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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0636.PDF
SXMJ&i-IJ £ JL5V*± WBfflV INTERNATIONAL 25YEARSAGO Extracts from Flight International, 21 February, 1976 ••• Skytrain At An End? Publication of the British Government's White Paper on future civil aviation policy dispels some of the uncertainty clouding UK airline planning. Not entirely unexpected was the ending of Laker Airways designation as a London-New York scheduled carri er, with the instruction to the CAA to review die air line's Skytrain licence. Last July Mr Shore had said that the Department of Trade did not intend to allow Skytrain to go ahead. Immediately after Mr Shore's announcement Mr Freddie Laker accused the British Government of "yet another breach of confidence, yet another broken contract with British aviation". He said that Laker had been given a Skytrain licence, had had it confirmed on appeal, and had been desig nated on the route. Now it was all cancelled. "Nothing like this has happened before in the histo ry of aviation." Mr Shore was, he said, making British business "look foolish" in the eyes of the world. Laker's Eximbank DC-10 load of $46 million had been conditional on the Skytrain licence. "Now peo ple will wonder what good is a British piece of paper." Laker did not know how the Government expected Britain to have an aerospace industry with only effec tively one and a half buyers. Government actions were "killing innovation, maintaining the LATA car tel and depriving the ordinary traveller of a fair deal." This was yet another example of the Government "eroding away the competitive stimulus of private enterprise." Laker read out a newspaper statement attributed to Mr Gerry Draper of British Airways claiming that the corporation's ABC fares were not only £19 cheaper than Skytrain but bookable and did not charge extra for meals - so "British Airways does n't want to be protected," declared Laker. Asked whether Skytrain wasnowdead,Lakerreplied: "Dead? Only the British Government is dead. One day Skytrain will be in operation. It is inevitable. I shall fight this until RIP is on my headstone." Festive Quiz winner Winner of Uncle Roger's Prize Quiz (Flight International 19 December) is Robert Woodling, of Redmond, Washington, USA. The answers are: 1) Northrop F-5E Tiger II, 2) Tupolev ANT-20 3) De Havilland DH50A, 4) Dassault Mercury 5) Raytheon Hawker Horizon Last Of The Few Whether you are old enough to remember the real fighter ace, or young enough to have built an Airfix model of his Supermarine Spitfire, spare a thought for Air Vice- Marshal "Johnnie" Johnson who died recendy, aged 85. Although turned down by the Auxiliary Air Force and RAF Volunteer Reserve, he eventually was accepted into the RAF and closed out his account with 3 8 confirmed kills. Johnson attributed much of his success to mastering the principles of deflection shooting against wildfowl, often resulting in three kills from two shots. One won ders if this news may force Dassault to reconsider its newly unveiled strategy to develop three unmanned combat air vehicles. According to scientific strategy director, Bruno Stoufflet, they will be named "Petit Due", "Moyen Due" and "Grand Due". Dassault obviously has the dues in a row.. ..Tally Ho chaps! Macho Mergers Gordon Bethune, presi dent of Continental Airlines has no illusions about what really lies beneath the renewed bout of airline mergers, take overs and acquisitions. Speaking at an industry Hendon, London Flying Club 1919 lunch in Washington DC, he says a surfeit of testos terone is circulating around the airline boardrooms. "You get a lot of chief exec utives with big egos out there saying, 'my runway is bigger than yours!'" THE pilot of a second world war bomber brought a smile to the launch of Hampshire's Royal British Legion 2000 Poppy Appeal. Portsmouth News 25 October, 2000 • The nice people at Aer Arann tell me that for a £500 charity donation towards "Our Lady's Hospital For Sick Children" in Dublin, they will provide an expenses paid weekend on the Arann Islands. The trip, on 31 March-1 April, will include a half marathon featuring record holder Eamon Cocklin as guest. Aer Arann can be contacted at: + 353 91593034. • To help fund Brooklands Museum's recovery from the floods of last November when the River Wey burst its banks and inundated the collection, the museum is hosting a special "Vimy Night" on 3 March. Captain Mark Rebholz, pilot of the Vtckers Vimy replica "Silver Queen," will tell the tale of its epic 1999 journey from Brooklands to Cape Town. Tel + 01932 857381ext233 or242. RAF display, Hendon 1937 68 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20 - 26 February 2001
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