SAA Orange Tail

August/Augustus 1968

No. 56

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LOOKING AHEAD

What effect can the arrival of the high-capacity jets be expected to have on air traffic figures in South Africa and how will South African Airways operations be affected? This dualistic question was well answered by Mr. A. M. Conradie, Chief Execu­tive when he addressed a symposium recently held in Johannesburg in conjunction with the “Hotel 68″ exhibition, on the subject of “Air Travel in the Era of the High-Capacity sub-sonic lets”. The following are extracts from Mr. Conradie’s excellent paper which will no doubt be of interest to the staff:­ “When one speaks of the high-capacity jets in the present context, one is speaking essentially of the Boeing 747, be­cause this is the only 4-engined jet in the over 700,000 lb. gross weight category that will be carrying passengers in the nineteen-seventies. It is to be noted that there is nothing revolutionary about the design of the 747 airframe or about the materials used in its construction. Basically, the materials used are the same as those found in the present generation of sub-sonic jets, but whereas the Boeing 707 was designed for a life of 30,000 flying hours, free from cracks in its basic structure, a goal of 60,000 hours has been set for the 747, with 50,000 hours guaranteed. But, for goodness sake let’s stop referring to these air­craft as “Jumbo Jets”. This conjures up the vision of a huge, ungainly vehicle lumbering clumsily through the skies, where­as the truth is that these aircraft will set new standards of passenger comfort, and will be surpassed in speed only by the supersonics. The popular press-induced conception of the loads these aeroplanes will ordinarily convey, is very much exaggerated. True, it will be physically possible to cram as many as 490 people into a 747, but to accomplish that, you have to have an all-economy configuration with 10 seats abreast; you have to eliminate all the galleys, and you have to position 8 of your 11 toilets at the rear of the cabin – a very unsatisfactory arrangement. It is perfectly obvious that this layout could only be used for trips of a relatively short duration, and would certainly not be tolerated on our routes between Johannesburg and Europe, on which we have to fly very long sectors non-stop. Discounting the more sensational predictions as to the size of the loads these aircraft will ordinarily carry, it nevertheless must be foreseen that they will carry to and from South Africa loads up to three times as large as those normally carried by present-day jets. For that reason, they will present formidable problems in the area of passenger handling, not only for the airlines themselves but also for immigration, customs and health authorities. In the result, a fairly radical revision of current concepts of traffic handling will be called for. Amongst other things, a higher degree of mechanization and automation, coupled with more sophisticated types of ground handling equipment, will be essential to ensure the orderly flow of passengers, baggage and cargo through the airport terminals. On the other hand, the 747 undoubtedly will help to solve or at least relieve one of the most pressing problems con­fronting the airline industry today, viz. the prospect that a decade from now it will have to cope with perhaps four times the volume of passenger traffic and six times the volume of cargo traffic that it handles today. Statistically, this means that by 1980, world air passenger traffic would be reaching towards the staggering total of 770 million journeys. One of the most effective ways to prevent airports and airways from becoming hopelessly choked with traffic is to reduce the number of aircraft in service, and that can only be done by using bigger aircraft. While in South Africa – more specifically at Jan Smuts – the problem of airport congestion is nothing like as serious as it is at some overseas airports, it is nevertheless a com­forting thought that the placing into service of the 747 by S.A.A. and the coming into operation of the new passenger terminal at Jan Smuts Airport, are expected to take place more or less contemporaneously”. On the question of the effect the high-capacity jets will have on tourism to South Africa Mr. Conradie made an analysis of the foreign visitor figures for last year and concluded that if an annual growth rate of 10 per cent were assumed, the number of visitors in 1975 would total 590,638 or a little less than twice as many as in 1967, and continued: “Those crystal ball gazers who see South Africa being overrun by foreign tourists once the high-capacity jets start flying, appear to have been deflected by two basic mis­conceptions:­

(1) that there is going to be a 747 flight in substitution for every Boeing 707 or DC-8 flight scheduled immediately prior to the introduction of the 747;

(2) that the advent of the 747 is going to be accompanied by a dramatic reduction in air fares.

If our overseas passenger traffic should continue to grow at the rate which has been experienced these several years past, we can expect the number of Boeing 707 frequencies operated by S.A.A. between Johannesburg and the U.K./Europe, to increase from the present 11 per week to more than 20 per week by early 1972. This would mean an average of 3 flights per day. What we will probably do will be to substitute a daily 747 frequency on the route to London for two Boeing 707 frequencies to London. The 747 may, on its way to London, touch also at one or other point in Europe, but our services to European cities (especially those terminating in Europe) will continue to be operated chiefly by 707′s for quite a while after 1972. The daily 747 frequency will, there­fore, be in substitution for two or maybe three 707 frequencies, and not in addition to those frequencies. There may be a certain amount of extra capacity thrown on the market in 1972, but the extra seats are not going to be available at give-away prices.

