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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0855.PDF
853 FLIGHT International, 31 May 1962 Over ninety 200W iodine-vapour quartz tamps have been undergoing an eight-month test in the visual approach system at Luton airport and have been pronounced "a great success." These lamps, made by Osram (G.E.C.) Ltd, are stated to give 15 per cent more light than conventional filament lamps, to have twice their life, and to be smaller in size up to the time of going to press, has been dry, enabling the neces sary controlled degree of artificial wetness to be applied, although a strong wind on the first day—coupled with the apparently good drainage properties of the runway concerned—tended to disperse the water rather more quickly than was desirable. The runway was chosen because it is long, in constant use by airliners which leave slicks of rubber and oil, enabling the trials to show how a "dirty" runway compares with "clean" runways. In previous tests with the Swift, and with a Convair 880 by the FAA, it has been found that runway coefficient of friction, and consequently the braking capability of an aeroplane, is less than the values that have been traditionally used in design. Also, coef ficients when measured by a road vehicle are about twice the values as measured by an aeroplane; and one problem is to find out why this is so and how the two measurements can be made compatible. The answers to questions whether runway surfaces should be concrete or asphalt, and whether they should be smooth or grooved, are also being obtained. There are indications that asphalt is better than concrete and that, possibly, lateral grooves will raise the brak ing force coefficient of a slippery runway but may have little effect on a rough runway. The presence of water is detrimental to braking, in proportion to the depth of water, and the phenomenon of hydroplaning (which requires a greater depth than has been used in the Heathrow tests) is soon to be investigated at Vickers' South Marston airfield. So far as the aeroplane itself is concerned, "high hysteriesis" rubber tyres (as used in motor racing) have been tested on the Swift and have shown an improvement over other types. These tyres are made from a rubber which absorbs distortion and other forms of energy. Research to date has also shown that increasing the number of wheels does not, other things being equal, increase braking effect; and the theory that bogie undercarriages carrying two pairs of wheels in line give better braking (because the front pair clear away the water and enable the rear pair to get a better grip) does not appear, as it were, to hold water; research may show that coaxial wheels achieve better braking. From Jersey to New Jersey: Pan American won the contract for a recent charter calling for 47 Jersey cattle—bulls, cows, heifers and calves—to be flown from Jersey for an auction in New Jersey on June 23. On arrival it was found that one calf had been added to the consignment imAm&?* Other factors that have been established are: (1) The lower the tyre pressure the greater the braking effect; (2) the lighter the aero plane the greater the chance of hydroplaning, though this is only due to the fact that lighter aircraft used lower pressure tyres; (3) the higher the speed the lower the coefficient of friction; (4) higher braking efficiency is achieved with an anti-skid unit which holds the skid at about 10-20 per cent slip; (5) braking effect increases with the number of ribs and other cuts in the tyre, but unfortunately this increases tyre wear which on a short-haul airliner, landing two or more times an hour, must be kept low. BRITAIN GETS TOUGH IF the Americans do not grant Cunard Eagle their long-sought North Atlantic charter rights by June 15, the Ministry of Aviation may—and the emphasis is on the word may—refuse UK landing rights to American charter operators. This is believed to be the first time that the increasingly contentious feelings on traffic rights between the USA and the UK have reached the point where the extreme sanction is a real possibility. The background to this unhappy story is long and highly com plex, involving US law which the UK seems to feel should not be exported. Patience with the CAB evidently became exhausted by the Board's continued refusal to grant Cunard Eagle access to North Atlantic charter traffic—access which is enjoyed, to an unlimited degree, by the US supplemental carriers. This year six US supplemental carriers, including Riddle, FlyingTiger, California - Hawaiian and Capitol, have a programme of about 100 round trip charter flights between the US and the UK—about the same number as last year. Matters came to a head when the CAB announced that it proposed to grant Caledonian Airways a foreign air carrier permit, under Section 402 of the Federal Aeronautics Act, while continuing to insist that Cunard Eagle's charter mileage should be limited to 10 per cent of the associated Cunard Eagle companies' operations into US points (Bermuda - New York, Bahamas - Miami). This 10 per cent limitation is applied by the CAB to off route charters only by certificated scheduled carriers, both US and foreign. For example, BO AC and PanAm can operate any amount of charters on the scheduled routes for which they are certificated, but only 10 per cent of their total scheduled mileage on off route charters. In practice, of course, this imposes no off-route charter limitation on the scheduled carriers, so great is their scheduled mileage. The limitation is basically intended to protect the non-scheduled carriers' charter business, on which the US imposes no limitation —and the speedy US decision to allow Caledonian a charter permit in itself suggests that the Americans are not being obstruc tive towards CEA just for the sake of being obstructive; they are sticking to their book of rules. It is this, and not the feeling that the Americans are being perverse, that is causing all the friction. The British side will reveal nothing of the negotiations that have been going on in London with the American team led by Mr Henry Snowden of the State Department. But a little research into US law suggests two arguments that the British side, with respect for the US position, may well have deployed:— (1) The US 10 per cent limitation is an arbitrary interpretation of Part 207 of the CAB Economic Regulations; the CAB is itself on record with the following statement (Foreign Off-Route Charter Service Investigation, Order No E-12945, August 12,1958, page 17): "We also agree with the examiner that no specific numerical limi tation should be placed on the amount of off route charter services a foreign air carrier will be permitted to perform." (2) There is nothing in the CAB's Regulations, or in any inter-
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