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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1812.PDF
Official Organ ol tha Royal Asro Club First Aeronautical WMkly In tli» World Founded in 1MM THURSDAY JUNE 18, 1964 Number 2884 Volume 85 Editor-in-Chief MAURICE A. SMITH DFC Editor K. F. KINO MBE Technical Editor W. T.QUN8TON Air Transport Editor J. M. RAM8DEN Production Editor ROY CA8EY Managing Director H. N. PRIAULX MBE In this issue World News 996 Air Commerce 998 Air Safetyspecial feature 1OO5-1O16 Fete Aerienne at Cannes 1017 T64-B3 1019 F-111A and B 1024 A-7A 1O25 Straight and Level 1026 Letters 102 7 Boeing: 727 in the Air 1O29 Lockheed Trophy 1035 Sport and Business 1O36 Missiles and Space-flight 1039 Service Aviation 1043 Industry International 1044 Illtta Transport Publications Ltd., DorsetHouse, 8tamford Street, London, SE1; telephone Waterloo 3333 (Telex 25137).Telegrams Flightpres London Telex. Annual subscriptions: Home £4 15s.Overseas £5 5s. Canada and USA J15.00. Second Class Mall privileges authorizedat New York, NY. Branch Offices: Coventry, 8-10 Corpora-tion Street; telephone Coventry 25210. Birmingham, King Edward House, NewStreet, Birmingham 2; telephone Mid- land 7191. Manchester, 260 Deansgate,Manchester 3; telephone Blackfriars 4412 or Deansgate 3595. Glasgow, 123 HopeBtreet, Glasgow C2; telephone Central 1265-6. Bristol, 11 Harsh Street, Bristol1; telephone Bristol 21491/2. New York, NY: Thomas Skinner & Co(Publishers) Ltd, 111 Broadway 6; telephone Dlgby 9-1197.© Iliffe Transport Publication]) Ltd, 1964. Permission to reproduce illustra-tions and letterpress can be granted only under written agreement. Brief extractaor comments may be made with dun acknowledgement. Do You Want the Firmament ... TRANSPORTATION is Civilization" is a dictum not infrequentlyheard in the air transport councils of the world. It seems to have first appeared in 1909, in what purported to be an aeronautical magazine of the year 2000. This fascinating publication emerged a few months after the first issue of Flight, and in its production Rudyard Kipling appointed himself editor, contributor, advertisement manager and copywriter as occasion suited him. It is difficult to know in which capacity he enjoyed himself the more, or delivered himself of the greater sagacity. The phrase we quoted at the outset was, in fact, the motto of his fictional "Aerial Board of Control"; but it is not the enthusiasm for aerial transport as such that keeps his little jeu cTesprit as fresh today as the daisies on his Sussex downs. It is, rather, his particular concern for aerial SAFETY; and that is our own preoccupation in this issue. Creation of the omnipotent Board we have mentioned exemplified Kipling's insistence on international authority; but he had homely advice to offer when replying to readers' letters. One subscriber had apparently- been having trouble with his safety equipment, and we find the creator of The Jungle Books rising to the occasion like a lark. Thus: "EXCORIATED —All inflators chafe sooner or later. You must go on till your skin hardens by practice. Meantime Vaseline." The age-old problem of right-of-way (of which Kipling would have been keenly aware, for he was a pioneer motorist as well as aeronautical seer) was dealt with just as decisively. Thus: "EMERGENCY—There is only one rule of the road in air, earth and water. Do you want the firmament to yourself?" ... to Yourself? Yet we have to ask ourselves if the aeroplane has been nurtured with this same rightful preoccupation with safety while it has been establishing itself in public service and burgeoning into frantic growth. Perusal of this issue adds point to the question. When we read the jet airliner safety record to date (pages 1010-1013) we do not find ourselves rejoicing; nor can we view with any feeling of comfort the arrangements for accommodating passengers in some of the high-density jets—and for affording them the means of escape. There are numerous other aspects of safety which have no primary place in this particular issue but which consistently engage our attention. Not least of these is safety height. We do, in fact print an article on this theme (page 1012) written for us by one who was flying airliners before the war. Though mainly reminiscent, it comes not only as a gripping account of an accident in singular circumstances (happily without fatality), but as a reminder of the almost immeasurable improvements in flying aids since the 1930s. Yet on the topic of aids we observe, in introducing a notable article on pages 1015-1016, "The remarks concerning Decca are appropriate not because Decca is 'British and best,' but because it repre- sents the only viable system yet in existence and because it is now officially used in the UK airways system for parallel-track flying in opposing directions on national airways." It certainly appears that safety policy must harden all round. The chafing is acute. The time for Vaseline is past.
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