§ 10. Mr. R. Harrisasked the Minister of Aviation, in the official testing of silencers for jet planes, what consideration has been given to the French Bertin silencer which is in use by Air France, which is mobile, and which diminishes noise by 30 decibels.
§ Mr. MartenThe Bertin ground silencer is one of several designs now being evaluated by the Ministry of Aviation against an R.A.F. requirement.
§ Mr. HarrisIs it not possible for the Minister to issue some statement, or possibly a White Paper, saying what is being done to investigate the possibility of reducing the noise from aircraft engines in view of the great importance of this to residents in constituencies around London Airport?
§ Mr. MartenWe had a very full debate on this at the Easter Adjournment in which I made a half an hour's statement, and I also raised and dealt with the question of noise in winding up the Civil Aviation debate last Monday.
§ 11. Mr. R. Harrisasked the Minister of Aviation what steps have been taken by his Department and the London Airport authorities to alleviate the smell of paraffin in residential areas near 8 London Airport after some jet airliners have taken off, and to diminish the noise from the running-up of aircraft engines at night during the summer months.
§ Mr. MartenEngine designers are trying to remove the cause of paraffin smell after take-off by improving combustion in engines operating at low power and to a lesser extent at very high power which causes this smell. Meanwhile, all possible operating techniques and procedures will continue to be used to keep down these fumes. We have already achieved a substantial reduction in ground running at night, and this will continue to be subject to the strictest control.