This Week In Aviation History: March 25

The Fokker C4 Commercial Airplane

The Fokker C4 was originally designed as a general purpose military observation plane. On account of the unusually wide fuselage, however, this plane is easily adapted to commercial use, where a high-performance, well powered plan of medium carrying capacity is required.

World Air Transport

European governments woke up to the importance of developing a real first-class air transport service sooner than we did here, but when American air transport finally got under way it progressed at a rate that soon outdistanced the rest of the world.

The Seadrome Lighting System

In an inter-continental war, seaplane bases assume an urgent importance. The development of seaplane transportation is definitely dependent on adequate lighting of water areas for night landings.

Air America Loses Name in New Ruling

American Airlines has won another victory for its name with Civil Aeronautics Board's order that Air America, Inc., and Air America Agency Corp. stop using the word "America."

Bid to Takeover Pan Am Blocked

Apparent success in blocking a threatened takeover of Pan American World Airway by an outside interest would interrupt other airlines' plans to seek diversification and start a new trend toward trunkline mergers.

Charles de Gaulle Airport Service Starts

Paris Airport Authority inaugurated its third major airport last week with the start of commercial air service at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport 15 min. north of Paris, near the village of Roissy-en-France.

Traffic Drops Again in February

Major airlines as a group reported a second consecutive monthly drop in scheduled passenger traffic in February, attributed generally-as was January's decline-to inflated traffic stimulated by deeply discounted fares a year ago.

U.S. Manufacturers Expect Strong Long-Range Demand

U.S. airframe manufacturers can look forward to many years of continued heavy demand for their products in a world that is rapidly becoming more stable and experiencing ever-growing air travel.

Target Tracking

A slowdown in yield improvement at its airline and strong competitive pressure in the maintenance, repair and overhaul operations are leading Lufthansa management to devise a new cost-cutting program to sustain earnings growth.

Fast Track

The tension is mounting for Boeing and its 787 operators as the company prepares to hand over certification date to the FAA from exhaustive tests of the redesigned lithium-ion battery system.