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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2041.PDF
62 FLIGHT International, 9 July 196-s Aircraft on the final assembly line, two- and sometimes'three-abreast WHICH, TO WHOM, AND WHY? many people die far away from their birthplace, but still want to be buried there. Regulations for the transport of bodies by train or airline are severely restricting and the special crates required are too large for all but the big-jet freight compartments. Yet United Air Lines carried no fewer than 300 bodies out of Chicago alone during April this year. An obvious answer is a small aircraft specially adapted to carry a normal coffin, and a "mortician's kit" has accordingly been produced for the Cessna 206, in the form of a platform and tie-down arrangement for the tasteful and convenient carriage of a coffin. There is no need for intermediate stowage of the body in the special crate—and the mortician at the location of the death can supply the coffin. In their foreign markets Cessna first assess the overall factors. Sales are inversely proportional to the economic self-sufficiency of the area and the quality of its surface communications. Europe on both counts is a fairly poor market and Cessna found there was insufficient "exposure" to warrant five distributors all keeping a complete range of types for demonstration. They therefore set up a central dealership of their own in Geneva and, because local Swiss conditions became restrictive, they have recently moved to Brussels national airport. In the Europe, United Kingdom, Scandinavian area (Cessna's Region 4) they sold 157 aircraft last year Piper's 178. But Piper had sold twice as many as they in 1962 Cessna's unit sales in area 4 increased 27 per cent last year ant; should increase 15 per cent this year, with a target of 180 sales. Bu the best export markets are Australia, now producing 120-130 sale a year, the Argentine, Brazil—except for a temporary recession a the moment—and Africa, which is still wide open. Cessna an about to set up a new sales region stretching from Turkey, through the Middle East and India into Burma. "On-purpose research" for these export markets is to begin next year, following the pattern already applied in the USA. Looking further into the future, Cessna are already considering the effect of their hoped-for increased sales on the traffic and airport situation and have definite ideas on requirements. The bottleneck will be the landing acceptance rate of airports and Cessna advocate use of parallel runways except where a satellite airfield can offer the same aids and facilities as the main field. European rules and regu- lations are regarded, in the most tactful way possible, as severely limiting, but the acceptance of the new Cessna base at Brussels national airport, with clearance even for non-radio departures, is regarded as a significant and valuable step forward. But the apparently vast domestic sales market is by no means rosy, according to Cessna. Growth and attrition are major sales influences. Though half the present US single-engined aircraft fleet was built before 1950—a fact abundantly evident on almost any small airfield in the USA—it takes only 1.4 to 1.7 new aircraft to make good attrition and increase the total fleet by one aircraft. In other words, 4,760 new aircraft per year would ensure that the total fleet increased by 2,880 aircraft per year, which would satisfy the US Office of Policy Development forecast of a 3.4 per cent growth per year for the next five years. But this is less than the 5.9 per cent growth experienced during the last five years and would actually produce a 30 per cent decrease in annual sales. Obviously, the officially estimated growth rate must be exceeded by a wide margin. Cessna are now engaged in a major direct and indirect publicity The heart of Cessna's value per mile formula. The various factors art resolved into a total valuation of time and cost when using a business aircraft instead of airline transport campaign to attract more people to flying—especially young people, women and Second World War veterans now reaching high-income status. Despite favourable social and commercial conditions, there were 40,000 fewer active private pilots last year than in 1955 and The twin-engine assembly line in Cessna's newly built Multi-Engined Division factory at Wichita Municipal Airport
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