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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0562.PDF
SEPTEMBER 18, 1909. of 50, or 100 or 200 enthusiasts concerning flight does not enjoy very great prospects of exercising influence in opposing any forces that may be brought against the movement, which, in its early days especially, is in the greatest need of being organised and unified. Supposing difficulties to be created in Glasgow, in Liverpool, in Birmingham, in Portsmouth, in Sheffield or elsewhere, the local flying societies of those districts could never hope to be regarded any time during the next few years as any more than negligible quantities by comparison with the forces that could be ranged against them. But, suppose a proper scheme of association were in full operation, so that in its fight the local body would have the whole of those interested in the flying movement in Britain behind it, as well as actively engaged in assisting it, and the complexion of affairs would be very different indeed. This Hnking-up of forces, or mutual co-operation, is a scheme for the multiplication of influence, for the defeating of dissipation of effort, for, as it were, the mutual insurance of the movement. The history of every other movement, and future developments that any business man can see to be inevitable, leave room for no manner of doubt but that within the next few years all locally established aero- nautical bodies will have to organise themselves in some system of mutual co-operation. Therefore, it is an idle thing to delay the vital work of self-organisation, because the great thing is to assist initial progress of the move- ment and to have things settled smoothly and amicably, to the end of preventing friction and regrettable wastage of effort as by the growing up of vested interests. In flight we want no vested interests. We want one grand movement organised on such a scale that all its branches shall be adequately represented, and so that at any and all times it will be possible to bring a united force to bear towards the promotion of aviation in Britain, For this reason we suggest that provincial organisations should, each according to its kind, ally themselves with that central body which is concerned with the same work that itself has undertaken. Those concerned with the sporting, the social and the practical phases of the movement should become affiliated with the Aero Club of the United Kingdom; those of purely scientific interest should link themselves up in some fashion with the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. And the work of the Aerial League of the British Empire is such that already it has established itself in sundry centres for the more efficient carrying out of the great business of patriotic propaganda; while, as regards the kite-flying clubs and those instituted for the flying of models and so forth, possibly some scheme of affiliation might be arranged with the Aero Club League, through which inter-club competitions could speedily be arranged for, thereby spreading the movement in its very elementary phases. In any case, the main thing is for the local bodies to get linked each to its kind without more ado, and we trust that the means of doing so will prove easy and agreeable, for we cannot see any valid reason why there should be difficulties in the way of uniting the forces of aviation in Britain, not in the interests of any one group of individuals, but in the interests of all, because in the interests of the cause. Attempts are bound to be made from time to time by those whose personal interests are antagonistic, to sow discord in the camp and to do all in their power to weaken the unity of representation. Let every bona fide well-wisher of the movement remember, however, that national institutions like the Aero Club are precisely what their members cause them to be, and that by no stretch of the imagination can such a body be imbued with personal attributes of an autocratic kind, inasmuch as the membership is virtually open to all, and the official personnel^ as well as the constitution of the committees of management, are solely in the hands of the entire membership. Views showing tl flying grounds in Germany at Bahnhof Bork. In these is seen the mansion"Mars" from which tne grounds take their name, a general view o£ the flying field, a stretch of cleared forest for the starting point, and in the centre the "jumping off" platform in course of erection. Our pictures are from the"Automobil-Welt." This flying ground is about 44 kiloms. from Charlottenburg on the Berlin-Belzig-Sangerhausen line. 566
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