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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1270.PDF
122 FLIGHT International, 26 July 196 To date the East African Directorate of Civil Aviation's DH Heron 2£ has flown about 300,000 miles since it replaced the DCA's old Anson in 1957. The aircraft is used for the calibration and checking of navigational aids throughout East Africa, in Aden and the Rhodesias, and also for instrument-rating tests of all local pilots except those of EAAC. The aircraft is seen here parked in from of the Dar-es-Salaam Airport terminal AIR COMMERCE summer. About 70 round trips will be made including flights to Canada which are already operated under Canadian approval. All this will be done under Caledonian's ATLB E-licence. Caledonian have been flying their DC-7C since April at a very high utilization, the remarkable figure of 387hr having been achi eved in June, an average of nearly 13hr a day. The aircraft is on lease from Sabena for two years, with an option to extend for one year at a time and an option to purchase at any time. All mainte nance is sub-contracted to Sabena in an arrangement which ap pears to have worked very satisfactorily, as is evident from Sabena's willingness to supply further aircraft on similar terms as and when required. The Belgian airline has helped Caledonian with pilot training, both in the air and in the classroom, though Caledonian is now carrying out its own flight training and checking. A Cale donian spokesman has described the arrangement with Sabena as "the best offered"; the company is not necessarily tied to the Belgian airline. Before concluding their agreement with Sabena, Caledonian are said to have approached 49 other carriers for DC-6/7 type equipment. The first airline approached was BO AC; though very- helpful in the supply of technical information, the corporation was not interested in either leasing or maintaining DC-7Cs. Caledonian's issued share capital is about £54,000, with £250,000 authorized. According to the managing director, Mr John de la Haye, the company is able to draw on large financial resources, as has been established by both the ATLB and the CAB in their investigations of the company's financial fitness. Mr Max Wilson, who obtained a majority shareholding in October 1961, sold out last April and the majority shareholder is now Airways Interests (Thomson) Ltd. a company registered in Scotland, which holds all the voting shares and in which the working directors are share holders. Scottish-American interests hold shares in the company also, though these are non-voting. When asked how Caledonian hopes to succeed where so many other independents have failed, Mr de la Haye says: "With our type of overheads, 45 employees and a flying rate of some 200hr a month, you can keep the operation ticking nicely until you are ready for expansion. We came in with a new kind of operation— long-haul charter work with modern four-engined pressurized equipment, not short-haul seasonal work with older types. We reckoned that there was a demand and I think we have been proved right. And I believe we have established a very good reputation with all our suppliers." Asked whether he shared with other independents the view that the Ministry of Aviation is obstructive and unhelpful in its dealings with the smaller operators, Mr de la Haye says: "We have nothing but good to say of all our dealings with the Ministry." Caledonian occupy one floor of an attractive new block of modern office buildings in Horley, near Gatwick Airport. Mr de la Haye was formerly with Cunard Eagle (which he describes as "the best training ground anyone could have"); Capt Thompson, deputy managing director and in charge of operations, was formerly with BEA and Silver City. The address of the company is Imperial Building, Horley, Surrey, telephone Horley 4446. TRIDENT FUEL MANAGEMENT A DIAGRAM opposite illustrates for the first time the layout of the DH Trident fuel system. There are five tanks, as shown. Each inboard wing tank feeds the engine on its own side, and the outboard wing tanks—each about half the capacity of the inboard tanks—are combined through an equalizer to feed the centre engine. When the centre tank is in use it feeds the centre engine alone or all three engines together. DH claim that this system permits all but the longest flights to be operated without the need for fuel management. Independent or common feed is controlled by a single cross-feed valve and the operation of fuel supply pumps in the tanks; there are no supply cocks. The tanks are integral throughout, with internal protection against corrosion. Two tank supply pumps and an engine-driven backing pump feed fuel to the high-pressure pump on each engine. Failure of one low-pressure pump does not impair engine performance. If both supply pumps in one tank were to fail the engine-driven backing pump would meet normal engine requirements under average conditions up to 30,000ft. There is accurate contents gauging within expected attitude limits. Non-drip magnetic level indicators also are provided. Refuelling is not necessary at every halt because the Trident is designed to land at a high weight. When refuelling is needed it is expected to be a very quick operation, and for an aircraft with empty tanks it can be accomplished in just over 11 minutes after connection of the hoses. The fuel quantity input is pre-set. Skyways have enlarged once again their attractive passenger terminal building at Lympne, the flying base for the company's Avro 748 Coach Air Service. Another wing has been added, as shown here, to acccmno- date passengers—some 600,000 of whom have so far used the London • Paris service
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