Flight International – 6 August 2019

STRAIGHT&LEVEL

From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to [email protected]

100-YEAR ARCHIVE

Every issue of Flight

from 1909 onwards

can be viewed online at

flightglobal.com/archive

36 | Flight International | 6-12 August 2019 flightglobal.com

Dangerous ads

We are quite in accord with

the determination of the

Ministry to

suppress

dangerous flying

over populous

areas. It is also an offence

against public safety to

drop advertising matter

from aircraft – such a

proceeding might easily

lead to serious accidents.

Doodled bug

One of our pre-occupations

has been the air torpedo,

flying bomb,

doodle-bug, or

whichever name

is going to stick.

We were surprised when

the Air Ministry rushed into

print a hand-out drawing

that we found unconvincing

in several details.

Fierce performer

The Tiger Club’s annual

dawn-to-dusk trial of pilot

endurance and

skill, and of

aircraft efficiency,

was held either

side of Midsummer Day. The

results show another win for

Herr Hubert Schnabel of the

Dusseldorf Aero Club, flying

a Mooney Mk 20C.

Seeking a share

USAir pilots say that they

will swap a $750 million

pay cut over five

years in

exchange for a

“substantial”

stake in the US carrier. The

crews would make the pay

and benefits concessions in

return for stock in the

company, profit-sharing

and representation on

USAir’s board.

How we were, 60 years ago

Dominic Perry/FlightGlobal

A spot of competition in Milan

Craig Hoyle/FlightGlobal

Divided by the

same language

The world’s number two

airframer has for years been

telling everyone it is not just a

European company, but a global

one, with a production footprint

that spans several continents,

including, of course, in the

USA.

However, at the recent Royal

International Air Tattoo, a very

parochial Airbus UK held sway,

with beer mats stressing its

commitment to the nation and

gently mocking the terminology

of its US rivals who claim to be

great British investors.

Alongside the slogan “We

mean business for Britain”, one

of the items proclaimed: “No

one offers a wider range of

helicopters (not choppers)”.

This may well be true, as

Airbus Helicopters is the clear

market leader, but many of these

non-choppers are, of course,

“proudly” built at its plant in

Mississippi.

Maybe, given the threat from

head office to move production

from the UK in the event of a no-

deal Brexit, the message on the

mats ought to have been: “We

build wings (not ailes, alas, or

flugel).”

No Leonardo

Meanwhile, during any trip, a

passenger is always encouraged

to begin their jaunt with a spot

of duty-free spending – maybe

for a souvenir or something to

placate the kids.

Of course, at Toulouse airport

the aviation enthusiast can stock

up on models of Airbus aircraft,

many of which can be spotted

across the runway outside the

sprawling production complex.

been pushed back past the

closing credits.

Presumably, the hosts were

relying on East Midlands’

reputation as a cargo hub, and

hoping to inspire upcoming

generations by showing that

they, too, could grow up and

stack boxes in the back end of a

30-year-old freighter.

Fifty grand-field

Good news for Cranfield

University’s attempts to replace

its BAe Jetstream 31 flying

classroom with a larger, newer

and more capable Saab 340B,

which we wrote about in this

column a few weeks ago.

The Royal Air Force has given

its fundraising campaign a boost

with a £50,000 ($63,000)

contribution to Cranfield’s target

of around £2 million.

Over in Milan, home of

Leonardo’s helicopter business,

the same does not quite apply:

perusing the shops ahead of a

flight home, a traveller could

acquire a couple of toy rotorcraft

if they wished, but only Airbus

or Bell types.

Had it covered

To mark 110 years of your

favourite aviation magazine, we

are posting our favourite covers

since 1909 on flightglobal.com.

They include this classic from

1959, an era when we still ran

advertisements on the front – or,

as we no doubt described it at

the time, commercial art.

You can view the best from

each decade at bit.ly/2Y3FB3Q

Spot the plane

The BBC has launched a show,

Planespotting Live, to appeal to

aviation geeks. The location for

the first, live episode was the

airpark just off the end of East

Midlands airport’s runway 09.

That might seem the ideal

location to watch the bustle of

the modern airport, although a

glance at the timetable for the

programme’s scheduled hour

suggested there might not be

much in the way of Heathrow-

level spectacle, because the only

passenger flights due were a

couple of domestic Flybe Q400

services, one of which was lined

up to leave just as the show

opened, while the other had

Airbus puts a word in for its commitment to the UK

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