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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0002.PDF
2 FLIGHT International, 3 January 1963 WORLD E W S Supersonics in the House So many are the problems concerning the Anglo-French supersonic airliner that the Government should publish an account of all the facts in a White Paper. This was suggested in the House of Commons just before Christmas by Mr Eric Lubbock (Lib, Orpington) in a short debate on the super sonic airliner. Members contributing to the discussion had clearly done their homework well, for as one of them said: "We have to depend on the Press for our information on this subject because the Minister has given us very little to go on." Not all the questions were answered by the new Parliamentary' Secretary Mr Neil Marten. For example, Mr Lubbock quoted the estimate of Dr A. E. Russell (deputy- technical director of the project) that the passenger-mile cost of the SST will be 1.12d compared with 1.25d of the subsonic jet. Mr Godfrey Lee, Handley Page's deputy chief engineer, had given the subsonic cost as l.ld and the SST as 1.4d. Dr Russell had dismissed the possibility of further reductions in subsonic costs which he thought would be more than outweighed by increases in selling price. Mr Lubbock thought this "an entirely spurious argu ment." Furthermore, Mr Bo Lundberg had estimated that subsonic operating costs could be reduced by 20 per cent by 1970. Mr Lubbock said: "I hope that we shall not be given a lot of sales talk about the cost being 'in line with the best subsonic jets of the present time.' We want to see the cal culations," he said. "And I should like to emphasize that the cost must not be in line with present-day subsonic jets but with jets which will be flying in 1970." That had been made quite clear by Sir Matthew Slattery. In his reply at the end of the debate Mr Neil Marten said that the operating cost of the SST on ranges over 1,500 miles "should be comparable with current subsonic jets." He did not propose to quote the figures "because it must be remembered this is an aircraft which the British Aircraft Corpora tion plans to sell commercially in the markets of the world." He knew that hon Members would like to have more informa tion "but we live in a commercial world." Mr Rankin (Lab, Glasgow Govan) re called how 15 years ago he had urged in the House development of an aeroplane able to be operated at low, stable fares. Fantastic speeds and fares alone, he said, "will not feed the thousands who work regularly in the aviation industry." He expressed the hope that pressure would not be exerted on BOAC to fly an uneconomic SST, the corporation afterwards being criticized for its losses. Mr John Cronin (Lab, Loughborough) noted that if the SST were to have the same passenger-mile costs as the Boeing 707, it would have to have a per-mile cost of 12s compared with £1. A BOAC statement made about the SST, said Mr Cronin. meant that the corporation wished to be assured that the aircraft would not have any serious competition for about seven years, the normal accounting period. In the face of the American threat this seemed to be rather doubtful. Perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary would clear it up? Mr Neil Marten said: "Admittedly the Americans have greater resources but we think they have not yet decided whether to build such an aircraft." It was "premature" to quote an estimated price for the SST and also to dis cuss the arrangements for BAC and Bristol Siddeley contributions. Of the possible market Mr Marten included Qantas as an airline which had "shown a keen interest in the project." In conclusion he believed that "we must grab this opportunity with both hands and dash away with the prize." knighthood for J. D. Pearson The New Year Honours—published as we go to press—include a knighthood for Mr J. D. Pearson, chief executive and deputy chairman of Rolls-Royce Ltd. Among other members of the industry honoured is Mr Bernard Boxall, chairman of Scottish Aviation Ltd, who is made a CBE, as is Mr A. H. Cooper, technical director of EMI Electronics Ltd. Honours in the military divisions of the list include the appointment as GCB of Air Chief Marshal Sir Edmund Hudleston, AOC-in-C RAF Transport Command. A more detailed summary will be given in these pages next week. Third VCIO G-ARVB, the second dickers-Armstrongs VCIO for BOAC, made its first flight at Weybridge on December 21 with chief test pilot Jock Bryce in charge. The flrst two—G-ARTA, company-owned, and G-ARVA, BOAC's first—have meanwhile completed over I80hr, and the latest aircraft completes the planned trio of fully instrumented VCIOs '
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