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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1059.PDF
1028 FLIGHT International, 27 June 1963 One of the Zodiac ER.3 inflatable rescue pontoons, lift long and 9ft wide, capable of carrying about 30 people Right, Zodiac PKV inflatable raft powered by a 65 h.p. outboard motor and used for carrying two ER.3 Zodiac inflatable rafts to the scene of a ditching Below, one of several snowploughs exhibited at Geneva. This one, made by Robert Aebi AC, is normally based at Zurich Airport Ground Equipment at Geneva . . . a single hydraulic jack on each side acting through A-frames which protrude above the lowered ramp (which is only 18in above the ground). Power for the Hylo Mark II is provided by a Coventry Victor petrol engine which drives two hydraulic pumps, one for raising the loader, the other for moving it by means of a hydraulically driven wheel. Lifting and lowering of the ramp takes 40sec for each manoeuvre, and the loader can also be accurately positioned against an aircraft with side loading doors. Since there is no such thing as an aircraft with a truly level floor (because of tarmac drains and other irregularities) Aviation Traders are developing a Hylo Mark III with a platform fully adjustable in all three planes. A light-weight ramp, known as the Mark V, for lifting 5,0001b and operating on the same principle, is being proposed for loading baggage, catering stores and light freight. Aviation Traders are virtually alone in manufacturing this kind of equipment, which although originally designed with the Carvair in mind, is obviously going to find a much wider market. A number of firms were exhibiting lifting vans mounted on con ventional commercial vehicle chassis. Among these were Bennes Marrel, who have been in the business for eight years and have supplied vehicles to six international airlines. They offer lifting vans (suitably insulated for conveying catering supplies) with or without sides for freight and for loads varying between one and five tons. Also well known for supplying lifting vans are Rootes. who were showing a five-ton chassis equipped with a high-lift van body by Palmer, raised by Edbro hydraulic scissors. The van floor has an elevating range of from 4ft 6in to 13ft. In the smaller sizes of lifting equipment for handling baggage, light freight, and catering, manufacturers have shown considerable ingenuity in overcoming the problems set them by aircraft designers who at times seem to have been determined that their aircraft should not be loaded at all. Well known in this field, and exhibiting, were H. W. Edghill Equipment Ltd, who make two electrically driven baggage conveyors —the Type 2A, capable of carrying 1,0001b, adjustable between 5ft 7in and 8ft 6in; and the Type 2B, for carrying 8001b, adjustable between 7ft lin and 9ft lOin. Freeh Brothers manufacture a wide range of mobile baggage conveyors and lighter-weight catering lifters. Their conveyor belt comes in two versions of different lengths for belly or cabin loading, and the company also make a special version for loading through ventral stairways of aircraft like the Caravelle and Boeing 727. Power for the Freeh conveyors is provided by petrol engines. The belly conveyor is able to lift 2,0001b, and the cabin version 2,3001b. Thimon SA were exhibiting a somewhat larger conveyor and also capable of being driven at higher speed than most of the comparable products, but corres pondingly more expensive to buy and operate. Another device originally developed for a specific aircraft and now finding wide acceptance is Whirworth Gloster's Rolamat cargo-loading system. The principal feature of Rolamat is its low height for the loads that it can carry while still offering virtually frictionless movement. BEA have completely fitted their freight shed at London Airport with this system, and it is also used by a number of other airlines and industrial concerns. In any discussion of airport equipment, passenger steps probably spring to most people's minds first of all. At Geneva there were plenty to choose from. Displaying the traditional Italian flair for elegant design, Officine Aeronavali had some very streamlined mobile stairs on show. Dahms & Cie, H. W. Edghill, Freeh, and S. T. M. Oliver also showed models, photographs or actual stairs. AIRCRAFT SERVICING EQUIPMENT Ground-power units were displayed by Aviquipo-France, Guinault & Cie, Hispano- Suiza, Houchin (this firm's vehicle drove all the way from Ashford,
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