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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 1920.PDF
LETTERS Continued from page 1045 tenuous, to say the least. Only relatively recently have the Services allowed publication of information relating to aircraft accidents. The Royal Air Force may well have had a similar problem with the tail pylon fairing hinge pin on the Puma, but there are no chan nels existing whereby that sort of information could have been disseminated to the civil aviation world. The CAA would certainly only act upon hard evidence from the manu facturer rather than "that gleaned over a few beers". The only link, therefore, between operators of a similar type, be it civil or military, is the manufacturer. Recent years have seen several cases of woeful neglect and blatant obstructionism on the part of manufacturers in keeping operators up to date following an incident to a particular type. The reasons behind this secrecy are obvious — possible commercial penalty, spreading alarm and despondency among prospec tive buyers, protecting the brand name, and so on. The remedy lies in part with the aviation press, which has the resources at its disposal to impress upon the manufacturers. that only a frank interchange of views and current operating prob lems will re-establish an atmosphere of trust between themselves and the operators. However, the main area for improvement must be the initial certification procedure for inclusion of a type on a country's register. Airworthiness departments should not assume that prefixing an already certifi cated type with "Super" means that all the problems have been eliminated. Pres sure should be applied to manufacturers to open their records to prospective licens ing authorities before to certi fication. It would be naive to assume that a letter to your august publication will provoke an instant response from the moguls of the aviation indus try, but one is tempted to ask the question, "how many more near misses must there be before the authorities act?" DAVID WARREN 6 Millend Newburgh Aberdeenshire AB4 OAW 1052 British Airways needs the BAel46 SIR —May I comment on the recent letters in Flight concerning BA and the 146 short-haul aircraft? There were two articles in BA News dated August 19 which were later reported by the media. Both covered the potential lease or purchase of new aircraft for BA. The key phrases within those articles were "economical", "higher utilisation", and "increase frequency". In other words, the requirement is to reduce the overall cost of operating an aircraft service between two cities, yet increase the frequency of the service between those two cities, in a declining market with an increase in the aircraft's utilisation. From the publications which have been issued on the various aircraft for sale throughout the world, the only short-haul aircraft which would seem to meet the present BA management's requirement is the 146. It is economical to operate, it has the capacity of flying more sectors than the larger aircraft for the same cost, thus giving the travelling public a greater flexibility to travel, and it would seem to have a greater utilisation ability, thus increasing the revenue over that particular sector and, at the same time, making it impossible for oper ators of larger aircraft to cover the same type of services at the lower running costs of the 146. I don't think that anyone doubts that the previous management of BA, BOAC/ BEA did a good job pioneering for the British taxpayer a large, efficient airline which had sufficient diversities of interest to more than cover outstanding debts. However, one does doubt their wisdom or the wisdom of politicians behind the scenes who have previously encour aged the national airline to buy aircraft from overseas at the expense of our own indus try. We have always been able to manufacture the best aircraft in the world, simply because we had the best design teams, and the USSR was aware of this. Most of their aircraft, for example, were based on British designs. Regrettably, we have seemed to lack the ability to produce quickly or to sell our air craft forcefully. However, that surely can be remedied, particularly as the 146 would now seem to fit the require ment of British Airways. With the recent sale of IAL, one can only assume that the current politicians in power desire, in a sense, to asset strip BA and destroy all the pioneering work of past generations of management and staff, regardless of BA's influence and benefits to this nation. Here again it would seem to be the case of the rich minority legally, but not justi fiably, taking advantage of the long-suffering taxpayer. However, politicians don't like criticism, and instead of those within our professions standing on the sidelines, perhaps we should col lectively write to our MPs. I feel sure that if there was a major campaign launched by those within our professions to keep British Airways intact and to develop again the British aircraft industry, then the Government would take notice. However, the choice is ours. Regrettably, our indif ference may ultimately cost many of us our jobs. JOHN BROWN 103 Ambleside Road Lightwater Surrey GU18 5UJ Which airline gives the best service? SIR — I must comment on the letter from the chief executive of British Airways in Flight for September 17. If, as he says, British Airways puts the customer first and is the favourite, why is it necessary for BA to go to court to try and prevent competition from British Midland? BA would have nothing to fear if they did provide a good service and put the passenger first, but, having travelled on "British" as well as other airlines, it is easy to see why people prefer BMA or alternative airlines to BA. Does the chief executive base his statistics on the first class or club passengers? As many people will confirm, and have complained, in economy class on short hauls not even a drink is provided, and econ omy passengers are ignored altogether. Having travelled the same routes both club and economy class, the service just cannot compare with those of other airlines, who even on short distances provide meals. All things being equal, an airline sells its seats on the service provided and pleas antness of the cabin staff. As long as there is reasonable comfort and convenience of timing, why should people choose BA, who do not seem to care? Owing to my husband's employment overseas, I have flown quite regularly over the last few years with various airlines, and for me and other people I have met, British Airways is at the bottom of the list. For myself, I have found that British Caledonian pro vides a good service, even with a full 747 and sometimes difficult passengers, as do Swissair, KLM, Air France, etc. For really excellent service, pleasant quiet effi ciency, and the feeling of really being taken care of, I suggest that British Airways takes a look at Varig. C. BAKER (Mrs) "Cotswold" Stratford Road Oversley Green Alcester • Warwickshire WHAT'S ON October 18 RAeS Aviation Medicine Group: three talks on 'Human Errors", by Roger Green, K. W. Mahany, and Dr R. j M. Barnes; 6 p.m., 4 Hamilton Place,'. London W1; tel 01-499 3515. October 20 RAeS/SLAET London Airport Joint Branch: "The history of ballooning", by Dr E. Mowforth; The Cinema, BA Training Centre, Crane- bank, Heathrow Airport; 6-15 p.m.; contact Ian Brown; tel 01-750 5603 October 25 RAeS Astronautics and Guided Flight Section —Current research for guided missile systems, by S. C. Dunn, BAe Stevenage; 6 p.m.; 4 Hamilton Place, London W1; tel 01-499 3515. October 27 RAeS Main Society: A review of some recent research on time-dependent aerodynamics, by D. G. Mabey, RAE Bedford; 6 p.m.; 4 Hamilton Place, London W1; tel 01-499 3515. November 1 RAeS Avionics Systems Group: "Flight Management Computer Systems", by A. L. Blackman, Smiths Industries; 6 p.m.; AGM 5.45 p.m.; 4 I Hamilton Place, London W1; tel I 01-499 3515. FLIGHT International, 15 October 1983
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