It is in the highest degree debatable whether 1972 will in fact see a lowering of the level of air fares below that at which they stood immediately prior to the introduction of the Boeing 747. It is, of course, true that the seat-mile costs of the 747 (especially where it is used in a high-density seat configuration) will be substantially better than those of current long-range jets. During the past 8 years or so, the turbine engine with its great efficiency, reliability and longevity has brought about economics which manifested themselves in a steady downward trend in airline operating costs. But the limit of these economics has just about been reached and the downward trend in costs has been arrested. From now on, unit costs can be expected to start rising again; what they will be like in 1972 is not hard to foresee. It is almost cer­tain that a pilot flying-hour, a gallon of kerosene or a landing somewhere – anywhere – is going to cost the airlines substantially more four years from now than it does today. All that can reasonably be expected is that the level of fares as established for the present generation jets immediately prior to the introduction of the 747, would be maintained without increase for some years after their introduction. In absolute terms, this will in effect amount to a lowering of air fares because, compared with the cost of other consumer goods or services competing for the “discretionary” rand, such as a new car, a swimming pool, a boat, a deep-freeze or a repainting job on the house, the cost of air travel will be relatively lower than it is today.

We in S.A.A. foresee that an increasingly important share of our passenger revenue southbound is going to come from inclusive tours, and it is our intention to devote considerable energies in the coming years to the stimulation of this kind of traffic. This of course, is where the Boeing 747 will play an important role, because not only will it supply the capacity required but it will also permit these package tours to be marketed at prices that will at the time be very attractive in comparison with the cost of competing amenities. To con­clude: while I believe that air travel – both business and tourist – to this country will continue to show a healthy rate of growth in the nineteen-seventies, I do not believe that there exists a pent-up flood of tourists just waiting for the high-capacity jets to send them cascading all over South Africa. He who sees this looming ahead is, I think, not to be exonerated of some wishful thinking”.

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VAKLEERLINGDAG

Die jaarlikse funksie vir die oorhandiging van pryse aan vakleerlinge wat op 28 Junie te Avion Park gehou is, is hierdie jaar deur die volgende eregaste bygewoon: Mnr. A. M. Conradie, bestuurshoof; mnr. en mev. J. Adam, adjunkbestuurshoof; mev. J. D. T. Louw, eggenote van die gewese Hooflugdiensbestuurder; mnr. en mev. C. T. Long, gewese president van die Raad van die Witwatersrandse Tegniese Kollege; mnr. E. A. Fenske, werk­tuigkundige hoofingenieur van die S.A.S. en president van die Spoorweë se vakleerlingkomitee; mnr A. O. Vialls, ingenieurs­bestuurder; mnr. H. P. J. Leyll, hoof, Esselen Parkkollege en mnr. M. M. Louw, personeelbestuurder.

Ook teenwoordig was verskeie hoofde van tegniese en ander opleidingsinrigtings van die Rand en Pretoria, asook ‘n groot getal van die vakleerlinge se ouers.

In sy openingsrede het mnr. Conradie onder andere daarop gewys dat deeglike opleiding nie net een van die belangrikste vereistes in ‘n man se lewe is nie, maar ook die beste verseker­ing is wat hy vir sy eie toekoms kan uitneem. Wat egter van nog groter belang is, is die fait dat dit gepaard gaan met vervoer, en dai elke voorwaartse stap op tegnologiese gebied in die vervoorwese verdere en meer omvattende opleiding verg ten einde voordelige benutting van die groeiende lys van nuwe uitvindings en tegnieke te verseker.

Dit is een van die redes waarom die S.A.L. hom voortdurend daarop toelê om soveel moontlik van sy personeel op te lei en ook waarom soveel geld aan opleidingsfasiliteite bestee word.

Mnr, M. D. Overbeek, hoof van die Tegniese Opleidingskool net in sy verslag genoem dat 239 vakleerlinge tans in nege verskillende ambagte opleiding vir die S.A.L. ontvang terwyl vakleerlinge van verskeie spoorwegdepartemente deel van hulle opleiding aan die S.A.L. se skool voltooi.

Mnr. L. R. Meerholtz, voorman, Vakleerlingopleiding (links) en mnr. M. D. Overbeek, hoof, Tegniese Opleidingskool (regs) staan hier by die vier wenners van die trofees - v.ln.r. mnre. Lombard, Mitton, Williams en Botha.

