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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 0005.PDF
FLIGHT Internationa1, 4 January 1973 3 The FAF will know very shortly whether its next combat aircraft, the ACF (Avion de Combat Francais), will be fixed-wing or variable geometry; and the Swiss Air Force should know within the next month or two whether it is to retrieve the Venom-replace ment situation with a ground-attack or an air-defence type. C.M.G. Business aviation ALTHOUGH MOST manufacturers of business aircraft are entering 1973 with healthy order books, the year is likely to prove unusually challeng ing for their sales organisations. The major business houses are sharply divided in their attitude to the owner ship and use of corporate aircraft, and many with large annual staff travel budgets and with regular patterns of travel remain to be convinced that there are real economies to be made by conducting their own air travel operation. A common factor among the majority of business aircraft sales symposia held in 1972 was the lack of genuine potential customers. Such events have been well attended by existing users of aircraft, but non- owners have shown a stubborn refusal even to consider the benefits which could be theirs. For United Kingdom businessmen the lack of convenience is often more of a deterrent than the cost, and the emergence of a logical development plan for airfields in the south-east of the country is eagerly awaited. In the London area, while planning permis sion to develop airfields is not easy to come by, there is nevertheless sufficient capital available. Those airports which have encouraged business users, notably Gatwick and Luton, have shown the value of good 24hr, all-weather facilities coupled with the efficient provision of the services needed by both the passengers and the crew. In the use of the helicopter there were signs of an increasing awareness by planning authorities during 1972 and trials were conducted in London of operations off pontoons on the River Thames. For the first time .for many years a helicopter landed on a Central London roof-top, and with an increasing number of twin-engined executive helicopters available move ments of this kind should become more commonplace in 1973. H.O.F. Space THE LAUNCH and operation of Skylab, America's first orbital space station, is likely to be the major event of 1973. Skylab is to be launched on March 1 and, during the subsequent eight months, will be visited by three separate crews for stays of 4-8 weeks. A number of significant "firsts" are planned for the year. Heralding a new era in satellite communications is the entry into service this month of Canada's domestic network, the first outside the Soviet Union. Using two satellites, the second to be launched later this year, the network is intended to provide television links to remote communities. On the global scale, a decision is expected shortly from Intelsat on a follow-on for Intelsat IV. Recent developments indicate that a US-European co operative aeronautical satellite pro gramme may finally come into being in the next few months. It should be a year of reform for Europe following the agreement to set up a European Space Agency (see page 42). The broader benefits of this are not likely to show until 1974, but it may permit the start of work on the sortie lab and a new launch vehicle. Nasa's ATS-F satellite will be launched this year to test new com munications techniques before being used to provide India with a domestic educational-television relay service. A second Earth-resources satellite, Erts- ' B, will be launched to continue work begun by Erts-1 last year, and the first geosynchronous meteorological satellite is due for launch by Nasa late in the year. Interplanetary probes will be plenti ful. Pioneer 11 will leave for Jupiter in April and Pioneer 10 will arrive there in December. A Mariner space craft will be launched in October on the first two-planet mission, passing Venus and Mercury. T.W-W. Private flying THE BRITISH PRIVATE PILOT is likely to be somewhat unenthusiastic about 1973 when VAT comes into effect. Buyers of new private aircraft will not have the same reclaim benefits open to business users when faced with the extra 10 per cent. The possibility of duty reduction on common market products may brighten the scene slightly for European aircraft. Aircraft operation will also be more expensive as the effects of VAT will be felt this year in maintenance and hangarage. Flying club members, too, will suffer increased charges. On the other hand,, the growing recognition of the private pilot can be expected to continue in 1973. Life is becoming easier as, on one hand, increasing numbers of pilots equip themselves with radios and ratings and, on the other, airspace is slowly won back and facilities improve for all manner of aviation requirements. This will be the year in which the CAA and its new general-aviation commit tee show their worth. T.W-W. Avionics BRITAIN'S ENTRY into the EEC should provide an officially approved channel for many companies which have not yet sampled overseas ways of life. The MRCA programme has been a rather artificial way of getting involved with Continental Europe, since the political and work-sharing aspects have almost completely obscured the more desir able commercial aspects of industrial co-operation. By comparison with the other countries of Western Europe, Britain's industry has a wider breadth and depth, but its health depends very largely on official policy. The hand ling of the HS.1182 avionics competi tions last year showed just how vulner able the industry really is, and off-the- shelf purchases of Exocet missiles (and, possibly, Magic) will further erode this available market. It remains to be seen how the Government establishments—in this case the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the Royal Radar Establishment— can find opportunities for closer ties with European aviation. In many cases the facilities and level of technology are ahead of any in Europe or even America, and their research skills should certainly find a place in a future integrated multi - national industry. M.w. Air traffic control TWO COLLISIONS between public trans port aircraft in the United States during 1972 highlighted the continuing problem of air traffic separation in a year when the shortcomings of compu ters received considerable attention on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United Kingdom it became necessary to adapt the computers planned for the London air traffic control centre to a less demanding role and an order was placed for American equipment. No major advances are scheduled for introduction in 1973, but alter ations are constantly being made to procedures in the areas of densest activity. In the United States a higher degree of positive control is being introduced progressively in terminal areas, and in Britain consultations continue with the aim of simplifying the structure of the London terminal airspace. While the structure of airways sys tems is based on the use of point-source aids there is a natural reluctance to make major realignments but Sweden is one country which plans a radical change during 1973. The existing air ways network up the east coast of the • country is in the least convenient position from defence considerations and it is intended to move the trunk routes considerably to the west during the year. In the United Kingdom it is expec ted that a trial revision of altimeter setting procedures in the uncontrolled airspace will begin early in the year, and 'further consultations can be expected in an effort to remove the anomaly of different standards for visual meteorological conditions which are still maintained by the civil and military air traffic control authorities. H.O.F.
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