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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 2174.PDF
FLIGHT International, 12 December 1963 975 Letters Letters for these columns are welcomed, though "Flight Inter national" does not necessarily endorse the views expressed. Name and address should be given, not necessarily for publication in full. Brief letters will have a better chance of early publication. from the rear seat of another dual Spitfire by Gen Aler, former CAS, RNethAF. H-99 was subsequently sold for civilian training purposes and I believe was pranged in 1956 at Texel by a pilot who failed to lower the undercarriage. The aircraft was then apparently sold as scrap. Col van Arkel would be pleased to produce more information if required. The Hague, Netherlands j. c. BUTTON, Gp Capt, British Air Attache BOAC—Who Carries the Blame ? SIR,—Recent events have made it abundantly clear that the standards of those charged with exercising political power in this country have degenerated to an all-time low level. Sir Matthew Slattery, a forthright gentleman who has earned the respect and admiration of BOAC staff for his honest and determined stand against political meddling in the affairs of the corporation, is now denigrated and cast aside by the very people whose muddled thinking has almost destroyed the morale of an organization which has served this country well. BOAC staff have endured repeated external economy drives, whilst political conside ations have diverted vast sums of money outside the corporation. We have had investigations into our "inefficient" oper ations and public criticism of the most ill-informed type, which now culminates in the forced resignations of men of ability who have been placed in the unenviable position of trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. To clear the record, let us now have an investigation into the dubious motives behind the actions of those who pillory men of integrity. When public money is spent at the insti gation of politicians, then the responsibility must rest on the politicians. There is* something in this situation which calls for the strong light of public scrutiny. If politicians, irrespective of party, are permitted to perpetrate acts of gross injustice towards gentlemen of integrity, then honest men everywhere must hang their heads in shame or speak out loudly to prevent such actions. The Minister's Corbett Inquiry was totally unnecessary, as a full investigation by the Select Committee on the Nationalized Industries provided ample information on the reasons for BOAC's financial position. The report of this committee was published as a public document in May 1959. The appointment of Corbett by the Minister, to conduct an enquiry into a situation of which the facts were already well known, could be no more than a feeble political smoke screen which has been maintained for a period of sixteen months. This manoeuvre has now rebounded with a well-deserved belt in the Minister's political midriff and his subsequent squirmings reveal a tragic degree of Ministerial responsibility which splatters blame in every direction except that which points towards him or his predecessors. If the damaging slur cast on the management and staff of BOAC is to be removed, the Corbett Report must be published in full and the public made fully aware of the reasons for the unsatisfactory state of BOAC's finances. The responsibility for this state of affairs must be placed squarely where it belongs. In this country we demand a certain standard of ethical behaviour from those who exercise political power. Blatant disregard of this standard cannot be tolerated. The Minister's recent actions fall far short of the standard expected. Wokingham, Bucks WILLIAM MUIR, Engineer Officer, BOAC 707 Flight History of H-99 SIR— In reply to Mr Leslie Hunt's letter (October 17) it may interest him to know that within a couple of hours of seeing his letter in Flight International, I was talking to the pilot who flew H-99 from UK to Twente airfield in 1947. He is Col J. van Arkel, now commanding the RNethAF base at Eindhoven. I understand that three Spitfires of this type were acquired by the RNethAF for training purposes and based at Twente and that the actual photograph was taken Walrus Long in the Tusk SIR,—I read with interest a letter from W. R. Snadden (September 12, page 473) which gave details of the efforts to restore a Vickers-Supermarine Walrus to condition for showing in a museum. This letter stated that the particular Walrus in question, Irish Navy No L2301-N18, was probably the last Walrus in the world. You may be interested to know that this is not the case, as a fully airworthy Walrus, registration VH-ALB, is in fact flying in Australia to this day and is owned by Mr Robert Shute, P.O. Box 62, Fairfield, NSW. I do not think for one minute that Mr Shute would be interested in selling this aircraft for museum purposes, as it is actively operating on charter work. Melbourne, Victoria PETER J. GIBBES, Operations Manager Ansett-ANA SIR,—Readers may be interested to learn that a Walrus 1, Serial No AZ-4, is still registered in Australia as VH-ALB in the charter category. Powerplant is a Pegasus II M2. Present owners are Barrier Reef Flying Boat Service, Mackay, Queensland. Perhaps this is the last, or does some one know of another? Hobart, Tasmania D. M. BRUMBY Strike on Pompey? SIR,—I was most interested to see the "Under the Radar Screen" advertisement for the TSR.2 on pages 10-11 of your issue of November 14, 1963. Since the view is quite clearly of Portsmouth with the dockyard dead ahead, is this in any way a reflection of the attitude of the RAF of the future towards the RN? Boscombe Down, Wilts F. N. AYLING, Eng Lt, RN FORTHCOMING EVENTS Dec 12 RAeS: Fifty-second Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture, "A Time of Transition," by N. E. Rowe. Dec 12 RAeS, Cambridge Branch: "Passenger Services in Airline Operation," by E. P. Whitfield. Dec 12 RAeS, Glasgow Branch: "Conflict in the Sky," by W. T. Abbott. Dec 12 RAeS, Belfast Branch: Fourth Short Brothers Com memorative Lecture, "Some Views on Civil Aviation," by R. E. Hardingham. Dec 12 RAeS, Bristol Branch: Junior members' papers competition. Dec 13 SLAET: "Problems of Aircraft Structural Fatigue," by E. L. Ripley. Dec 13 RAeS, Reading Branch: Annual dinner and dance. Dec 16 RAeS Henlow Branch: Main Lecture, "Domain of the Convertible Rotor," by R. Hafner. Dec 16 Institute of Transport: a.g.m. Dec 17 RAeS: "Modern Methods of Investigating Flutter and Vibration" by H. Bitch. Dec 17 RAeS, Gloucester and Cheltenham Branch, and IEE: "Maintenance of Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Military Aircraft" by L. S. Byson. Dec 18 Royal United Service Institution: "Data Processing and Computing," by Lt-Cdr C. M. Jamieson. Dec 18 RAeS, Preston Branch: "Must Increases in Aircraft Performance mean Increases in Manufacturing Costs ?" by B. O. Heath and T. O. Williams. Dec 18 RAeS, Chester Branch: "Man-powered Flight," by E. C. Clear-Hill. Dec 18 RAeS, Isle of Wight Branch: Branch prize lectures.
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