Dit neem S.A.L.-vakleerlinge gemiddeld 3¹/₂ jaar om vakman­status te bereik. Die fait dat so baie van die seuns na so ‘n kort tydperk ‘n toets kan slaag, is ‘n bewys dat hulle van die begin af hand uit die mou steak en dat die seuns wat vin die S.A.L. uitgekies word ‘n hoë mate van leervermoë en belangstelling best, aldus mnr. Overbeek. “Die totale persentasie slaagsyfer ten opsigte van die onder­werpe wat in eksamens aan tegniese kolleges behaal is, dien as barometer. In 1963 was dit 34 persent; in 1964, 37 persent; in 1965, 54 persent; in 1966, 66 persent; en in 1967, 79 persent. “Dit was nie moontlik vir die Tegniese Kolleges om kursusse nor ambagte in lugvaart aan te bied nie omdat hierdie onderwerpe hoogs gespesialiseerd van aard is. Die S.A.L. was derhalwe genoodsaak om die kursusse self op Jan S’mutslughawe te rëel. Dit het onder meer vakke soos ambagteorie oor elektroplatering, vliegtuigonderhoud, vliegtuiginstrumente; vliegtuigelektrotegniek en -radiotegnologie behels. Die eksamens is natuurlik deur die tegniese kolleges afgeneem.”

Die volgende pryse is aan vakleerlinge oorhandig: Die S.A.L.­vroueverenigingtrofee (beste praktiese vakleerling) aan mnr. R. C. Mitton, oorhandig deur mev. Adam.

Die J. D. T. Louw-trofee (die alsydigste vakleerling) aan mnr. W. J. Williams, oorhandig deur mev. J. D. T. Louw. Die S.A.L. se Senior Tegniese Amptenaretrofee (beste vor­dering) aan mnr. Ë. Lombard, oorhandig deur mnr. A. O. M. Vialls.

Die S.A.L.-vlieëniersverenigingse trofee (beste teoretiese vakleerling) aan mnr. A. L. Botha, oorhandig deur mnr. J. Adam. Die volgende vakleerlinge het boekpryse ontvang: Mnre. E. K. Crouch, H. M. Vermaak, F. A. Neuhoff, H. B. Verbooy, J. J. Mouton, A. L. Botha, L. H. Gleisberg en P. J. van Zyl.

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ANOTHER G.S.A. FOR S.A.A.

South African Airways has recently accepted an appointment as General Sales Agent for the Australian domestic carrier Ansett -ANA. The airline operates an extensive network of interstate services throughout Australia as well as intrastate services to Tasmania, Papua and New Guinea with modern equipment such as Boeing 727′s, Douglas DC-9′s, Fokker Friendship as well as helicopters and light aircraft. There is also a flying boat service to Lord Howe Island.

The picture shows from left to right Messrs. J. North, Com­mercial Manager of Ansett – ANA, A. M. Conradie, Chief Execu­tive, S.A.A. and N. S. Louw, Commercial Director, S.A.A. each signing a copy of the General Sales Agency Agreement in Johan­nesburg during July.

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707 PROTOTYPE STILL TEST FLYING

For most of its 14 years, the old Boeing 707 prototype aircraft has been used as a flying test bed to investigate everything from air-conditioners to thrust-reversers. It has been called the most modified aircraft ever built. It has flown with a fifth engine on its fuselage near the tail, to test the Boeing 727 trijet installa­tion, it has landed on mud fields that would barely support the weight of a passenger car, to test soft-field landing gear; it has flown with three different types of engines installed, all at the same time, to test new engines. The 707 prototype has simulated slow-flight characteristics of both the S.S.T. and subsonic super­jets; it has been employed to test weather radar equipment and tests conducted in aircraft motion. In its 2,200 flight hours it has served as a test bed for such components as wheels, brakes, generators, alternators, lighting and acoustics, instrumentation and scores of other aircraft parts and subsystems requiring evaluation.

And now the venerable Boeing 707 prototype is engaged in tests which may have as important effects on aircraft of the 1970′s as did its early pioneering tests on todays jetliners. These tests, which will involve at least 50 hours of flying and about 150 landings, are undertaken to investigate special wing flaps for direct lift control, as part of a 15-month NASA research pro­gramme. This system (DLC) makes possible steeper, noise­abatement approaches to airports.

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BOWLS

With an active membership of about 50 men and 30 ladies, the Avion Park Bowling Club is rolling along very nicely this season.

One of the two teams playing in the N.E.R.B.A. Saturday league did very well to finish top of their section and were only beaten on shot aggregate in the semi-final of the section winners play-off. A rink skipped by Mr. Vic Rawlings likewise gave good account of themselves in the S.T.B.A. fours competition by putting paid to the chances of the previous years champions and carrying on from there to win through to the quarter finals.

