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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0191.PDF
FiJGHT International, 7 February 1963 -AIR C BOAC-CUNARD: A POSTPONEMENT BOAC-CUNARD has asked the US Civil Aeronautics Board for an "indefinite postponement" of the date set for the "pre-hearing conference" into its application for a US foreign carrier permit (Flight International, December 27, page 1003). A date of January 24 had been set by the Board for the pre hearing conference, in the course of which it is usual for the appli cants, objectors and the Board to sort out procedural matters. A BOAC spokesman in London said: "We have accepted the CAB's suggestion to change our application. By putting our application in a different form we believe that the formalities may well be speeded up." No indication could be given of what changes have been suggested by the CAB. It is believed, however, that the CAB has pointed out to BOAC that the new company need not proceed immediately with its application for a completely new foreign carrier permit, as it may be permissible to continue to operate by an amendment to existing permits. Intervening in the case in addition to, as already reported, Caledonian Airways and Mackey Airlines, are Seaboard World Airlines. Seaboard contend that they have "a substantial financial and property interest in the matters at issue" because these concern the transatlantic routes which constitute Seaboard's basic route system and, that the grant of the requested authority to BOAC- Cunard would have "a severe adverse effect" on Seaboard's .nterests. Surprisingly, neither PanAm nor TWA has so far in tervened. Caledonian have recently submitted a revised application to intervene, setting out in detail their interest in the matter. SAA's ROUTE TO EUROPE A BILATERAL agreement between Portugal and South Africa is due to be discussed shortly. If the negotiations are satisfactory, the Portuguese airline TAP will be able to call at Johannesburg on the route to Laurenco Marques in Mozambique. Because of UN threats against South African Airways' aircraft flying over hostile African territories, an SAA DC-7B was recently flown to London over an all-Portuguese route via Luanda (Angola), Sal (one of the Cape Verde Islands), and Lisbon. The test flight followed an announcement by the South African Minister of Transport that SAA would use a different route to overseas destinations if African states carried out their UN threats to close their airports to South African aircraft. The main runways at Luanda Airport are being lengthened to take the biggest jets and, although the runway length at Sal is only 6,600ft, Boeing 707 intercontinenetal jets will be able to land and take off there—but they will probably have to limit the number of passengers in the aircraft. SUPERSONIC FACTS AND FIGURES FROM time to time various hitherto unpublished facts about the Anglo-French Concorde project come to light from various official sources, and it is as well to put them on record as they occur. According to Aviation Week, General Andre Puget, president of Sud-Aviation, said in New York that the direct operating cost is estimated to be $1.50-$2.00 per nautical mile (9s-12s per statute mile) based on ranges of 1,000 miles and over. Seat-mile cost would therefore, it was estimated, be l£-2 cents per nautical mile. In subsonic operation, Gen Puget is reported to have said, operating costs would be 10-15 per cent higher than with present jets. Because structure temperature was expected to reach 130°C in the cruise, duralumin would not be used. Instead the structure would be made of an aluminium alloy designated AU2GN (RR58), as used for the construction of forgings for jet-engine components. 181 O M M E R C E Tests showed that after 10,000hr of heat exposure, AU2GN at 130°C retained 90 per cent of the ultimate strength it had at 25°C. Duralumin under the same conditions retained 75 per cent of ultimate strength. Stainless steel would be used for the six elevons and the rudder. Apart from the landing gear, the main difference between the "British" long-range version and "French" version would be that the long-range version would have extra tanks in the wings and reduced cargo area to compensate for the added weight. The long-range version would also have a larger vertical fin. In a written reply in the House of Commons Mr Neil Marten, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Aviation, said that the British Government's contribution in 1963 to the project was likely to be between £4m and £5m. WALK-ON TO RIO A REMARKABLE example of airline co-operation is in evidence on the "walk-on" services linking Rio and Sao Paulo. Promoted as Ponte Aerea it is a combined operation by Vasp, Cruzeiro do Sul and Varig, and is billed as the "easiest, quickest and most economical system of travelling in the world." Types used are not mentioned, but are presumed to be Convairs and Scandias. A formidable frequency of service is mounted by the three air lines—20 return flights a day—and bookings are handled through one telephone number in Rio and another in Sao Paulo. The single fare is Crs4,000, about 35s—a rate of less than 2d per mile for the 220-mile journey. This must be one of the cheapest as well as simplest air services in the world. These NASA-designed supersonic airliner wind tunnel models are two of the four to be studied by Boeing and Lockheed, as reported in a note on page ISO of last week's issue. The two companies have each received a $500,000 contract for feasibility studies
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