Australia's Light Aircraft Boom

f N Australia's outback more people r than ever are becoming private aircraft operators.

Mrs. Hazel Roberts, a widow who owns the Ennis Downs cattle station in N.W. Queensland, flies her Cessna to town for shopping, and also flies her children to boarding school in Brisbane, 1500 miles away. She also uses her aircraft to move her station workers to jobs at scattered points on her property.

When floods turn the far western plains of New South Wales into a vast quagmire, all land transport is paralysed and the air swarms with small aircraft carrying people in and out of stations, bringing in mail and supplies, and searching for missing sheep and cattle.

It is in this region that the air taxi has come into its own. Allen Matthews, owner-pilot of Sunraysia Air Taxis based at Mildura (Victoria), operates atypical air service charging aflatrate of Ugd. a mile. He uses an Auster and a Cessna.

Today there is a boom in light aircraft in Australia. Many factors contribute to this surging growth of private flying including a favourable climate and terrain.

A private hangar for the family two or fourseater alongside the garage is a common feature of the farms and stations in many parts of the country. The uses to which private akqaft are being put are legion. Farmers use them for crop dusting, for droving and for dingo hunting. At popular surfing beaches, light 4ircraft maintain continuous patrols to warn surfers of the presence of sharks

Use of executive afucraft is spreading throughout Australian business and industry, and at least 30 organisations operate their own aircraft ) between inter-state branches or on construction projects.

Two big industrial organisations-Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd., the big steel and ship-building company, and Zinc Corporation Ltd.-use a fleet of four executive aircraft.

A recent addition to the fleet was a Grumman Gulfstream which cost f,A500,000. This is a prop jet powered by two Rolls Royce Dart engines with a range up to 2,000 miles and alr -, carrying capacity from a ,ro..nul -10;- augmented 25. The other planes in the fleet are a fA44,000 twin-engined Italian Piaggo P-166 six-seater with a cruising range of I,500, 4-engined de luxe Heron and a S.T.O.L. Scottish Pioneer.

The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority flies passengers from its Canberra headquarters to the big construction works in the Snowy Mountains in de Havilland Beavers.

Big developments are taking place in aerial agriculture, and the industry is settling down on a sounder and better organised basis after the haphazard operations of the past decade. Today the trend is towards the formation of groups of operators. The major operator is Aerial Agriculture which is expected to have 11 Beavers this year.

Australia makes a crop-dusting aircraft which is proving to be an efficient work horse. It is the Ceres, an adaptation by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation of its former trainer aircraft, the Wirraway which was the basis of the Royal Australian Air Force's wartime pilot training programme. It is selling in Austraha, and a few have been sold in New Zealand.

The Australian Aero Clubs, which are subsidised by the Federal Government to carry out flying instruction, have been able to get licenses to import U.S. aircraft in recent years. They have been reconstructing their fleets with the types which overseas experience has shown might be expected to stimulate popular interest in private flying.

Popular Flying, May-June, 1961.

This policy has paid off handsomely by attracting many new pupil-flyers in the 40-60 age groups who formerly regarded flying as a pastime for venturesome youth.

But the aero clubs buy little more than 60 per cent. of the light aircraft sold in Australia. The "dn big market being tapped is among the business 'executives, the graziers and farmers, the doctors and the engineers.

While the U.S. companies are at present getting the best of the market the American companies' grip is likely to be challenged soon. British aircraft groups, for example, have projects for suitable new light ahuaft, and may be expected to enter the fray with a bid to make up the leeway.

A continental plane which is regarded as a possible threat to the present main suppliers, if the problem of servicing can be overcome, is the French Morane-Saulnier Rallye.

From the Australian aircraft industry, too, comes a bid from Victa Consolidated Industries of Sydney which proposes to produce a locallydesigned Millicer tourer. The designer is Harry Millicer, former chief aero-dynamist of the Government Aircraft Factory, Melbourne. It was this design which won him the Royal Aero Club's award for a British light aircraft design.

Berck Rally

rfiUg Aero-Club de Berck et Environs recently I acted as host to 45 British light aircraft which arrived to celebrate the opening of Customs facilities.

As many are aware the growing traffic at Le Touquet has caused problems to light aircraft pilots, particularly those without radio, so with th.e prohibition on non-radio aircraft into Le Touquet the facilities at Berck are most timely and reflect a more enlightened attitude towards the legitirnate rights of private pilots than can be said in the U.K. where facilities for the " little man " are marginal.

