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Aviation History
1972
1972 - 0091.PDF
FLIGHT international, 13 January 1972 LETTERS.. . licence to operate CV-990s on the Berlin-Saarbriicken route, fearing the competition for their national air lines. Again the businessman or the tourist is forced to fly via Frankfurt or Diisseldorf, again he is forced to use the flights of "No 1 in Europe" or of the "Most experience! airline in the world." A start towards a policy of more open skies has been made, any continuation visible? Munich, West Germany KLAUS OTTIS IN BRIEF Mr J. R. Bushby is gathering material on the development of air defence in Great Britain and would like to hear from those concerned in research, planning, deployment or operation of acoustic devices and systems in the between-war period; organisation, training, recruitment and operation of the first RAF personnel to back up the establishment of the first CH early-warning chain from 1937 onwards; anyone with experiences of early GCI/AI deployment and operation right up to the Final GCI ("Happidrome") stage of development; or anyone concerned in mobile GCI operations in Northern Europe from D-Day to the end of the war. Replies to Mr Bushby, please, at 8 The Friars, Preston PR2 4LB, Lanes. 59 DIARY Jan 13 RAeS Rotorcraft Section: half-day symposium; 2.15 p.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1V OBQ! Preceded by the Rotorcraft Section AGM at 12 noon. Jan 13 RAeS Bedford Branch: "A Kettering View of the Soviet Space Programme" by G. E. Perry; 7.45 p.m., Tunnel Site Canteen, RAE, Bedford. Jan 13 RAeS Luton & Stevenage Branch: "Problems of Charter Airline Operation" by Don Peacock; 6.00 p.m., Luton (Lucas). Jan 17 RAeS Cranwell Branch: "Ballooning" by Wg Cdr G. F. Turnbull; 8 p.m., Whittle Hall, RAF College, Cranwell. Jan 17- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: 19 Tenth Aerospace Sciences Meeting; Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, Calif. Jan 19 RAeS Coventry Branch: "Nuclear Propulsion in Space" by A. Bond; 7 p.m., Lanchester Polytechnic, Lecture Theatre D.14. Jan 19 RAeS Preston Branch: "BAC and Space" by D. Rowley; 7.30 p.m., Harris College, Preston. Jan 19 Kronfeld Club: "Seaplanes in Britain Today" by Keith Sissons; 8 p.m., 74 Basement, Eccleston Square, London SW1. Jan 19 RAeS Management Studies Group: a talk on the Pro curement Executive, Ministry of Defence—Organisation and Procedures, by Air Cdre F. E. Tyndall; 7 p.m., preceded by the Group AGM at 6.30 p.m., Lecture Theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1. Jan 20 RAeS Belfast Branch: "Cargo Airships" by M. J. Rynish; 6.30 p.m., Main Lecture Hall, Ashby Institute, The Queen's University, Stranmillis Road. Jan 20 RAeS Birmingham & Wolverhampton Branch: fourth J. D. North Memorial Lecture: "Modern Methods of Experimental Stress Analysis" by S. C. Redshaw; 7 p.m., Dowty Boulton Paul Ltd, Pendeford, Codsall, Wolverhampton. Jan 20 The Institute of Transport South Wales & Monmouth shire Section: "Concorde and its Development" by R. E. Cooper; 7.00 p.m., British Railways Office, Mar- land House, Central Square. Avionics So WHAT ABOUT 1972 and beyond? The considerations of the Govern ment as embodied in the Marshall report (which will probably not be publicly divulged) and views of the SBAC and the Electronic Engineering Association will need to be far more closely aligned than at present if the muscle-flexing preparatory to Britain's joining the Common Market next January is to be more than a mere posture. There is widespread concern in the avionics industry about the apparent lack of any Government policy toward this sector in relation to collaboration within Europe. The avionics industry is a national asset which Britain cannot afford to be without. Unlike airframes and engines, there is a direct and substan tial read-across from avionics to com mercial electronics and communica tions. It works very well in reverse too. Traditionally, however, national- defence and commercial-transport pressures combine to endow avionics with the cutting edge. The Germans and Italians are well aware of this- one of the stated aims of the MRCA programme is the development of their capabilities across the board. The French Sixth National Economic Plan (1971-1976) attaches the highest growth rate to the aviation-electronics sector. By contrast there is no stated intention to preserve British techno logy in Government-managed multi national projects, and there have been frequent criticisms of the inability of Government departments to secure trading conditions equivalent to those made, for example, by the French Administration on behalf of its industry. Britain's bargaining position was seriously weakened by the pre vious Government's decree that there would be no further major national aircraft programmes (though the HS.1182 strike/trainer violates this principle, being a project of some magnitude). Aircraft replacement timescales are becoming increasingly extended, but far more serious is the scarcity of new programmes, which reduces the market and lessens the continuity associated with projects which are randomly displaced in time (one in initial design, another in development, a third in full production, for example). It is difficult to maintain an aggressive pace if there is no dis cernible aim, or at best an ill-defined one, in view. America has largely solved this problem by the imple mentation of Technical Demonstrator Programmes. These give a sense of immediacy to otherwise long-term goals. They provide industrial incen tives, prevent the gradual dissolution of design expertise, and allow a more rapid response to new market oppor tunities. Most important of all, per haps, they signify a sense of purpose. French Government and industry have long worked together in a rapport (which appears to be almost totally lacking in Britain), largely because its members share the same background, ambitions and sense of national purpose. That country's avia tion technology is not sacrificed to the political needs (real or fancied) in aligning its interests with those of its partners. It has been preserved by statesmanship across the negotiating table. The inflexible work-sharing arrange ments agreed for the MRCA have resulted in valuable technology, well within the grasp of Europe, being transferred to America. It was the pioneering work of the Telecommuni cations Research Establishment, now the Royal Radar Establishment, which gave ground and airborne radar to the world. Twenty-five years later it was developing a high-technology attack and navigation radar, in very close association with industry, for TSR.2. Its successor should have found its way, by means of some inter nationally acceptable formula, into MRCA. Had France, and not Britain, pioneered such a powerful tool, that is the way it would have happened. In the event an ad hoc decision has probably deprived Europe of this technology for ever. A large share of the £100 million- odd output of the avionics industry is Government-sponsored. With such a substantial shareholding it is surely logical to expect a level of sup port more in line with Continental practice, particularly in international programmes. M.W.
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