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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0771.PDF
742 FLIGHT International, 23 May 1963 Culmination: Ivor Lusty signs the bill of sale on behalf of BOAC-Cunard. With him is Rill Carlyon, Boeing sales executive The author of this article, which describes in detail the acceptance test flight and handing over of the final Boeing 707-420 for BOAC- Cunard, is head editorial artist to the publishers of this journal. His main assignment in Seattle was to prepare the cutaway drawing of the Boeing 727 published in our issue of May 9. He also took the photographs which illustrate the present article. On the Dotted Line BY ARTHUR BOWBEER JUST what lies behind the familiar picture of smiling repre sentatives of manufacturer and customer celebrating the delivery of a new airliner? How much test or acceptance flying does a production transport get? To what extent does the customer participate in this phase ? What exactly are the documents that change hands ? At which moment does the customer actually assume ownership? With the co-operation of a manufacturer, Boeing's Transport Division, and a customer, BOAC-Cunard, 1 was recently able to watch the whole process. Key character in the local handling was BOAC's plant repre sentative, Ivor Lusty (see "Plant Representative," Flight, May 13, 1960). The account which follows is written after following-through the work of Mr Lusty and others during the days prior to delivery of the twentieth and last 707-420 operated by BOAC. We first saw the aircraft, G-ARRC, sitting in the sunshine at Renton, Washington, on March 1. It had not then flown, but its Rolls-Royce Conways were being run as it stood on the flight line, alongside 707s for Air France, PanA.m, and Western Airlines. -RC subsequently flew, as scheduled, on March 5, arriving at Boeing Field after being checked out in the air for 130min (Boeing Field lies about five miles further up the shore of Lake Washington, close to the centre of Seattle). Only routine snags were noted on -RC; and it is not unknown for a 707 or 720 to come off its first flight with a clean sheet—which, in view of its complexity, is almost incredible. On this occasion Boeing declared themselves basically satisfied with performance, and no "re-flight" was necessary. Upon this declaration a BOAC acceptance crew was signalled for by Hugh Hambling, Lusty's chief assistant; and they duly arrived from London via the corporation's San Francisco service on Tuesday, March 12. Meanwhile, rectification of the Boeing-reported snags was going on, together with some found by the customer's inspectors. In the latter stages of BOAC's repeat order for three 707-436 aircraft, the airline inspection staff at Renton consisted of Frank Slattery (no relation to the chairman), on airframes and engines, and John Wheatley on electronics and instruments, led throughout by Tom Gillan. During 1960, when the 15 aircraft of the original order were going through, the inspection force grew to seven, plus a project engineer. Not all customers elect to double-check the manufacturer's inspectors, but BOAC always feel this to be a worthwhile safeguard both for the taxpayer's money and for their own high reputation. Easy-to-see components are kept under daily surveillance long before assembly of the aircraft starts, and a happy working method has grown up whereby BOAC is called to inspect each structural area as it becomes due for final closure. This should ensure delivery of an aircraft as near to the customer's specification as humanly possible, with the risk of latent trouble reduced to the minimum. Tom Gillan describes Boeing quality-control as first-class, but admits that "We do find squawks." As lead-inspector he is respon sible for following-up the rectification of things found by his team, taking matters to the higher echelons in the Boeing chain of com mand when necessary, and only calling in the plant representative on the rare occasions when satisfaction is not readily obtained. On the Wednesday morning I joined the BOAC crew in the ready- room of the Flight Test Center at Boeing Field. Captain G. H. Easton, with senior engineers Draper and Perry, were to undertake the heavy duties of the acceptance test. Extensive ground-checks began around 0915hr, with -RC alive with manufacturer's and customer's personnel. Engines were started at 1045hr. With Boeing pilot Sandy McMurray in the right-hand seat, we rolled to the "downtown" end of the runway and took off. No sooner had the seat-belt warnings been cancelled than everyone aboard went into top gear, and for the next hour-and-a-half there followed a constant round of opening hatches, feeling sidewalls ("we sometimes get unequal temperature distribution") and operating lights and testing galley equipment—for which last duty a representative of the suppliers, Nordskog Co Inc, of Van Nuys, Calif, was aboard. Monitored by Boeing specialists, the BOAC flight crew were busy exercising every one of thousands of basic circuits and services, while McMurray dealt with routine flight-communications. When the time came for an oxygen test, -RC was taken up to flight-level 40 (40,000ft), with a cabin altitude of 14,000ft. All passenger emergency masks popped-out obligingly and were duly re-stowed. Mach 0.89 was noted during the descent to flight-level 34. Fuel was test-dumped from each tank in turn; the dump chutes emitted a contrail-like plume and were then allowed to drain for a minute or so before being retracted. The starboard chute failed to latch-up, and even a "bumping" imparted by the airbrakes failed to cancel the warning light. At a more comfortable altitude the Conways were shut down one by one, and re-lit in a routine manner; and then the 707 was firmly stalled for a stick-shaker test. Recalibration of the ADF—carried out around the Moses Lake area in eastern Washington- entailed flying cloverleaf patterns, gear down, around a beacon. This is a very recent FAA requirement, originally requested by BOAC. If found workable, it will enable the corporation to ferry a 707 with a retraction problem from (say) Rome to London with gear down and locked, and with passengers aboard—a distinct operatingadvantage. Around 1300hr, with tests completed, McMurray called "up to 20,000 and over the hill." Such is the jet-age language used to describe crossing the Cascades, which is no mean range by any standard, including as it does 14,000ft Mt Rainier. (continued on page 743) G-ARRC ready to leave Seattle for London ItlilS 0 " *
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