A team of two mixed rinks each competed in the inter Railway Club competitions at both Koedoe Park and Blesbok Park. With a very good show on their part the latter team came home with the top honours. The ladies teams were no less successful in the S.A. National Tournament held in Pretoria recently. They had a good chance of winning their section, but were unfortunately held down to a peeled game in their last match and lost their chance by one point.

The Bowling Club is, however, in need of much keener sup­port from S.A.A. membership and if it were not for its associate members it would almost be impossible to function at times. The Club, therefore, invites young and old to join and enjoy this relaxing form of sport.

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JAARLIKSE VERKOOPSKONFERENSIE

Die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens se jaarlikse konferensie oor verkoops­aangeleenthede is hierdie jaar van 3 tot 5 Junie in Madrid gehou. Dit is bygewoon deur hoofkantoorperso­neellede, oorsese bestuurders en hulle onderskeie verkoopsmanne. Mnr. N. S. Louw, handelsdirekteur, hat die voorsitterstoel beklee en na afhandeling van ‘n omvattende agenda was almal dit eens dat die vergadering ‘n groot sukses was. Die foto is in een van die konferen­siesale van Madrid se nuwe Hotel Melia geneem.

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ANNIE GET YOUR GUN!

What was fiction in the comic strips of a decade ago is today reality in the modern technical field. Man can today look through impenetrable steel objects by means of x-rays and can travel through space or ride the depths of the oceans – things which people dismissed as mere imagination. Even the hero of the comic strips’ gun has become a reality and is in possession of S.A.A. at Jan Smuts Airport. The “gun” used in a process called plasma spraying, can be viewed in the Component Repair Section and is employed to upgrade a multitude of base metals with coatings of materials strongly resistant to high heat and long wear as required for modern jet operations. With coatings of such materials as tungsten and chromium carbides, moly­bdenum, nickel-chromium alloy and zirconium oxide, jet parts last much longer because they have a far greater resistance to wear, heat, corrosion and abrasion.

In the plasma coating process electricity, argon gas and a powdered material are combined and deposited from a tool re­sembling a spray gun. Piped through the gun, the argon gas passes through an electric arc generating a temperature of up to 30,000 degrees fahrenheit. The argon gas is converted to plasma – the form matter takes when heated to very high tem­peratures. Powdered metal is force-fed into the spray gun chamber where it is heated to plasticity and carried off in the high velocity plasma stream at speeds three times faster than sound. The result is a controlled coating which covers the sprayed part with a sophisticated material thus prolonging the part’s useful life.

A component being plasma-coated in the Component Repair Section at Jan Smuts Airport. Note the protective apparal of the operator.

Workers wear nylon gloves to avoid contaminating the metal and an experienced operator can hold the thickness to be applied to accuracies within one-thousandth of an inch. Once parts are coated, they are machined by precision diamond grinding and lapping methods to provide a micro-finish; the part possessing extra useful life under conditions of high temperature, high load, and even lack of lubrication.

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VOLTOOIING NADER

Die voorste gedeelte van die romp van die S.A.L. se eerste Boeing 737-straalvliegtuig neem vorm aan in die firma se werksplek te Wichita in Kansas waar die 737′s se rompe vervaardig word. Hierdie gedeelte en die agterste helfte sal in gereedheid gebring word vir afsending per spoor na die Boeingmaatskappy se fabriek in Seattle, Washington, waar werk aan die tweemotorige vliegtuig voltooi sal word.

Die S.A.L. hat drie van die langromp 737-200­vliegtuie wat elk tot 93 passasiers kan dra, aange­koop. Die wydte van die 737 se romp is dieselfde as die van die groot Boeing 707- en 727-straalvliegtuie.

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SPESIALE SKAAL BESPOEDIG LUGVRAG

‘n Spesiale skaal vir die weeg van lugvrag is onlangs op die Jan Smutslughawe vir die S.A.L. ge’installeer om die hantering van besendings te bespoedig.

Vragte tot soveel as 11,OOOIb. kan op die skaal geweeg word en selfs die grootste laaibokke wat in die rompe van hedendaagse vragstraalvliegtuie gelaai word, staan maklik op die platform van 12vt, by 7vt.

Die platform is toegerus met ‘n spesiale oppervlakte – talle groot staalkoeëllaers is in die oppervlakte ingelê om die verskuiwing van swaar vragte van trollies af op die skaal te ver­gemaklik.

Die gewig van besendings word in ponde en kilogramme op n gesigskaal aangetoon en die nettogewig is ook sigbaar op ‘n spesiale apparaat.

Die skaal is so ingerig dat – indien dit in die toekoms nodig mag blyk – spesiale toerusting geinstalleer kan word wat met die oog op outomatisasie gegewens soos die gewig, datum en tyd van weeg en vragkodenommers op papier sal kan druk.

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