MARCH 3RD, 1949 FLIGHT 253 Civil Aviation News minimum pressure, of 1,000 lb/sq in to 31(2 so-called "triads"each carrying three aft«mi£ing Jjtm^ers. , Ignition uf electrical. The triads—which, incidentally, stand* 14m abo*e iftie ground—are distributed for a distance of 2,000yd along both sides of the main east-west runway and approach zone. For 4,000ft the burner-lines are parallel with the runwayand situated at distances of 400-870^ from its centre line, but over some 2,000ft in the approach zone they fan out intopatterns designed to take full advantage of the local fog-drift conditions. The entire system is fenced, servicing roads havebeen constructed, and anti-dazzle walls are built alongside neighbouring highways. The system is designed to give ceiling heights of 300-400^in the approach zone (2,000ft), 250ft in the touch-down area (1,000ft) and from 200ft down to 75ft over the runway; inother words the intention is to clear the fog to a ceiling which slopes downwards towards the far end of the runway. Bestestimates are that a 75ft ceiling can be turned into a 300ft one, and 600yd forward visibility lengthened up to 1,300yd, intwo minutes at a cost of $200. It is calculated that a 50- passenger aircraft can be brought in at a cost of $3 perpassenger. According to the Civil Aeronautics Administration the Toddfog-dispersal equipment is the first of five safety-aids to be installed at Los Angeles this year. The present lighting systemwill be replaced by high-intensity elevated lights for the run- ways, and for the approaches a special lighting system has beendesigned to assist pilots in maintaining direction to the touch- down point. Radar installations will include a type of Airfield-Control Radar to assist air traffic control in the approach area and also a Ground-Controlled Approach installation. THE CIVIL AIR LIFT /"MVTL aircraft, administered by British European Airways, v_^ which joined in the Berlin Air Lift last summer, have, during seven months,.carried an average of over 200 tons per day of fuel, food and other supplies into Berlin. Nearly 8,000 sorties have been flown, lifting a total of over 45,000 tons, which is more than the freight load carried by British scheduled air services for the twenty years before the war. The greatest achievement of the mixed fleet of converted bombers and trans- port aircraft, operated by about 600 men and controlled and co-ordinated by 23 B.E.A. officials in Germany, has been its ability to carry into Berlin all liquid fuel used in the three Western Sectors for the last few weeks, a total of 16,000 tons. The Civil Air Lift fleet was organized from the start by Lieut. Col. G. Wharton, O.B.E., B.E.A.'s charter superin- tendent, and is administered in Germany by Mr. E. P. Whit- field, B.E.A. manager in Germany. The original fleet, con- sisting of 14 aircraft, mostly Dakotas, owned by nine "air- charter companies, started operating on August 4th, 1948, and by the end of September had doubled in number and more than doubled in freight-carrying capacity. At present the fleet consists of seven Tudor tankers, nine Lancastrian tankers, three York freighters and 20 Haltons, of which 11 are tankers arid 9 are freighters. Companies taking part in the Air LWtare: Airflight, B.S.A.A., Flight Refuelling, Ltd., Skyways, Lancashire Aircraft Corporation, British American Air Ser-vices, Westminster Airways, World Air Freight, Eagle Aviation and Bond Aviation. AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT IN UK. TN the House of Commons on February 22nd, Mr. Wilkes.-*- questioned the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation about proposed schemes to develop Woolsing-ton Airport, Newcastle^on-Tyne, for Continental traffic. He wanted to know why a scheme, at a cost of £450,000, anda subsequent revised scheme costing £140,000, were both refused for sanction and grant-in-aid when permission forother development schemes, including Ringway, had been sanctioned. Mr. Lindgren replied that the schemes had not been sup-ported because of limitations on capital investments and also because a site at Boldon had been selected for ultimate develop-ment as the Tyneside airfield. He said that airport develop- ment was at present confined to schemes urgently required tomeet the most essential need for international air services. Mr. Wilkes asked him to bear in mind that the north-eastcoast of England was entirely without air communication with Scandinavia, and that that part of the country felt ratherneglected. JANUARY EXPORTS AND IMPORTS IMPORTS— Complete aircraft (number) Aircraft parts (value) QUANTITIES Jan., 1948 8 Totals i 8 EXPORTS— Complete aircraft (number) Engines (number) Rubber tyres (number) Other items (value) 94 121 1,898 2,113 Jan., 1949 7 7 116 142 1,567 1,825 VALUE Jan., 1948 £ 65,125 154,108 219,233 863.936 284,586 14,741 882,240 2,045,503 Jan., 1949 82,125 498.239 580,364 1,904,584 254,397 43,359 964,207 3,166,547 BREVITIES AT a ceremony to be held on March 5th at Washington(D.C.) National Airport, Miss Margaret Truman, daughter of the United States President, will christen the first PanAmerican Stratocruiser Clipper America,. " •_• ' * # * ' ~ Additions to their aircraft fleet have recently been announcedby Air France. The company has already taken delivery of one more Constellation and five Skymasters, which will be flownon long-distance routes as soon as their interior furnishings have been completed. The fleet now includes 14 Constellationsand 22 Skymasters, operating on routes to North and South America, East and West Africa, Madagascarand the Far East. Next July a Constellation service will operate via New York to Caracaswhere it will link up with the existing Catalina feeder service to Trinidad and Martinique.# # * With the assistance of International Aeradio, Ltd., a new company has been formed in Brussels with the main object of maintaining a high standard of communications for civil aviation on the Continent. The company, the Societe Internationale Telecommunications Aeronautique (S.I.T.A.) held its first meet- ing of shareholders on February 25th. The British Airways Corporations were represented on the board by Commander V. Wolfson, deputy chairman of International Aeradio. NIGHT SHIFT : Carrying dummy mail, the B.E.A. Helicopter Unit has started nightly experimental services leaving Peterborough at 10 p.m. and arriving at Norwich at 10.56 p.m. A return flight leaves Norwich at 1.50 a.m. and arrives at Peterborough at 2.56 a.m. These tests, which started on February 21st, will be continued for being corned out after ex- tens/Ve msftoqient flying practice. ' Flight " photography