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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0920.PDF
918 Letters The Editor of" Flight International" is not necessarily in agreement with the views expressed by correspondents in these columns. Names and addresses of writers, not for publication in detail, must in all cases accompany letters. PPL Fee SIR,—Not all your readers may be aware that under the Air Navigation (Fees) Regulations, 1962, which are about to come into force, the fee for issue or renewal of a Private Pilot's Licence will be increased to £2 from the present 5s. What possible justification can there be for this eight-fold increase? Civil servants have been subject to the pay pause for almost a year; the renewal of a car driving licence, involving a similar amount of clerical work, remains at five shillings; and the aircrew medical examination, which takes up to 20 minutes of one's doctor's time, rarely costs more than a guinea. One can only conclude that the increase forms part of the official policy of slowly driving the amateur pilot out of the air. Has the Ministry any other explanation ? Hove, Sussex T. B. A. BOUGHTON First Rear-engined Jet Aircraft SIR,—Roger Bacon claims (Flight International, May 10) that the Vickers Wellington W.5389/G of 1943 was the world's first rear-engined jet aircraft. In my Vickers collection I have a print of another Vickers Wellington II, X8570, also installed with a Rover-built Whittle W.28 gas turbine in its posterior. According to the caption, this aircraft first flew late in 1942. Regarding my letter (Flight International, April 19) about the speed at which the Italian PM.280 Tartuca was built, I have since dug up my own investigations—the Supennarine PB.9 Trainer of 1914, designed and built in seven days. Are there any contestants? I am most grateful to Roger Bacon for unearthing the other Wellington. Birmingham 14 MAURICE AUSTIN Who's Being Touchy Now? SIR,—How's this for inconsistency? On May 3, Roger Bacon complains about an influential business journal which reports that there will be "sighs of relief all round" if BAC and the MoA get their money back from the VC10. "Thanks ever so for a most helpful comment," says he. On May 10, Roger Bacon quotes some adulatory remarks about the Boeing 707 made by a senior BO AC flight engineer "after a heavy, hot temperature take-off using two-thirds of Nassau's 7,600-ft runway." Who's being helpful now? London SW2 GEOFFREY WALLER [Roger Bacon comments: Who's being touchy now?Praise for the 707 is not criticism of the VC10, is it /"—Ed.] Hats Off at LAP SIR,—I read with interest the letter from Mr P. T. Barker (May 17) concerning the hat-racks in Heathrow No 3 Passenger Building. He is obviously misguided as to the true purpose of these contraptions. My small god-daughter had the matter weighed up within minutes of entering the building on a recent visit. From twenty paces, the function of the contraptions was quite clear to her. Hopping from one foot to the other in general excitement, she asked for permission to "play on the swings." Chesham, Bucks BARBARA YOUNG FLIGHT International, 7 June 196 Airline Navigation SIR,—In a recent article (Airline Profile, Flight International, May 3) on United Arab Airlines, you quote Capt M. H. Shams, chief pilot and operations manager, as saying: "You need navigators in ships, but not in modern high-speed air craft fully equipped with radio and radar aids." I suggest Capt Shams takes his "modern," high-speed, 270kt, Mach 0.76 Comet 4C, with a three-man crew, minus a licensed flight navigator, on a night flight from Recife to Monrovia, and sees how easy it is to make a landfall 100 n.m. north of track, with a solid wall of cu-nims along the coast on arrival, the ADF needles pointing in all directions and the VOR out of range! Why not try the same thing in the South Pacific, or in mid-Atlantic; and how about a little Polar flight? When, in 1964, Capt Shams takes to the North Atlantic, in his new 485kt, Mach 0.85, fast-moving 707-320B, he will find that United Arab Airlines have to comply with ICAO's minimum standards of separation. When on his first Atlantic crossing, at 39,000ft, his ADF and VOR needles at rest for the past two hours, he sees his navigator retract his periscopic sextant, plot his fix and say: "Sir, you have 4° W deviation on No 1RMI, you are 5 n.m. left of track and your Doppler computer shows 67 n.m. right," Capt Shams will probably have a little more respect for our profes sion. WILLIAM G. COLEMAN Dublin Flight Navigator, Dublin Airport FAA Airfields 1939-45 SIR,—As an avid and regular reader of your excellent maga zine—and I mean that!—I wonder if I could ask you for help? For some time I have been compiling a history of the airfields in Britain 1939-45, but I have comparatively little on the Fleet Air Ann. Could I appeal to your readers for any knowledge they have of the units, duties and equipment of the Fleet Air Arm shore-based in the British Isles during World War Two ? This would be of immense help. "Kylemore," London Road, D. J. CORLEY Braintree, Essex IN BRIEF S. Lennart Embring, an 18-year-old Swedish private and glider pilot, would like to correspond with an aviation en thusiast in Britain or the Commonwealth. Besides flying, his interests are modern and Second World War aircraft. His address is Langseleringen 27, Vallingby, Sweden. FORTHCOMING EVENTS June 9-10 French Aero Club: Jaffeux-Tissot Challenge Cup Competition, Vittel. June 2-11 National Gliding Championships, Aston Down, Glos. June 11 Tiger Club: Display, Sywell, Northants. June 11 Air Displays: Hucknall and North Weald (RAFA); Yeadon (SSAFA). June 13 BIS: Symposium on the Generation of Power in Space. June 13 Kronfeld Club: Film Evening. June 15-17 Plymouth Air Rally. June 15-20 Aero Club of Portugal: Rally, Oporto. June 16 Royal Air Force: "Fifty Years of Military Aviation" Air Display and Static Show, Upavon, Wilts. June 16 Air Training Corps: Air Day and Fete, Swansea Airport. June 16-17 International Rally, Aosta. June 16-17 Sixteenth International Wine Rally, Angers. June 17-19 Oporto Aero Club: Third International Rally. June 18-20 BIS, Societe Francaise d'Astronautique and Eurospace: Symposium on Space Technology, Paris, Aug 16-18 Royal Aero Club: National Air Races, Coventry. Sept 3-9 SB AC Flying Display and Exhibition, Farnborough. Sept 15 RAF "At Home" Day.
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