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Aviation History
1968
1968-1 - 0212.PDF
FLIGHT International. 26 December 1968 1049 miWS&cSMCAPOPS. MRME3 9M-APD Hand-over of one of the first two Britten-Norman Islanders for Malaysia- Singapore Airlines at Bembridge Airport on December 14. Holding die aircraft's papers is Mr R. D. Lanser, MSA's technical representative in Britain; with him are Captain T. M. Robertson (left), operations manager, Borneo, and Mr B. L Partridge, Britten-Norman sales manager. The airline has ordered three Islanders; the third is due for delivery in the spring. Scheduled services in the rural areas of East Malaysia are due to begin in the new year poration (Flight, December 5, November 14, October 24 and 10) on a proposed shareholding in the company. Until the outcome of these negotiations is known, a decision, is unlikely to be made on Shorts' recapitalisation. The money which is now being pro vided by the British and Northern Ireland Governments is loan capital at a fixed rate of interest, and the announce ment that the Northern Ireland Govern ment is contributing half the money follows the recent political disturbances in Northern Ireland and the TV broad cast by the Prime Minister, Captain O'Neill. The new financial arrangements for Shorts emphasise his point that the country is economically dependent on the UK Government The money being injected into Shorts will largely be used to cover the costs of tooling-up for the RB.211 pod order. Tribute to Hardingham Mr R. E. Hardingham, who retires on December 31 after 32 years as chief executive of the Air Registration Board, was described as "the creator of the modern ARB" at a farewell dinner in London on December 18. Lord Kings Norton, chairman of the ARB, said: "Success must always depend on the chief executive. He has been the architect of success. He has always had a sense of proportion and a sense of humour. You might say he has been the bishop of our organisation—a beggar for discipline, but a cheerful prelate withal." Turning to Mrs Hardingham, Lord Kings Norton added: "We congratulate the Harding- hams on each other. There are few successful bachelors." Mr Walter Tye, who is promoted to chief executive, said that Bob Harding- ham's influence had given the board "its own peculiar but admirable qualities, and its robust independence." Mr Hardingham replied that in his 32 years' service he could not remember having had two meals on the ARB in one day. He had been born on December 16, 1903, the day before the Wright brothers flew, though there was no connection between the two events. Quoting a recent Flight leader to the effect that the only thing that ever flew reliably was time, he said that any contribution he had made to the ARB was "small compared to that of an in comparable staff." Sir James Robb Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb, GCB, KBE, DSO, DFC, AFC, who was Denuty Chief of Staff (Air) to General Eisenhower in 1944-45, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff from 1947 to 1948 and C-in-C Air Forces Western Europe from 1948 to 1951, died on December 18 at the age of 73. He won his DFC while serving in the Royal Flyine Corps and was Comman dant of the Central Flying School at the time (from 1936 onwards) when the RAF was chansine from binlanes to mono planes and the flying characteristics of the new types were assessed at CFS. His last RAF aopointment was that of Inspector General in 1951. Gn Cant R. H. Horniman Many who knew Go Caot Robert H. Horniman. CBE, AFRACS, in both Service and aircraft-industry circles will be sorry to learn of his death, which occurred recently at the aee of 76. He became concerned with aviation in 1914 when, on the outbreak of war, he joined the RNAS and quickly qualified as a pilot. At the end of the war he continued to serve with the RAF and in 1927 was granted a permanent commission. At one period he was a flvine instructor, and quite a number of people who were his pupils will remember him for his ability in this sphere. He was also a very polished aerobatic pilot. In 1931 Go Capt Horniman became experimental pilot at RAE Farnborough and four years later was appointed to a SENSOR Germany will agree to the British compromise proposals about design leadership of the MRCA (this column, November 21). Basis of the compro mise is that BAC will detail-design and build the RAF two-seater at Warton, while EWR will design and build the single-seater for the GAF, RNethAF and IAF at Munich, where there will be a joint international company composed of BAC, EWR, Fiat and Fokker. Will BAC and EWR carry one-third each of the votes and Fiat and Fokker one sixth each? Two Fokker F.28 Friendships are, subject to Government approval, to be bought after all by Ansett Transport Industries for use by Mac.Robertson Miller Airlines. They will have low tyre pressures so that they can be oper ated from strips on the Perth-Darwin run. Pending delivery, an F.28 will be leased from Fokker for operations beginning in April. Ansett had been looking at the DC-9-20 (see Sensor for December 5) but Douglas would not make the necessary changes. Sales of at least six F.28s in Australia are now certain. Both the Lockheed 1011 and the Douglas DC-10-20 are being evaluated by BOAC. The "commonality" of the DC-IO-20 engine with the JT9Ds of the corporation's Boeing 747 fleet is meriting careful consideration, though it is more likely that the corporation will choose the ION (long-range version) because of the technical as well as political advantages of the RB.2II. The airline does not need airbuses until 1973-74, and does not therefore need to commit itself for another two years. The order for twelve 747s will be increased eventually to sixteen. Present policy is that all will be the standard version and not the more expensive higher-payload 747B. Sir Giles Guthrie's new airline insurance consortium will probably be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, as soon as Government formalities—in particular US anti-trust requirements —have been satisfied, probably in mid-1969. The company plans to carry about 40 per cent of the airline insurance market risks, and premiums will be assessed according to an airline's operating record and the other usual criteria. There will be eight representatives of the insurance world on the policy committee, of which Mr Knut Hammarskjold of IATA and Mr Stuart Tipton of the American ATA will be members. One of the Board of Trade's problems in deciding how to respond to independent airlines requests for help is that airlines cannot be treated differently from other commercial companies. BUA may now actually clear a £200,000 net profit for 1968 compared with the £1.1 million loss forecast in 1967. The independent is forecasting a profit of £2 million a year for the next three years.
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