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Eight THE AIR LINE PILOT March 1947 More Speed, More Plane -- More Training, Too [[image]] Captain L.C. Brown (left), of Local Council No. 12, UAL-Chicago, and Captain C. B. Payne, two of the 350 UAL senior pilots being checked out to fly the new 300-mile-an-hour Douglas DC-6's, listen to instructor J. C. Conde explaining the details of the new four-engined plane while attending UAL's "upgrading school" at San Francisco, Calif. To make the jump from C-54's to the speedier planes, each pilot will receive three weeks of intensive ground and flight training, including classroom instruction on engineering details, familiarization with instruments and controls, and 7-10 hours of flight instruction in an NX-liscened DC-6. UAL intends to put 35 of the new Mainliner 300's in scheduled operation over their coast-to-coast and Pacific Coast-Honolulu routes this spring. SINCE 1930 --- NEVER A LULL (Continued from Page 5, Col. 5) of this type aircraft makes it necessary to give them special consideration for Air Traffic Control It is conceivable that under conditions of restricted visibility this type of craft could become a collision hazard when flying in the approach zone of an airport. New Department Expands ALPA's Education and Organization Department, which the Ninth Convention voted to incorporate permanently in the Association's organizational setup to assist other classes and crafts in the air line industry to organize, continued to expand during March. The outstanding developments of the month were the National Mediation Board's certification of the Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association as the duly designated and authorized representatives of TWA and Eastern Air Lines flight stewards and stewardesses. Contract negotiation conferences with both of these companies have been set for early in April. Meanwhile contract negotiation conferences continued on March 5 and 6 and March 17, 18, and 19 with Northwest Airlines in St. Paul, Minnesota. Headquarters personnel present at these conferences were V. J. Herbert, Miss S. A. Peoria, and K. J. Ulrich, the first two from the Education and Organization Department and the latter from the Employment Agreement Department. The Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association also filed requests with the National Mediation Board for Certification on Northeast Airlines and Colonial Airlines, which with a pending application on American Airlines makes a total of three applications on file with the National Mediation Board by this ALPA-sponsored organization. Similar requests are expected to be made shortly by the stewards and stewardesses of Braniff, Delta, C&S, Mid-Continent, Capital and National Airlines. The Air Line Agents Association and Nonscheduled Pilots Association, also ALPA-sponsored organizations, kept pace with these other organizations with receipt of many requests for authorization-to-act cards and numerous inquiries about these organizations. Acquire Office Space In order to alleviate ALPA's office space shortage and consolidate general office work into one space unit, during March ALPA added 5,000 square feet of office space to its Headquarters office at 3140 W. 63rd Street, directly across the street from the President's office at the former OPA offices. The addition will give ALPA approximately twice its present floor space. It is a temporary measure to relieve the present office congestion until ALPA's new Headquarters building can be constructed. Thus ended March, ALPA's first post-convention month. To say that the post Ninth Convention era got off to a flying start with broad and decisive steps in the direction of getting a lot of work done is a masterpiece of understatement. While conventions of ALPA have mapped its destiny, there is one thing that is certain which is that ever since ALPA came into being in 1930, it has been involved in chain-like series of high pressure, rapid-fire activities, highly essential to the best interest of the air line pilots and amply sprinkled with the "musts." Conventions change many things. The tempo of ALPA happenings are swift and many. Engineering and Air Safety Dept. (Continued from Page 6, Columns 4,5) the air line pilots instead of 1500 as proposed in revision of Part 68 of the air traffic rules; Draft Release No. 60 proposed fire protection specifications on transport aircraft which were considered inadequate by ALPA. Recommendations made by APLA resulted in circulation of Draft Release No. 64 which contained the majority of items recommended by ALPA. The contents of this release are no included in Civil Aeronautics Regulation CAR-04 Transport Category Airworthiness requirements; standardization of the gross weight of the DC-3 at 25,200 lbs. The work of the Constellation Fire Hazard Committee, which investigated and formulated recommendations on the elimination of fire hazards, was commended as being very constructive. A great number of these recommendations were adapted by the many manufacturers to whom they were circulated. Among the other activities in which