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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0507.PDF
FLIGHT International, 5 April 1962 505 ANGLO-FRENCH SUPERSONICS THOUGH carefully couched in the conditional tense, last week's statement from the Ministry of Aviation about the Anglo-French supersonic transport is the most positive yet issued. Announcing that Mr Peter Thorneycroft and his French colleague M Buron met on March 26 in London, the statement says that the joint out line project by BAC and Sud—called for at the two ministers' previous meeting in Paris—had been "completed satisfactorily." Principles which "might govern a co-operative programme on a 50-50 basis, and under a joint management structure," had been agreed. For the first time official reference is made to the fact that the design study is for a 100-seat Mach 2-plus aircraft which could be produced in two versions, one for medium hauls and the other for transatlantic operation. HORIZON IN FOCUS WHILE the official inquiry into the BEA Comet 4B accident at Ankara last December continues, Flight Safety Focus is giving currency to hints on the use of director horizon instruments. After the accident, it will be recalled, a warning was issued to all Comet operators that pilots should not rely solely on this instrument for pitch indication. The implications of that statement were con sidered by a discussion group of the Flight Safety Committee (which publishes Flight Safety Focus) and in the current issue of that valu able publication some of the points made are summarized. It is suggested that: (1) For flight well clear of the ground (i.e., the climb, en route or approach phases, when there is reasonable time for cross-check ing of instruments), director-type artificial horizons with associated failure-warnings can be used with adequate safety. The margin of safety is less if the instrument is used as a primary aid for transi tion from the take-off run into the initial climb, a period of time of 10-15sec. Reliability then becomes highly significant. (2) The take-off of high-performance aircraft calls for abrupt transition from ground run to climb, with close control of airspeed for performance, structural and noise-restriction reasons. In low visibility or darkness this demands reliance on instruments for quick and accurate determination of attitude. (3) It is possible that when no warning flag shows on an instru ment a busy pilot will unconsciously accept that the indication is reliable, even though he knows that the flag can indicate only certain kinds of failure—and flags have been known to stick. (4) Comparator warnings which show that the captain's and co pilot's similar instruments are out of agreement require time to assess—the pilot has to make cross-checks with other instru ments before deciding which indication to reject. (5) The director-type artificial horizon, having an expanded vertical scale to permit more accurate indication of attitude, pre sents an appearance slightly different from that of the standard artificial horizon normally provided as stand-by off the main flying panel. This might embarrass swift cross-checking. (6) Cross-checking of the director-type artificial horizon by other instruments during the immediate climb away of a jet aircraft is made difficult by the need to change attitude to achieve the required airspeeds and by the lag of the other instruments. Other actions necessary during the take-off sequence, together with possible dis tractions from ATC, interfere with the scanning process. Stall-warning indications may be of little help to a pilot if his aircraft is in a steeply nose-up attitude and entering a dynamic stall. PHANTOM-BOOKING FINES BEA's proposals for fining "no-show" passengers on domestic services from November next have been filed with the Air Transport Licensing Board, even though the corporation has no obligation to do so. The proposals follow closely the publication of a repre sentation to the ATLB by a group of businessmen complaining about inadequacy of BEA services (see last week's issue); and they come shortly before the opening of BEA's appeal against, inter alia, the award of domestic licences to Cunard Eagle. The proposed "no-show" fine could be as much as £2; and a cancel lation could cost a passenger £1. No-show fines are distasteful not only to passengers, but also to the airlines, especially to those like BEA who take pride in their reservations systems. But fines can deter those phantom bookers who depress load factors and effectively reduce the number of seats available. They are less distasteful to the public when, as in America, such fines are accompanied by compensation for passengers who have been overbooked. And of course no-show fines will not be needed when BEA introduce, as eventually they must, no-reser vations services. BOAC ENCOURAGES LINGUISTS A FOREIGN language proficiency allowance is being awarded by BOAC to encourage the wider use of foreign languages by its employees. Tests to establish the linguistic proficiency of staff who come into contact with passengers and other members of the public have been started by the corporation in conjunction with the Institute of Linguists. Those who pass the tests successfully may receive a foreign-language proficiency allowance. UK-based staff who are required to use foreign languages frequently in the course of their duties will be eligible for this allowance; they include stewards and stewardesses and some people in the corporation's traffic and sales branches. The languages for which allowances are being given fall into two groups. The first of these includes French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, and 7s 6d a week will be paid for the first language in which proficiency is attained and 5s a week for each additional language in the group. The second group will comprise more difficult languages, each of which will qualify for 7s 6d a week proficiency allowance up to a maximum payment of £1 10s weekly for a combination of languages from both groups. The tests are being conducted at London Airport by accredited examiners of the Institute of Linguists. Luxembourg Airlines, hitherto a ground handling company, began operating services as the national flag carrier on April I. This Luxair DC-4 was observed to be in remarkably clean condition on a recent visit to Heathrow—even the tyres were polished. The aircraftwas formerly ZS-CIH ofTrek Airways, whose Johannesburg-Europe services terminate for convenience in Luxembourg. One Friendship 100 is also operated, and a second is on order for delivery next year
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