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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0082.PDF
50 SURVEY SEA8ON . FUGHT International, 14 January I96S since 1960. At one time (up to the end of 1951), airborne photo- graphy was provided by the RAF; subsequently—until 1962— various Doves, and occasionally a Prince, from the MoA Flying Unit at Stansted were employed. In 1963 these air- craft were augmented by another Dove, G-AROG, chartered for four months and sub-contracted to Huntings. In 1964, in addition to aircraft on MoA contract (one Dove, G-ANUW, on a full-time basis and two—G-ANAP and G-ALFU—on an "oppor- tunity" basis for sorties from Stansted when required), the Survey employed one Hunting Surveys machine—a Prince, G-ALRY. Each photographic aircraft operating for the Survey is supplied with a pilot and navigator, whilst the Ordnance Survey provides the camera operator and two cameras—of 12in and 6in focal length. The Prince, operating mainly from Inverness, had 6in Wild RC8R and 12in Williamson F.49 cameras; the MoA Dove sited at Blackpool, 6.3in Williamson F.49 and 12in Zeiss RMK cameras together with a 6in Hilger and Watts F.I05 camera for part of the season; while the MoA Doves at Stansted had two Williamson F.49s, of 6.3 and 12in. A single film on an F.49 has 180 exposures, whi le the Zeiss film has 470. The fixed-wing aircraft operating over the West Highlands area— which is described by Survey officers as "the most difficult target in Scotland"—have been photographing from 14,000ft above sea level. For this type of work, freedom from cloud cover or haze is essential; and as clouds are companions of mountains the number of days when conditions were suitable was very limited—five or six days in the year. Even if the aircraft got to the right position to start a photographic run, it might then have to return to base empty-handed. These photographic machines were therefore uneconomic in strictly commercial terms, but implied a vast saving in time to the Survey in terms of what they produced when conditions were favourable. A few hours' flying can provide months of work for the plotting instruments at Chessington. It is fair to say that the use of helicopters has revolutionized the transporting of surveyors and their equipment in such an area as the Western Highlands. At the Ordnance Survey's headquarters officials agree that, while the cost per hour is high, the use of a helicopter brings about an overall saving in time, with the result that costs are about the same in country most suitable to the helicopter method. The advantage gained is speed, for, whereas before the surveyors had to travel by vehicle—and then probably on foot— to the point where they wished to work, now the helicopter carries one or more surveyors directly to the appropriate location: it can drop one and come back for him, and sometimes a surveyor can do his work white still airborne. Ordnance Survey officers have nothing but praise for the helicopter pilots: "they have geared themselves to our requirements—they almost became surveyors themselves." This was the first time the Ordnance Survey had used helicopters for this purpose, though such machines had been employed pre- viously for positioning concrete pillars marking triangulation points. Last year's contract with Helicopter Services specified 250hr flying Actual time was 234hr 45min—most of it by one aircraft. The two Bell 47s initially employed were first based at Ullapool A Bell 47 of Helicopter Air Services on work for the Ordnance Survey. The scene is Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands in Ross and Cromarty, from May 4 to 21; then one of them moved to Kinlochewe (farther south in the county) where it stayed until June 9, when it was withdrawn. The other aircraft, which did the bulk of the flying, moved from Ullapool northwards to Lochinver in Sutherland on May 21; then on June 6 it went from there to Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, and finally on July 4 northwards to Aultbea, Ross and Cromarty, where it was used until July 31 and subsequently from September 7 to 16. Each of the two heli- copters, G-ARXH and G-AODK, had its own pilot (respectively Mr R. M. Fryer and Mr R. A. Lister) and was supported by a mechanic, spares vehicle and fuel supply. During these summer months the Ordnance Survey men in the Highlands worked a seven-day week, from dawn to dusk each day. Air reconnaissance in an area was followed by a survey flight; then the helicopter transported the surveyors to wherever each man wanted to work on his field document (a piece of astrafoil with existing features already delineated, on which changes or additions can be drawn); finally there would be an examination flight, a more senior surveyor checking the work that had been done. This was the pattern of daily activity in last season's contribution to the re-survey of the Western Highlands—the first time helicopters had been used by the Survey for what they call "field completion," which precedes the actual process of drawing and printing new maps. Ordnance Survey work on re-surveying the Highlands is con- tinuing until the 1970s and helicopters will be used again this year. Photographic and other survey work which was done over Scotland and elsewhere during the 1964 season is now being pro- cessed by the map-makers at Ordnance Survey headquarters. Application of aircraft to the Survey's work has meant a tremen- dous saving in effort in re-surveying the United Kingdom for new maps, and the Survey has confirmed its belief in the use of airborne methods by considering the placing of contracts for three aircraft to be used in this coming season's work. H.W. Left, Hilger & Watts F.I05 camera and Zeiss IRO intervalometer mounted in a Dove aircraft Right, MrJ. £. G. Pierpoint, an Ordnance Survey camera operator, using the equipment
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