Decca Navigator established its presence in France as a result of the French Postal Service requirement for the timely delivery of night airmail service. The story which follows provides the details of that service.

In imaginative thinking, France leads the world and it's 35 years now since a handful of her young pilots, flying World War I aircraft of wood and canvas over the Moroccan desert dreamed of the world's first  air mail linking "France Outre Mer"  with the homeland.

In 1919, they brought this dream to reality  hopping precariously from Toulouse to Rabat in little Breguets, Latécoères and other now forgotten warplanes. There were no maps; they made their own as they went along, naming many of the capes and landmarks after fellow pilots. They flew in pairs, so that when one made a forced landing the other could land beside him and transfer the mail while the unlucky "groundling" stayed in the desert until he had effected his own repair. Punctionality was paramount even then. It was not sufficient that the mail should get through - it had to get through on time. They became renowned and were offered new concessions.

In 1930, they were regularly crossing the South Atlantic in single engined airplanes averaging 80 mph and had opened up the airways of South America where mail-carrying overland was a matter of weeks. The important run from  Rio to Santiago via Buenos Aires was cut to 24 hours, literally changing aircraft fix or six times on the 1,900 mile flight.  The complete route included Dakar - Natal - Rio, another 3,200 miles of which 1,800 were across the Atlantic  - no mean adventure in those days.

By 1935, impressed by the progress made externally, the French postal authorities were considering an internal or 'Metropolitan' air mail service. It was one of their greatest ambitions to deliver by morning, letters posted late the previous evening no matter where. That ambition was realized by one man - Raymond Vanier. In May 1939, he and his colleagues of Societe Air-Bleu inaugurated the first air mail line, Paris to Bordeaux-Pau and three months late , a  second  - Paris-Lyons-Marseilles. Both had proved their success until WWII hindered their development.

As soon as hostilities ceased, work began again and in 1945 the present Centre d' Exploitation Postal Metropolitain del al Compagnie Air France came into being. It was responsible to the French Postmaster General for all air mail carried in France. During its first year, 1946, it carried 1,360 tons of letters and every year since has shown an increase. By 1954,  it was carrying 5,200 tons.

For the first two years (1935-36) a surcharge of 3 francs was made for air mail letters but the system proved so economical this was soon dropped. The success of his service says Vanier  is due chiefly to the magnificent spirit among his pilots and their careful study of the finer points of flying. All their services run by night. Letters posted by as late as 10:00 pm in Paris mailboxes are arriving at the mail centre at Le Bourget by takeoff time. The evening mail from England and other European countries also arrives  around the same time ready for sorting and distribution.  In comparison, if the mail in France had been distributed by train, it would have taken 24 hours if there were suitable trains but there were none.

In two years, Vanier's organization proved they could carry the mail faster and cheaper than the railways but with the same dependability. This meant taking off in the most adverse of conditions and by the use of the best navigational devices and touching down in poor visibility. In 1953, Vanier was justifiably proud of the fact that they had a 98% success rate in getting to their airfields and that 112 landings were made under Q.G.O (all aircraft grounded conditions) . They never had an accident.

A DC-3 being loaded with mail at Le Bourget field for the nightly run to Lyons and Marseille. (Photo courtesy Decca Navigator Company)

The radio altimeter is an essential part of their flying equipment and Vanier thinks very highly of the flare path system in which the lights come up on the pilot's left side instead of directly under the machine as in the Calvert system. At the moment, they are flying DC-3's but next year they are getting Nord 2501's in which the Decca Navigator will be a production fitting. Their assessment of Decca has been going on for 6 to 8 months now  and the Chief Pilot, Captain Georges Clement has given the system a most favourable report when his aircraft was first fitted with the system early in 1954.

Never resting on present accomplishments, Vanier now wants to carry passengers with his new fleet in the daytime when it is not delivering the mail. He contemplates that with his Nords, a night flight from Paris carrying mail and a day flight back meant he could charge second class fares thus keep his machines on a 24 hour schedule instead of standing them down during the day. He also believes that with the opening of a Decca chain in the southern part of France he will be able to fly with a crew of only two, leaving the Flight Log to give the necessary navigational and approach information.

Everything that Vanier has done in his long life of aeronautical experience has been bold and far sighted. That is why he finds himself at the head of the best most efficient , most profitable, most envied air-mail system in the world.

This is how the French chain 8B looked in 1957. Sometime between then and 1973, the Green slave had been shut down since it was of no real use for marine coverage in the Bay of Biscay. (Map graphic courtesy of Perry Castañeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas On-line Library. Modified by Jerry Proc)

 

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SOUTH FRENCH CHAIN

The South French Chain was first announced in the April 1955 edition of Decca Navigator News.

Since the opening of the French Chain 8B in October of 1953, constant use has been made of it by the French Night Airmail service. As a result , the Night Postal Service ordered a chain for the southern part of France which will provide extended coverage over the Basses-Alps and well out into the Mediterranean as far as the Italian border. The chain  will be used by the postal aircraft on the last leg of their nightly trip to the southeast. It will also be of benefit to other aircraft who will obtain valuable navigation assistance in the difficult mountain area stretching from the Southern Alps to the Riveria Coast. In regards to shipping, the new chain will also serve the ports of Marseilles and Toulon. The chain was never built.

This is the map which appeared in the April 1955 issue of Decca Navigator News announcing the new chain.  The Green slave (Slave 1) of the Southern chain  was going to shared with the Purple slave of chain 8B at Aurillac. Slave 2's location at  Perpignan is a best estimate.  The Master station 'M' would have been in the Montpellier area. Slave 3's location  is unknown. The chain was never built.  (Map courtesy Decca Navigator Company)

Ron Poole worked for Decca Navigator in 1956-57. Ron recalls. " I started with an interview at High Wycombe and was sent to France after a very brief introduction to the equipment. There were four of us based at Laroque Timbaut, Lot et Garrone, in the village's only hotel. There were only a couple of upstairs rooms, no baths and outdoor toilets. The master station was in a trailer in a very muddy field with a diesel generator in another trailer. I believe one of the slaves was at Perigord".

Webmaster's comment: All these locations are in south-western France. Contributor Tony Tranfield indicates stations at Agen , Lacaneau Surf Ocean and Lannemezan, -  again, all in Southwestern France. Could this have been a Decca evaluation chain ?

This rendering might suggest a hitherto unknown Decca evaluation chain.

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Contributors and Credits:

1) Walter Blanchard <wblanch@ntlworld.com>

May 26/08