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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0698.PDF
670 FLIGHT International, 9 May 1963 AIR COMMERCE . . . Cargo, More Cargo, Supercargo THE PURSER AND HIS VALUE LONG established in shipping, pursers have had a less certain career in aviation. They have disappeared from British aircraft, but some American carriers continue to make use of them and Qantas have found their re-introduction worthwhile. As the size of aircraft and the volume of deadload grows, it is pertinent to examine the economics of the system, but first it is necessary to consider the functions the purser can usefully perform. Loading the Holds At the risk of stressing the obvious, we may begin by observing that aircraft fly most efficiently with the centre of gravity in a predetermined position. Faulty trim caused by the positioning of the load can result in a nose-down or tail-down tendency which has to be corrected by displacement of the control surfaces and by use of increased power. The greater drag created leads to reduced range, increased fuel consumption and a reduction in cruising speed; but, within limits, this is acceptable as consuming fuel causes movement of the e.g. and load has to be positioned to keep it within these limits. On single-stage flights all load is put aboard at the point of origin and removed at the first point of landing, so a simple problem of elementary mechanics results—that of balancing the load before the e.g. with a similar amount aft. Nonetheless there is a limitation in that all load is not similar; it consists of four main divisions, passengers, baggage, mail and freight, and these last three must be available for disembarkation in the order in which they are required. Passengers cannot be kept waiting for baggage nor the postal authorities for the removal of cargo before accepting their mails. These categories of deadload must be separated; but to load each into different compartments is impracticable, as the proportions vary between flights, and it is quicker to load and unload two or three compartments simultaneously. Other priorities also occur; Press material and film may be wanted immediately upon arrival and must be placed close to the hatches; valuable cargo may demand special handling; radio-active cargo must be stowed clear of certain other load; and livestock must be kept in the warmer, airier parts of the hold. These complications call for a certain amount of juggling with the space available to ensure economical balance and orderly availability at the point of discharge. The difficulties accumulate when multi-stage journeys are involved, for the balance must be preserved and provision made for discharge load to be available whilst uplifted load is stowed to maintain the logical pattern. Two additional factors are movement of load in flight, usually caused by inertial forces on take-off and landing, and a tendency to "settle" in flight. The former can be controlled by netting the holds, but the latter only by restowage of the load at intermediate stops. These are the factors; what of the problem as faced by the airline staff responsible for weight and balance ? A typical operation is a flight from London to Sydney via Rome, Beirut, Karachi, Calcutta, Rangoon, Singapore, Djakarta and Darwin with full traffic rights. Treating baggage, mail and freight between London and Rome as three "parcels" and London - Beirut as three more, there are 129 different parcels. London loads 27 of these and on arrival at Rome, the London - Rome parcels must be available by the hatches in the right order. Rome has 24 parcels to load but must place those for Calcutta in the same area as London - Calcutta and Rome - Singa pore with London - Singapore, etc. London must stow its load for Rome to enable this to be done; so, theoretically, London - Rome load must be stowed in eight different locations. Given three holds (two is more usual), stowage fore and aft of the hatch allows only six areas, and it would be fortuitous if the load off were equal to the uplift. Such procedures are covered by averages; and, as the weakness is the rarity of the average, a factor must be built in to allow for variations. This leads either to inability to clear all the load or to waste of the space which proves to be available. In practice, the load will be put aboard somewhere, somehow, wherever there may be a few cubic inches, so that progressively the holds become more of a pot-pourri of baggage, cargo and mail of differing origin and varied destination, and any logical pattern disappears. Delays accumulate whilst endeavours are made to discover the discharge; further capacity is lost through hurried restowage, packages are damaged, and labels are torn or defaced. Load may even be carried beyond its destination, with consequent backhaul (at the carrier's expense), additional ground handling and loss of goodwill. The Function of the Purser Into this medley steps the purser, to restore a semblance of order and regularity, travelling with the aircraft and superintending the loading. Initially he is no better placed than the man remaining on the ground after departure, excepting that he is able to prepare the weight and balance and loading plan at the aircraft, modifying this on the evidence of the load itself. On departure he knows details of the stowage, the volume, what the load looks like, and whether it will cause problems on discharge. This knowledge travels with him, so that he can plan the stowage disregarding logical sequence which can be restored at another stop or which will cause no difficulty at other ports of call. Difficulty arises over the length of a duty period, for the big advantage conferred by the purser is continuity; he has loaded the aircraft, travelled with it and trimmed it, but he cannot remain on duty for the full length of a multi-stage long-haul flight. An incoming purser can brief his on-going colleague by any variety of notation or diagram; and at exchange points the hatches will be open enabling a restricted visual appreciation. It may be inexpedient to change pursers with the rest of the crew, and on the route quoted Karachi and Singapore are reasonable points in view of elapsed times now achieved. The purser can eliminate certain functions that would otherwise be the responsibility of the ground organization. Cargo can be loaded by destination on to vehicles and delivered to the aircraft side. Advice over the company's domestic frequency of the weight and volume by destination enables a provisional loading pattern to be prepared before arrival, and the fuel uplift can also be determined. The desirability of excess fuel on economy grounds can be settled prior to landing, and full advantage taken of favourable prices. The whole process of passing through a scheduled stop is simplified and ground time is reduced to the minimum for load change and fuel uplift. Other Flight Duties What other tasks can the purser perform during flight ? A high degree of passenger service can be provided, giving attention to travellers of particular importance, to enquiries concerning future reservations or, in the event of time lost en route,
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