FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0141.PDF
CHT Internationa! THURSDAY 21 JANUARY 1965 Number 2915 Volume 87 Official Orcan of th« Royal Aero Club First Aeronautical WMkly in the World Founded in 1909 Editor-in-Chief MAURICE A. SMITH arc Editor J. M. RAMSDEN Assistant Editors MARK LAMBERT BA KENNETH OWEN BSC DCA6 AFRAeS Air Transport Editor H. A. TAYLOR Production Editor ROY CASEY Managing Director H. N. PRIAULX MBE In this issue World News 8O Air Transport 83 Furnishing and Finishing:: Special Feature 91 Mariner to Mars 1OO Saab Draken in the Air 102 Sport and Business 108 Industry International 110 Letters 112 Spaceflight 113 Defence 118 Straight and Level 122 Iliffe Transport Publications Ltd., DorsetHouse, Stamford Street, London, SE1; telephone Waterloo 3333 (STD.01).Telegrams/Telex: Flight Iliffepres, 25137 London. Annual subscriptions: Home£415s. Overseas £5 5s. Canada and USA 115.00. Second Class Mail privilegesauthorized at 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 HopeStreet, Glasgow C2; telephone Central 1265-6. Bristol, 11 Marsh Street, Bristol1; telephone Bristol 21491/2. New York, NY: Thomas Skinner & Co(Publishers) Ltd, 111 Broadway 6; telephone Digby 9-1197.© Iliffe Transport Publications Ltd, 1965. Permission to reproduce illustra-tions and letterpress can be granted only under written agreement. Brief extractsor comments may be made with due acknowledgement. The One-way Escalator ...W HEN the last Minister of Aviation was reminded that he had estimated £400m for the cost of TSR.2, he replied with a defensive grin: "I can't remember, but whatever I said stands" (Flight, October 1, page 577). This particular Minister is no more to blame for the present industry crisis than the four other Ministers who at various times have been responsible for TSR.2. But such indifference to cost must have played its part. Any business that neglects to control expenditure very soon finds itself moving on a one-way escalator towards trouble. And in aviation the trouble can be big, because the sums nowadays involved are vast and not easy to predict (though they are not as difficult as is often suggested). This means that as much care has to be given to the financial side as to the technical side. Growth of pounds sterling should be as great a cause for concern in design offices as growth of pounds avoirdupois. The formula for what Mr McNamara calls cost-effectiveness can be spelt out. First, the objective has to be clearly defined. Whether the project is civil or military, this definition can only be done by the potential operator. An economist once decreed that governments should employ men to dig holes and fill them in again rather than to have them out of work; but it is usually better to employ them in doing something useful. Either way, the objective must be clearly stated, agreed and understood. And, where public money is involved, objectives that are defined and justified in public will be better objectives. . . . And How to Get off It Next, the feasibility studies and cost estimates should be carefully and realistically drawn up. Here the customer is very much in the hands of the contractors—of whom there must be at least two eager to get the job. The present Minister is known to have said that it may be better for the nation to have one major airframe manufacturer instead of two, and one major engine manufacturer instead of two. He will get the best value for money if there is always more than one contractor keen to put in a tender. Again, published cost estimates tend to be more realistic than secret ones; and they are likely to be even more realistic if the con- tractor has to share part of the risk with the taxpayer, and if he has to carry the penalties of escalation. Lastly, when the costing is done resources can be allocated. Budgetary control, and the modern management techniques like PERT and CPM that give it precision, can obviously only begin with a budget. No com- pany can be held to account for exceeding a budget which—as in the case of TSR.2—it has never been given. And just as objective-definition and cost-estimation should be open, so too should budgetary control. When control begins to run away the flashing of a warning light is the surest way to avoid disaster and to ensure smooth, stable progress towards the objective. How the British aircraft industry yearns for that. These are the lessons which the present crisis teaches. Lord Plowden and his committee could usefully devote themselves to working out the detailed formulae by which they could be applied.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
