise to stop trying to do so. This is painful but true. Montreal, Quebec J. W. S. BRANCKER Short 184 ("225") and disinterested dog, circa 1914. (See Mr John Stroud's perceptive study, "What about Airedales?", below) "Of What Use is a New-born Babe?" WITH regard to the use of a new-born baby, there are twopoints which can be established. First, having gone through Cayley's manuscripts and published works in some detailover the past months I can assure your readers that he never men- tioned a baby in this connection. Second, there is very goodauthority for Benjamin Franklin having said the famous words. Having witnessed the ascent of the trial hydrogen balloon(designed by J. A. C. Charles) from the Champ de Mars on August 27, 1783, someone asked what good could a balloon be. Franklinanswered in French (his French was excellent): "Eh, a quoi bon l'enfant qui vient de naitre?" This neat remark went round Parislike wildfire, and was repeated by Baron von Grimm in letters to various people at the time (see Baron von Grimm, and others,Correspondence Litteraire, Philosophique et Critique, 16 vols, Paris, J 877-82). I do not know whether Faraday used the same words, or similar;but the idea might quite easily come to a number of people on a number of occasions, without any imitation of one by the others.London Wl CHARLES H. GIBBS-SMITH What About Airedales ?i IN the chapter on the Wright brothers in the book The GoodYears the author, Walter Lord, states that two small boys anda dog turned up to watch the Wrights" first attempt to fly their powered aircraft. On that occasion The Flyer lifted but did notfly; and it is particularly significant therefore that no dog has been mentioned as being among the spectators at the time of the firstsuccessful flight three days later. I believe now that this first failure of the Wrights made a bigimpact on the subsequent attitude of dogs towards powered flight; but having received my first hint of this from The Good Years Idecided to do some research on dogs in aviation. My studies have led me to some fairly definite conclusions. In fact I am sure that,with the exception of a few eccentrics, dogs believe only in vertical take-off and landing. There is plenty of evidence to support thisview. Dogs really seem only to have turned up regularly to watch balloons and helicopters, although there are some traces of someslight interest in marine aircraft. On the occasions when they have bothered to go out and watch fixed-wing aeroplanes it would seemthat this has either been because of sheer boredom or in the line of duty. The first evidence of dogs' aeronautical interest is in old prints andtakes us as far back as the flight of Icarus, for in an illustration of that event two dogs can be seen watching this first instance ofaeronautical structural failure. Again, we find that on November 21, 1783, when Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes setoff from the Bois de Boulogne on the first aerial voyage ever made by human beings, a small white dog watched them go. When, in the same year, Charles and Robert's balloon landedin the country it was attacked by peasants with pitchforks and guns. In the old print depicting this scene another dog is to be seen "rightpitched-in" as it were; but, regrettably, it cannot be ascertained whether the dog was attacking or defending the balloon. Obviouslya film or a strip cartoon would have settled this question, and could be the reason why film is now used so widely on such occasions.Whatever the attitude of that particular hound, there is evidence in old French prints that on almost every ballooning occasion thedogs were on the sidelines. Although there is such overwhelming evidence of canine supportfor ballooning I have found absolutely no evidence that any dog ever showed the slightest interest in airships. This would seem tohave been the cat's domain, for it is on record that a tabby kitten was discovered on board the R 34 during the first-ever flight west-ward across the North Atlantic. Gliding had a brief attraction for the Friend of Man and there is
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