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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 1561.PDF
FLIGHT International, IS August l$68 and this in turn depends on the carriage of supplementary passengers. The Carvair has some flexibility, in that its con- figuration (five cars and 22 passengers or 2-3 cars and 55 passengers) can be changed over in about 40min. Experience has shown that cars are accompanied on average by 2± passengers, meaning that in the five-car configuration about ten additional passengers can be booked. The Rotterdam-Southend service is popular as a cheaper, if somewhat slower, alternative to direct Netherlands-London flights, and the Ostend-Southend route caters for the Belgian Arrow air/rail service between Brussels and London. About four of the eight daily Carvair services to Ostend in summer are run in the 55-seat configura- \ tion (there are 12-15 services on Saturday and Sunday).1 As for the carriage of cars, air fares are higher (although not always a lot higher) than sea fares and are likely to remain so; BAF feels that it is already charging the lowest practicable rates, although at the same time it is not anxious to raise them, in case the law of diminishing returns should operate. The airline now carries five per cent of the total vehicle traffic to the Continent, and, although in terms of the share.of the total this is a long way from the best days of the post-war period (27 per cent was the peak), it is a settled share of a growing market. It is in fact no longer a case of direct com- petition with surface routes; BAF caters for the motorist who is willing to pay a little extra for speed and personal service of a type impossible to provide at sea. Another strong point in BAF's favour is the rapid and individual handling of cars at airports—the entire aircraft load can on occasion be put through Customs in less than ten minutes. "We know," says Mr Leroy, "that there's an expanding market for motorists going abroad, and we know that there's a section of motorists who prefer flying." Leroy Travel (also an Air Holdings com- pany) is offering inclusive tours to motorists; they fly with BAF, and take advantage of substantially reduced hotel costs. This new departure has aroused widespread interest. t The figure of 25,000 tons of cargo expected to be carried • this year underlines the importance of this traffic to BAF. The 249 airline holds a number of contracts—such as the carriage of 100-150 tons of baggage a week on behalf of the Ministry of Defence for British Forces in Germany. Concentration on cargo charters (particularly at night) will help to increase utilisation. On scheduled routes, integrated road/air or rail/air services are offered, with the advantage of avoiding dockside delays while still not incurring the higher costs of air-freighting to destination. The Carvair has exceptional capacity for carry- ing bulky loads, and among possible developments now being studied closely is the carriage of container traffic. A relatively small modification to the aircraft (already made by Aviation Traders to the Ansett-ANA Carvairs) would allow standard pallets to be loaded. Looking at the future, the main problem—which Mr Platt agrees is a difficult one—is the replacement of the five Bristol Freighters. The spar lives of these are running to an end, although they will be able to continue in service until the end of 1971 at least. Modifications to prolong their lives would not be economical. At the moment there is no cut-and-dried answer to the problem. If necessary, says Mr Platt, the Carvairs could take over the Lydd operations after 1971, although they would admittedly not be at their most economical on such short routes (Lydd-Le Touquet is a 20min flight). The evaluation of possible replacement aircraft will of course continue, but it is still too early to make any forecasts as to the pattern of operations after 1971. There are no plans to develop BAF into a pre- dominantly passenger airline, with the jet equipment that this type of operation now implies; there are equally no plans for operating hovercraft—"but I don't look at the future nega- tively," says Mr Platt; "we'll know more about hovercraft this year, and we'll have a very good idea of their capabilities by the end of next." Observers have pointed out the possibili- ties of Lydd Airport as a hovercraft terminal, but for the time being BAF prefers to discuss its development (for which planning permission is held) in terms of the lengthening and strengthening of runways. DAVID WOOIXEY p . ^ DC-8s for Scanak- SAS is to sell two DC-8-30s to United Air Lines, but five others will be transferred to Scanair, the Scandinavian charter consortium. Fifth Britannia 737 Confirmed Britannia Airways has con- firmed to Boeing its order for a fifth Boeing 737-200 (see Flight for July 18, page 88). It is being bought by Kleinwort, Benson, the London merchant bank, and leased to the airline; it is due to be delivered next May. Britannia has one 737 in service and has taken delivery of a second. Cargo Computerised Swissair's computerised cargo informa- tion, Datadoc, is now in full operation. It is designed to transmit and process information, with a facility for printing out Customs documents at the destination. This can be done ^hile the aircraft is still airborne, and savings of up to 12 hours in clearing Customs are claimed. f«t Centre Laker Airways has started work on an engineer- ing base (which it calls its International Jet Centre) at Gatwick Airport, London, on an 11-acre site. Plans are for a large hangar with maintenance facilities and an administration block, *nd the company is to offer its engineering services to other operators of jet aircraft. ^prt and Social Change This year's meeting of the transportation Research Forum is to be held from Septem- °? 4 to 6 at the Hotel Muehlebach, Kansas City, Missouri, itte theme will be "Transportation and Social Change." Regis- trations are handled by Mr Gerald C. R. Wheatley, POB 8462, Kansas City, Missouri 64114. Automating ATC The FAA's new semi-automated ATC «aar facility at Kennedy International has started limited operation; initially it is handling radar control for the airport, *" it is due to take over radar control for Newark and di as well, starting in August and September respec- ^ Eventually it will handle the entire New York terminal 'Tea. C-141 Autolanding Progress The FAA and the US Air Force have completed the second phase of flight tests of the all- weather landing system for the C-141 StarLifter. This was designed to test the primary equipment under Category 3b conditions (zero ceiling and 150ft runway visual range). The FAA certified the C-141 for Category 2 operations in October, 1967. Accident in Virginia On August 10 a Fairchild Hiller 227 of Piedmont Airlines crashed while landing at Charleston Air- port, West Virginia, in poor visibility. Of the 37 people on board, including the crew of three, 32 were killed, two died later and two were critically injured. Reports say that the 227 struck the crest of a ravine while approaching Charleston Air- port, which is built across four filled-in valleys and three levelled-off hills. The glideslope element of the ILS at the airport had been out of commission since June 15. Martinair DC-9-30 Delivered The first of three DC-9-30RCs ordered by Dutch non-scheduled airline, Martinair, arrived at Schiphol Airport last month. It was ferried from Long Beach via Montreal and Prestwick. The aircraft is in rapid-change cargo/passenger configuration and either seats 110 passengers or carries 14.5 tons of cargo. The two other aircraft are scheduled for delivery in February and April next year. The DC-9s will replace the three DC-7Cs and two of the three DC-3s in the fleet. Finnair to New York May 15, 1969, is the date on which Finnair plans to open its service from Helsinki to New York, flying via Copenhagen and Amsterdam with a frequency of six flights a week. Traffic rights have been obtained for all sectors of the route. The airline has two DC-8-62CFs on order, with an option on a third. Mixed cargo/passenger services carrying three to five cargo pallets are planned for the winter months, and the aircraft are also expected to be offered for charter work. On August 5 a CAB examiner recommended the granting of a foreign air carrier permit to Finnair.
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