the Engineering Department engaged were: demonstrations of recent experimental equipment and landing devices, advice to manufacturers on establishing weight and speed limitations and other points vital to the safety of the craft, the removal of obstructions that lay in the path of scheduled airplanes, and service in an advisory and guidance capacity to engineering representatives of firms manufacturing safety equipment. Call It Bribery (Continued from Page 2, Col. 4) is going to be transferred to New York. Ask her who the next chief pilot will be, or when PAA will get domestic routes, or what the seniority number of Joe Blow is. If she plays bridge, she'll tell you. Speaking of transfers, one sure way to be included is to buy a house. I recommend at least a $15,000 house purchased on a falling market. Another transfer guarantee is a boat, a large one, the kind you've always wanted for cruising in the Keys. A couple of trips ago a stewardess was discovered secreting small packages of gum in some large brown envelopes. A closer inspection revealed the envelopes were marked - "U. S. Public Health," "U. S. Customs," "U.S. Immigration." Call it bribery, if you like, the results are amazing. For those of us who are used to spending more time in customs than in the cockpit, I recommend it heartily. Cast your gum upon the waters and watch the jaundiced eye sparkle. TEN YEARS AGO (Editor's Note:Because the February "Ten Years Ago" column was omitted from the Convention issue to accommodate Convention news, it is being published in this issue of the AIR LINE PILOT.)"AIR LINE ACCIDENTS ARE NOT BEING PROPERLY INVESTIGATED!" Those were words spoken by ALPA President David L. Behncke in February, 1937, but words that have echoed down through the corridors of time over a decade to become applicable to the paralleling events of 1947, and again drive home the irrefutable fact that there has never been proper air line accident investigation with the exception of the short lifetime of the independent Air Safety Board which established a world air line safety record of over 17 months without a fatality. Writing in the February, 1937, edition of the AIR LINE PILOT, President Behncke stated: "Under the Bureau of Air Commerce system of investigation, every participant is a 'party in interest,' including the Bureau of Air Commerce. First the Bureau makes the regulations, O.K's the engineering, installs and maintains the aids, and then, when an accident occurs, it sits as judge and jury to decide the efficiency of its own activities. No man can logically be expected to decide a case against himself. This applies to every other participant under the present D. O. C. system of investigating airplane accidents. "Millions are at stake. What would happen if an inherent weakness were found in any of the equipment? How can this one-man investigating board (a part of the politically controlled Bureau of Air Commerce which changes personnel with each administration_ withstand the terrific pressure that is inevitable? Politics must be swept from American air transportation. Then, and not before, will we have increased air safety. Today, as in 1937, ALPA's efforts at revival of the independent Air Safety Board are being vigorously resisted by certain bureaucrats and money interests, fearful that its re-establishment will cost some of the former their jobs and the latter a few cents. How can an Air Safety Board insure air safety, they clamor in 1947. They raised the same hue and cry for the same reasons in 1937. The simplest and most powerful answer is in the record of the Air Safety Board during its existence from August 22, 1938, to June 30, 1940: 17 months without an air line accident - a record which was unmatched before or since. And lives are as precious today as they were in 1937 p too precious to squander as political pawns. [Image] KNOW YOUR ALPA The closely coordinated personnel, who comprise ALPA's central office force and smoothly execute the tremendous volume of work which falls to Headquarters, today number 44, who are pictured above. They include 13 executives, headed by ALPA President David L. Behnke, and 31 others who sere in secretarial, clerical and other capacities. Built from a mere skeleton force to a highly departmentalized organization, the end of ALPA expansion is not yet in sight. Today ALPA's general office force is staffed by nine people while departmental personnel is broken down as follow: Employment Agreement Department, five; Statistical and Research Department, two; Publicity and Public Relations Department, three; Engineering and Air Safety Department, three; Grievance and Conciliation Department, two; Bookkeeping and Accounting Department, five; Education and Organization Department, seven; Council Coordination and Administration Department, three; Membership Records Department, one; Membership Department, two; and the Washington Representation Department, two.
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Transcription of text is complete; order of articles may be incorrect as I cannot find style guidelines for full newspaper spreads.
