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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2214.PDF
JGHT International, 6 August 1964 227 people with views as strong as my own were to put those views forcefully forward, someone, somewhere, would be forced to sit up and take notice and something would have to be done. London, SW1 W. H. LOVELOCK A Biography of C. S. Rolls From Lord Montagu of Beaulieu SIR,—I am engaged in the writing of a biography of the Hon C. S. Rolls, and would be grateful for any information relating to his career, including photographs and corres- pondence. All material lent will, of course, be returned. Should any of your readers have any information of this nature, perhaps they could write to me at The Montagu Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Hants. MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU The Men from the Ministry SIR,—Mr E. F. Allchin's letter printed in your issue of July 2, and your addendum, will be read by a great many private pilots. The reference to "chairborne Ministerial types" may well be unfair, but this is so often brought about by letters from the Ministry and restrictions by them which seem to prove that they are completely out of touch and sympathy with the modern light aeroplane and private flying in 1964. I am sure the Ministry are anxious to be "with it" and to prove that they are. Definite evidence of recent flying experience in light aeroplanes by the men at the top would help a lot. In America and France the "men from the Ministry" are seen frequently wherever light aeroplanes assemble. This is not so in this country. Claygate, Surrey -»..:;_ NORMAN JONES Flying for the Fashion Trade - SIR,—I plead for a hearing on the No 1 point made by Sir Vernon Brown ("Letters," July 16). Sir Vernon asks who advised the Minister in favour of an SST, and Mrs Jo Grimond asked in The Times on July 17: "whose interests are really served by supersonic commercial aircraft ?" It so happens that I have a great deal to do with the world of fashion. This strange world has an enormous air travel factor, collectively; a necessity to travel a la mode in the latest and best and (of course) only first class; links with all the key cities of Europe; in general knows nothing of the technical qualities of the aircraft used and does not care a hoot whether the aircraft is made in Britain or Basutoland; is loth to waste time, working always at high pressure and with tens of millions of textile investment at stake. This specialist world is rich in the sense that it will pay for first- class service without demur but with the demand that it shall be truly first class. I point to the fashion trade's needs for the express purpose of bringing their requirements to the aircraft constructors who are rather inclined to design and make an airliner and only then think (if at all) that the operating airline is dealing with human beings as opposed to personnel units to be cribbed, cabined and confined like sardines in a tin. These choosey passengers have two questions uppermost in mind: Is the aircraft safe? How soon does it get there (be it Paris or New York or anywhere else)? These two questions are inter-related: if the airliner A gets to destination quicker than airliner B then the argument is that that means less time in flight "at risk," and so A is always preferable to B. Technic- ally, the argument is illogical; but we are dealing with non- technical, illogical, people whose sole reason for flying is that they can get the travel part of their job over quickly whilst wearing their finery in a manner impossible by train and ship. People living lives of high tension find the "mobile storage" hours by train and ship a mental burden which air travel disperses because the misery is over quickly and they are too frightened to enjoy air travel and only want to get out of the metal box as soon as possible. It can therefore be predicted on a "fear of being airborne" basis that the Concord will attract all those who want to get the misery over as soon as possible. To such passengers a sonic bang on the earthbound mortals is of no consequence. Such passengers may not openly say so, but their thinking is: "All you have to put up with is a harmless noise, whereas I am risking my life in this damned thing! Surely you can put up with a little so that we can reduce the time in which our lives are at hazard ?" By the same token, it can be predicted that there will be trouble ahead for airliners boasting of their hands-off, blind- landing and take-off qualities. People are not such mugs as to accept without question the assurances of technicians that all will be well in thick fog, rain storms, snow and hail, as control of the airliner will be removed from the pilot. They remember other promises of technical prowess that failed, and will require all the more subtle arts of publicity to sell them the idea of automatic landing and take-off. Indeed, even with today's airliners the Vanguard claims many passengers on the London - Paris run because they hate the steep climb of the Caravelle on take-off and also because (quite illogically) it seems to them safer to fly at 16,000ft than at 30,000ft. What the airline operators need is to have in mind the human aspect of air travel as well as the technical. Never, as far as I know, have any regular and genuine air travellers been given a chance to voice opinion on a new airliner before it is finalized. My suggestion, therefore, is that there should be a Roster of Seasoned Birdmen to be compiled from engineers, accountants, the world of fashion, not forgetting the Old Ladies' Association and someone bright like Lady Lewisham and others as air-indoctrinated as Foreign Office and United Nations representatives. These and others acquainted with the human side of air travel should be invited to attend a mock-up conference and give their frank opinions without fear or favour before The Thing is commit- ted to production. With such a jury I would predict aston- ishment on the faces of designers of airliners (all down the ranks of the D.O. mystique) who have never travelled by air as an ordinary passenger and have never dealt in practice with the things they are designing from theory. The way to circumvent so much of public misunderstanding and irritation is to take the public into the "picture" at an early stage in the mock-up conferences. London NW2 B. J. HURREN Recent Russian Space Activity SIR,—You are to be congratulated on the "Spacecraft Scoreboard 1964," recently published. An interesting point which becomes apparent is the frequency of Cosmos launchings between October 1963 and July 1964. In a short period of nine months, 13 launches are listed. Assuming the launches use the Vostok-type booster, this is a truly remarkable rate of launching and shows intense activity. It is interesting to ponder the object of this activity follow- ing, as it does, on six successful Vostok launches. Does it signify serious problems, or preparation for a major advance in space exploration ? London SE23 c. p. WILSON "All-Weather Mac" SIR,—I missed Geoffrey Dorman's letter in your issue of January 23, and only recently has my attention been drawn to it. It was a fascinating mixture of personal reference, criticism, error and false presumption; the whole dish well spiced with vinegar and a drop or two of oil. May I, even at this date, reply to the points he raised? His avuncular reference to he and I tottering round Croy- don Aerodrome, sticky hands clasped together, is possibly evocative of a sentiment of sorts but is entirely irrelevant. His message seems to be that to record events accurately one must of necessity be an on-the-spot eye-witness. No his- torian would agree with him and his own reporting denies it. When, on October 20,1921, R. H. Mclntosh made his famous
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