Turning Round a Boeing in 40 Minutes
Page 48
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Airliners Earn Only When Flying, So Special Vehicles Are Used to Minimize Terminal Delays By Harold Champion
THIS year a record total of 4m. people may use London Airport, and whilst the volume of goods being handled there is not so spectacu
lar it is nevertheless increasing. This has created new problems, added to by the higher speeds at which modern aircraft operate and their greater load capacities.
Today, aeroplane construction has overtaken ground facilities. Many airports are obsolescent just as soon as they are enlarged or constructed. At London Airport, out-of-date temporary buildings are in use at the " long-haul " terminal, and near-chaos reigns at peak traffic periods. Complete blockage could result were it not that mechanization is employed together with special types of vehicle that have been evolved.
It is against such a background that the big international airlines have to assess their jet-airliner investments. For example, the giant Boeing 707, now being used by Pan American and soon to be brought into service by B.O.A.C., is a big enough problem in itself with its enorrnous passenger and cargo capacity, not to mention its high speed.
No aircraft earns money on the 'ground. If it is to be economic, it must not only carry high payloads but carry them often. So substantial is the financial investment represented by an aircraft such as the Boeing, that the profitability largely depends upon turn-round time at
terminals. Mechanization must therefore redress the drawback caused by the inadequacies of the buildings.
For example. victualling, baggageloading, aircraft cleaning and seatchanging all take highly expensive time.
So fine is the dividing line between profit and loss in aircraft operation that minutes saved in aircraft servicing may well be the decisive factor. The Rootes Group have given this matter special study. For some years their special equipment has been a familiar sight at many airports. The Karrier Gamecock Cargo-Lift has been evolved for loading up to 3 tons of goods, replenishing galleys and similar functions: the Gamecock air-conditioning unit is used by K.L.M. and other operators; and various types of passenger and crew coaches are supplied.
The latest contribution was introduced this summer. Entirely new vehicles are being employed by Pan American to turn round the Boeing airliners (which can carry some 115 passengers across the Atlantic in about eight hours) in record quick time. The vehicles were built to Pan American specification and represent a step forward in a dollar market The equipment includes a waterservicing vehicle, a toilet-servicing or sewage unit, and a commissary for victualling and changing seats. It is sometimes necessary to convert a first-class. cabin to tourist class, and a rapid changeover is essential.
The water-servicing vehicle has a capacity of 360 U.S. gal. of drinking water, carried in three stainless-steel tanks. The sewage vehicle is based on a Bantam chassis with a wheelbase of 8 ft. 2 in. The flushing tank has a capacity of 100 Imp. gal., the clear-water tank being at the front. The pump is driven direct from the normal power take-off and is of the gear type with a stainless-steel shaft and gunmetal body and rotors suitable for water containing disinfectant.
These vehicles, used in conjunction with Karrier tractors, a Cargo-Lift and a food commissary, on orie occasion reduced the normal two-hour turn-round period for a Boeing to 40 min. At present, the vehicles are employed only by Pan American and only at London Airport, but the Rootes Group may be expected to try to sell them in the U.S.A. Moreover, other airlines who are to fly the Boeing are likely customers.