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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0796.PDF
FLIGHT International, 16 March 1964 455 $pZZ0TbamJ>VerC°'?e th,f<!lmand f°r ™*of which Tu-IO4s can be rolled for major checks more hangar space by inventing a covered maintenance dock into which ensure that a leader is properly briefed on the problems that really matter. At the same time they should enable him to keep himself generally and continuously informed on all developments and changes in a situation which may affect policy. Major issues can thus be kept in perspective and given the time and attention they deserve. Nevertheless, effective leadership requires at least some partici- pation in the actual formulation of policy. It cannot get by with simple choices between alternatives defined by other people, no matter how able the staff may be. Although the top man's mind and desk must be kept free of clutter so that he can see the wood for the trees, he must contribute to as well as understand the argu- ments, hear the alternatives properly debated and be completely unbiased in reaching carefully weighed decisions. Finally, he must never forget that an image of "unflappability" and stability of purpose at the top can be a major factor in maintaining confidence in any organization. Lord Douglas possesses all these qualities, but those who have watched him in action from close at hand would probably agree that he has one other important attribute perhaps even more valuable than knowing how and when to take a decision and then steadfastly to uphold it. This is his courage and skill in the much more difficult situation where a decision already taken must be reversed or completely altered because new information shows this to be necessary. Stubborn adherence to a wrong decision can, of course, have as serious consequences as failure to take a decision in the first place or being seen to lose confidence in that decision after it has been taken. Indeed, few situations are more difficult to deal with. BEA's chairman has invariably handled them without any suggestion of vacillation or loss of conviction. Lord Douglas is a distinguished member of that small elite of outstanding men which has provided the real leadership in this country during the past 50 years. Recent fashionable denigrators of Britain have implied that this country is finished and have claimed that her great men have almost all been inept. Such people seem to forget that these were the men who led us to victory in two World Wars and guided our military and civil destinies in peace as in war to such effect that this country has continued to provide moral and material leadership in an increasingly unsym- pathetic and competitive world. Britain has nothing to fear if succeeding generations can produce other men like this. THE YORKSHIRE AIRPORT REPORT A STUDY sponsored by the Yorkshire Airport Development Association published last week concludes that the lack of well sited civil airports in Yorkshire and the North East is seriously retarding the development of air transport services necessary to the area. To overcome the deficiency the report recommends the establishment of three new civil airports: at Middleton St George south of Darlington to serve the southern Tyne-Tees area; in the Ferrybridge area to serve South Yorkshire; and close to Hull. The existing Leeds/Bradford and Newcastle (Woolsington) airports in the West Riding and North Tees-Tyne areas respectively are criticized in the report for their inaccessible location relative to the industrial areas they serve and also for various practical difficulties in improving their facilities. While there are undoubtedly manyar eas in the United Kingdom similarly handicapped (the report comments on the poor siting of regional airports) the Yorkshire Development Association is to be congratulated in having its case professionally investigated and presented. The report comments on the need for this kind of work to be undertaken automatically by a national body. Faced with the impossible taks of locating one airport adequately to serve the two areas (adequacy being defined as within 45 minutes driving time) the team of economic and geographic researchers under Mr Alan Stratford have supported their bold proposals with a detailed study of the areas concerned. On the practical side the report investigates the task of converting the RAF airfield at Middleton St George, which the Air Ministry has offered to sell. The airfield already has a 7,500ft runway and it is said that the additional necessary facilities could be installed at very low cost. Centered on an urban population—within 45 minutes by road—of 670,000 (some of whom are also within easy reach of Woolsington Airport) the study team estimates that the number of passengers handled would be 148,000 a year within three years. Revenue would be £45,000 a year and the cost £31,000 per year. A southern regional airport is proposed rather than one located near a particular town. This it is felt would still be acceptably near to the important industrial areas whilst providing a service to a much bigger community. Although the best of the alternative locations for a South Yorkshire airport were found to be close to the intersection of the Al and the planned M62 the study concludes that no economic cost can be made out until the motorway is completed. One of the Development Association's early ideas— the conversion of Elvington, near York, into a civil airport—was studied, but it was found to be far from the centres of population and industry, coupled with the fact that the Air Ministry has no plans to release the airfield in the immediate future. A number of sites (Leconfield, Hedon, Pocklington and Brough) were considered as possible locations for a local airport serving Hull. From a traffic point of view the choice fell on Brough, and it is estimated that for £570,000 Brough airfield could be converted into a fully equipped civil airport with a 6,000ft runway (3,500ft at the moment). The report reckons that with energetic promotion 50,000 passengers would use a Hull airport each year, bearing in mind that the town has been completely by-passed in the develop- ment of air transport. An urban population of 540,000 lives within easy reach of Brough and the proposed new Humber Road Bridge would bring a further 200,000 urban dwellers within the airport's catchment area. An unexploited air cargo potential throughout the area was revealed by the team's cost studies and it is noted that local industry tends only to use air transport in emergencies. Total distribution costs have been computed on sample commodities (especially light engineering products and textiles) and a tentative case is made out for the lower overall cost of exporting 18 per cent of the air- transportable goods investigated. Less than 1 per cent of the estimated air cargo potential is at the moment passing through Yeadon or Woolsington although air cargo capacity has been limited by passenger aircraft service schedules and only recently has the first all-cargo aircraft gone into operation into these airports. The report, free to those who contribute to the Association, is on sale to the public (price 30s per copy) direct from the Yorkshire Airport Development Association Ltd, William House, Bedern, Goodramgate, York.
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