B.A.C. ONE-ELEVEN FLIGHT FLOATING WITHOUT NOISE IS PARAMOUNT SENSATION

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30542, 10 September 1964, Page 16

B.A.C. ONE-ELEVEN FLIGHT FLOATING WITHOUT NOISE IS PARAMOUNT SENSATION

IBv the Air Correspondent of the “Financial Times' I (Reprinted bu arrangement)

After three accidents to the total of eight aircraft flown to date, many people might be forgiven for believing that the British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven short-haul jet airliner had lost much of its original promise of achieving substantial sales in world markets. They would be wrong. Yesterday (September 3) I became one of the first passengers to fly in this aircraft, and 1 can confirm that it lives up to all that has been said for it.

Flying in rear-engined jet airliners has always been a pleasure for anyone who has experienced the groaning discomfort of piston-engined types, the smoother but still palpably noisy turbo-propeller types and, in more recent times, the sound range of the “buried engine” Comet and the “podded engine” Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. Noise Swept Clear The sensation of floating rather than flying is paramount in the One-Eleven. The noise, generated at the back of the aircraft anyway, is swept clear of the cabin, enabling a conversation to be held in a voice little above a whisper. This means that the passenger can get out at the end of his trip feeling as though he has travelled almost by private limousine, instead of the all-too-common experience of a headache and the feeling of having been passed through a mincer. I can support unreservedly the claims that the OneEleven carries a stage further the comfort, smoothness and quiet that many passen-

gers have already come to enjoy with the Caravelle and are now also experiencing with the Trident, VC-10, and Boeing 727.

The One-Eleven has been called the “bus-stop” jet of the future. The cabin interior is surprisingly roomy for such a small aeroplane and a new design of seat has ensured that even the tallest can sit without cramp. In fact, there is more shoulder and elbow room with five-abreast seating in the One-Eleven than there is with six-abreast seating in the larger Boeing 707. The rear entrance stairs carry the passenger up between the two Rolls-Royce engines into a cabin that still retains something of the “tube” look which is almost

[impossible to eliminate, in i aeroplanes without the use of expensive and extensive bulk-heads. But the 69 seats are arranged two abreast one side and three abreast on the other, enabling maximum freedom of movement. In yesterday’s full load, the claustrophobia engendered by some aircraft was entirely absent. Take-off Climb Gentle Another feature of the OneEleven that is bound to appeal to passengers is the gentle climb away after takeoff, with none of the feeling of being pushed through the back of one’s seat that is so common with Comets and even Caravelles. The rate of climb is nevertheless extremely rapid, and cruising altitude of over 20,000 feet is reached quickly. In cruising, the noise level of the engines, even when sitting in the rear of the cabin, is at least as low, if not lower, than in other rearmounted jets, while a noticeable feature is the absence

of machinery whine as the undercarriage is raised and lowered. This is something that often troubles passengers a great deal when they are flying for the first, time. In some jet aeroplanes, particularly the Boeing 707, the captain has often had to explain this noise and reassure passengers. It is not likely that this will become part of the cabin drill in tire One-Eleven. Accompanying me on my hour-long flight over Southeastern England was Sir George Edwards, managing director of the British Aircraft Corporation, who was exceptionally confident about his aeroplane. “It’s going to be all right,” he told me. “I hope to sell 250 One-Elevens over the next five years,” and he added that he expected to be able to announce more sales within the next few months.

Big Orders Expected There were good prospects in the United States, both with new and existing customers. The Australians might buy in spite of recent statements that they were more interested in American types, while “there is a thumping great order to be picked up in Germany by someone,” he said, leaving no doubt that he intended to try to win it. It was possible that there might be Some form of coproduction arrangement with a German manufacturer— Krupp has been mentioned as a possibility—but although there have been discussions nothing specific has yet been settled. Orders to date stand at 65 aircraft worth over £65 million.

Sir George Edwards admitted that the B.A.C. had had some difficulty in holding to its original development programme because of the accidents, but there is an air of confidence throughout the company, and there is every reason to expect certification clearing the aircraft for regular airline service before the on d of this year, when de-, liveries to the first customers, British United Airways and Braniff of the United States, will begin.

Mr Derek Lambert, civil technical sales manager, who has just come back from a sales tour of Australia, epitomised this confidence when he told me: “We think the One-Eleven will sell itself wherever we take it." Demonstration Tours A big programme of overseas sales and demonstration tours in addition to test flights has already been undertaken. The aircraft has been to Athens and many Middle Eastern cities and to Zurich, Rome, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Madrid: It is going to Johannesburg soon for trials in tropical conditions. Next week Mr Najeeb Halaby, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States, is coming to this country for the Farnborough Air Show and he will fly the One-Eleven and discuss the question of American certification for it.

The publicity given to the accidents and particularly to the problems encountered during stalling tests inevitably raises the question of safety. But Sir George Edwards was emphatic that the modifications built into the aeroplane, including the improved control linkage between the pilot and the elevators, were working well. “We have got the stalling characteristics right," he declared. During my ride

1 1 experienced no qualms of i any kind; nor so far as 1 could [discover, did any of the other 160 or so passengers. The One-Eleven, in fact, will go into service as one of the most extensively-tested aeroplanes ever to fly. It will have to take severe punishment in service from airlines who will want to land it and take it off again many times a day—the typical “bus-stop” operation— and so all parts of the aircraft are being tested to a minimum life of over 40,000 flights, equivalent to more than 10 years’ operation in airline service. The aircraft will in fact be capable of many more years of service than this, in view of the normal meticulous airline inspection and repair activities that are conducted on all aeroplanes. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the One-Eleven could become like the Viscount and the DC-3, one of the greatest aeroplanes ever built. Confidence Extended The British Aircraft Corporation's confidence extends

[beyond the One-Eleven to the Super VC-10. “We shall see more VC-10 customers by the middle of next year,” Sir George Edwards told me. The company was also “knee deep” in studies for stretching the Super VC-10 to meet threatened competition from high-density versions of the Boejng 707 and Douglas DC-8. In the meantime, B.A.C. needs new’ orders at the rate of seven to 10 VC-10’s a year in order to keep the production lines going, and it sees no reason why it should not get them. The first Super VC-10 to fly is doing well in its trials, while the standard version, in service with 8.0.A.C., is also settling down satisfactorily. Beyond the Super VC-10 Sir George Edwards would like to build another type of aeroplane for sub-sonic operation in the 1970's in spite of the advent of the supersonic airliners. What sort of aeroplane he does not yet quite know —aeroplanes take a long time to gestatq—but it does seem that the B.A.C. is going to be in the transport aircraft business for a long time to come.