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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0385.PDF
FIIGHT International, 385 15 March 1962 Hardly, at first sight, a candidate for the Air Commerce pages of this journal; yet this is Latecoire's test vehicle for a French air mail rocket, developed for the Centre National d'Etudes de Telecommunications (CNET). A successful drop and I km glide from a Lancaster at 2,000ft have recently been achieved. The French are planning to develop a proper mail rocket capable of carrying payloads of more than 1,0001b over distances of about 300 miles AIR CO E R C E VISCOUNT IS THE MOST ACCORDING to the president of United Air Lines, Mr William Patterson, the 47 Vickers Viscounts absorbed by UAL with Capital Airlines will be retained "indefinitely" in the United fleet. As quoted by Aviation Week, Mr Patterson speaks warmly Of the Viscount, despite an initial lack of enthusiasm. Six of the 15 Viscounts returned to Vickers under the merger terms have been called back, apparently because the Viscount was originally mis judged by United on the basis of its performance with Capital. Flown at lower power settings, in strict accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, the Viscount has, says Mr Patterson, proved to be one of the most economic and mechanically reliable aircraft in the United fleet. Former Capital maintenance people say that the aircraft had been flown by Capital at higher power settings, presumably to increase cruising speed, but these were lowered on Rolls-Royce's recommen- • dation after a series of turbine blade failures. Efficiency improved but the change was not recorded in the manuals and was not known to United at the time of the merger. The manuals are now being brought up to date. Basic overhaul life of the Dart engine in United service is 3,300hr with 4,380hr on the airframe, the longest times-between-overhaul of any United aircraft. THE NAVIGATORS v. DOPPLER AMONG those present at this year's recent twelfth annual conven tion of International Airline Navigators' Council were members from the following airlines: Air France, BOAC, Sabena, Swissair, El Al, Air-India, Lufthansa, Qantas, United Air Lines, Trans- Canada, Canadian Pacific, Cunard Eagle, SAS, Trans World Airlines, South African Airways, Seaboard World, Aer Lingus and British United Airways. The meeting took place in London at the Mount Royal Hotel. This Council is an association of professional air navigators from most world airlines, and its aim is to maintain the highest profes sional standards throughout its member groups—and through these groups to support high navigation standards in the airline business. The Council sends representatives to all the appropriate meetings of ICAO and keeps in touch with other international and national bodies. Much of the business of the recent particular convention was to do with the Council's domestic affairs; but one matter of general interest was a recommendation for reduced flight separations on long-haul routes. This was rejected by the Council on the grounds that the existing separations are only barely adequate to cope with the poor navigation standards of some airlines. These low stand ards were attributed to: (1) a tendency to ignore the importance to safety and economy of accurate navigation; (2) poorly equipped navigation stations on board aircraft; (3) pressures to dispose of the navigator; and (4) the feeling that the automatic navigator, e.g., Doppler, is just around the corner. The newly-elected chairman of the Council, Mr V. Pitcher, had this to say about Doppler: "Improved navigational aids are at last becoming available, and in the hands of skilled and experi enced operators would both improve the accuracy of aircraft naviga tion, and perhaps at last enable reductions in lateral separations to be made . . . Military aircraft possess more advanced equipment than do civil aircraft, and still employ specialist navigators to operate that equipment, for accurate navigation is essential for the military to find their targets. It would appear to be of greater importance to achieve precision in dropping bombs to kill people than to guide passengers to their destinations with maximum safety ... It is of the utmost importance that airline companies and governments be convinced that equipment such as Doppler can be Charles Butler, left, the well-known airliner interior designer, is res ponsible for styling the interior of the BAC One-Eleven. With him in the mock-up at Weybridge is Mr Alex Howie, Vickers' chief furnishing designer. Charles Butler has designed interiors for a number of Vis counts, for TCA's Vanguards, and he has recently completed the interior styling of the VCIO
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