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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 0014.PDF
14 Letters Too many cooks spoil the R&D broth? SIR—Flight for December 17 reports a "unilateral decision" by the Depart ment of Industry to stop financing basic civil aerospace research. Also mentioned was British Aerospace's Teluctance to fund work when its competitors do not do so. This seems to be one more step to wards fragmenting the responsibility for civil research. At one time the Ministry of Aviation funded virtually all research: civil, military and work common to both. Now sponsor ship is divided between MoD, Dol, Correspondence for these pages should be addressed to the Editor, Flight International, Dorset House, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LU, and marked "For Publication." Letters should preferably be no more than 300 words long. We reserve the right to edit all correspondence. DoT, CAA and, in the future, BAe. With four or five bodies each desper ately anxious to reduce its own expenditure, and each hoping that another will pick up the tab, there is scope for endless debate and procrasL tination. At worst, no one will initiate work that has no immediately obvious benefit. What future has the long-term basic work in such a scheme? Co-ordination of programmes to get the best out of limited funds seems enormously difficult. Further, those who do the work cannot be switched on and off to suit the fluctuating finances made available. The division of responsibilities has the laudable object of ensuring that those who want research also want it enough to pay. The resulting pressure on individual bodies is evident in the CAA's annual reports, which show a reduction of R&D expenditure of 50 FLIGHT International, 7 January 1978 per cent in five years. As the retail price index has nearly doubled in this period, this represents a real cut of 75 per cent. It may well be that this tighter discipline results in better value for money, but the implications for in vestment in longer-term work are ominous. Who today would be bold enough to launch speculative work like that which led to automatic land ing or composite materials? The health of British aviation in ten and twenty years' time depends on research starting now. It is up to the various bodies concerned to develop adequate co-operative machinery to ensure that basic work does not fall between all the stools. The Spinney, WALTER TYE Fairmile Park Road, Cobham, Surrey Easing the Shetland pressure SIR—Oliver Bennett's letter (Decem ber 17, 1977) on the pressures gener ated in Shetland by outside interests is not quite accurate on Scatsta's development potential. It is under- Troubleshooter SIR—To be at Aldergrove early on November 30 last year was to experi ence the UK domestic airline industry at its Mickey Mouse best. A substan tial number of senior Ulster business men and some government officials and journalists were booked on British Midland's 8 a.m. departure to fly to London for the opening of the North ern Ireland Trade Centre. On check ing in, they were told that the aircraft was delayed half an hour "for opera tional reasons." Later, another half- hour was added and "reasons" became "difficulties." Soon after 9 a.m., "Delayed for two hours" appeared on the screen without any explanation. The would-be travellers had arrived at Aldergrove from about 7 a.m., and some were unbreakfasted. Despite this, BMA made no offer whatsoever of complimentary refreshments. On seeking explanations I learned that the aircraft was heavily frost- encrusted, having stood out overnight. Said a hapless passenger handler: "We've tried to borrow de-icing gear from British Airways but they won't loan it. We'll have to wait until the sun is up enough to melt the ice. Per haps 11.30." BMA then decided to tow the air craft into a hangar to apply some warmth, but although a tug was coupled to the DC-9 at about 9.40, it did not move hangarwards until about 10.20. Sources within BMA have since told me that the previous night's groundcrew had simply "forgotten" to hangar the aircraft, as had been done on every previous night of the then two-week-old Arctic spell. Confronted with a DC-9-shaped iceblock at about 7 a.m., they found that their own ground de-icing gear, sent from East Midlands, was designed to work off three-phase electricity. Aldergrove's power supply is two-phase—a fact which BMA's technical people might well have known. British Airways, meanwhile, does not night-stop at Aldergrove, the con tinuing refusal of their pilots to serve this province having been reasonably well documented over the past few years. BA aircraft were arriving and departing normally, and there was no suggestion that their ground de-icing equipment was in use. Yet normal inter-airline co-operation crumbled and they refused to help BMA out of a difficulty. They chose a bad morning for a dog-in-the-manger act, with several pressmen and broadcasters there to publicise the fact and at least one MP, Mr Jim Kilfedder (North Down), was so disgusted that he can celled his journey and went home, saying that he would ask some rele vant question in Parliament. Reluctantly, those who did not follow him switched to BA's 10.30 a.m. Shuttle to Heathrow, only to be con fronted (in the case of the Press party) with this airline's endemic con tempt and rudeness to passengers. This was manifested when, on taking the extra £3 fare for seven passen gers, the Belfast clerk made out the collective addendum ticket for only six. Discovered in flight, this British- Airways error produced a lengthy scene at Heathrow with an exceed ingly arrogant young BA woman. Because of the mass delays which ensued, the opening of the Northern Ireland Trade Centre was held up and influential overseas buyers were inconvenienced. Why was the DC-9 not hangared? Why did BMA have de-icing gear in compatible with the airport's power supply? Why were passengers not given a real explanation of the delay to allow them to make their own assessment and possibly switch to the earlier 8.30 a.m. Shuttle? Why were passengers confronted with a S^hr delay not offered the basic courtesy of a cup of coffee? What prevented British Airways from lending or hir ing the ground de-icing gear to BMA? Was it anything other than simple commercial spite? 63 Sandown Road, BOB RODWELL Belfast 5 BMA managing director Michael Bishop replies: Mr Rodwell is abso lutely right in stating that this was not one of our more impressive per formances! However, problems occur from time to time even in the best- regulated families, and it is fair to note that November 30 was only the second time in 290 scheduled depar tures since September 12, when we introduced the DC-9 on this route, that we have cancelled a service. The punctuality record of this ser vice is particularly good and well above average airline performance. While the inconvenience caused on this occasion is much regretted, it is not a fair representation of the style of our overall operation.
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