With very poor weather it seemed that the meeting would be a failure from the start, reports coming in of pitots turning back, not starting, or awaiting a more hopeful forecast at Lympne. However, late in the morning th.e first aircraft arrived and appropriately it was Norman Jones in his Turbulent G-ARGZ. His arrival could be regarded as a lesson by many who postulate fully-equipped expensive aircraft with all sorts of devices as the only means of flyingwhile most of the expensive devices were on the ground Norman Jones was happily puttering along, was in nobody's way and arriving on time.

Before sunset a steady stream of aircraft booked in and 'Berck Club' on 123.5 had a busy time-frequency allocaters please note that all this traffic on the light aeroplane frequency did not interfere for one second with local commercial traffic not ten miles away.

Notable in this meeting was the family atmosphere so normal in French rallies but just a little lacking at home. Five aircraft disgorged complete families-the oldest passenger being S3-year-old Mrs. Watson and the youngest a fourteen month old who arrived o:,,:p of the €" luggage in a Cessna 150. Mrs. Watson was )/ flown by her 17 year old granddaughter in a Jackaroo. Several arrivals showed the need for more training in airmanship and some landings were made in the rough despite clearly marked strips. For many it was their fi.rst crossing and from the noise in the tiny bar at Berck it was obvious that many tales can now be told and that several newly fledged pilots have learned that there is nothing like a foreign trip away from the circuit to teach a lot about flying which does not appear in the books.

Lunch at the airfield was picnic style, which seemed a good idea in view of all the activity and at some time during lunch Mike Berg of Stapleford carried offa prizefor the longest moustache, while Joe Taylor received suitable reward for his venerable pilot's licence. Ladies were not forgotten and Sheila Scott received the lady's 5rpfize. The prize for the youngest pilot, also to na lady, went to Charles Watson's 17 year'old daughter.

H.B-D.

SHACKLETON WEEK-END

Eight countries were represented at this international aviation week-end, organised by W. S. Shackleton (Aviation) Ltd., and held at Baginton. Great interest was shown in the Beagle Group's new products, the Beagle-Auster Airedale and the Beagle Terrier, being presented publicly for the first time. Among the exhibitors were Short Brothers and Harland of Belfast who were displaying Beechcraft aircraft.

Populor Flying, Mayf,vnr, 1961.

fIOO,OOO TRUST FUND

TO encourage British sporting aviation - through flying and gliding clubs a f,100,000 trust fund is being set up jointly by S.B.A.C. and petroleum interests. A contribution of f25,000 is being made by Shell-Mex and B.P. and the balance is being put up by aircraft and aero-engine firms. The funds will be on loan to flying and gliding clubs at low interest. A representative committee of sponsors, under the secretaryship of Mr. Basil Meads, will administer the fund.

P.F.A. ENGINEERING CHARGES

fN addition to the P.F.A. engineering charges rrecently announced in " Popular Flying " there is a charge of [5 for certiflcation of the constructional standard for a permit recommendation.

JEAN BATTEN'S PERCIVAL GULL

MEMORIES of a quarter of a century ago tt-were stirred recently when the Percival Gull6 monoplane in which Miss Jean Batten made her historic solo flight to Australia and New Zealand in 1936 was airborne over Luton. The aircraft G-ADPR was flown for a short while after it had been presented for inclusion in the Shuttle- worth Trust of historical aircraft. The preseniation was made by Mr. Arthur Summers, managing director of Hunting Aircraflt, successors to Percival Aicraft who built the aircraft.

P.F.A. BADGES

I-l EVISED charges for P.F.A. Badges are: raBlazer badges-fz 5s.; Wings Badgesf 1 l3s. 6d. Supplies are avallable from Londonderry House. A P.F.A. member's tie will be available shortly.

Books Received

\Y/AR Planes of the Second World War. W fignters. Vol. Two (Great Britain and Italy). William Green, 9s. 6d. net. Vol. Three (Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Rumania and the Soviet Union) 9s. 6d. Both published by Macdonalds.

Diary

25th June. Leicester Aero Ctub 'At Homs'Leicester East Airfield.

13th-15th Ju1y. King's Cup Air Race and Lockheed Aerobatic Competition-Baginton.

2lth-zgth July. July International Business and Touring Aircraft Competition-Kidlington. 8th-1Oth September. P.F.A. Tnternational Rally.