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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0536.PDF
I/LIGHT j MAY 31, 1917. "COMMERCIAL AERONAUTICS/ »* By G. HOLT THOMAS. THE subject I have to deal with in this paper is enormous, andof vital importance to the Empire, but it is only possible to touch very lightly on the possibilities of commercial aeronau-tics in the time allowed this evening. My opinion is that it will revolutionise the world not only from a commercialpoint of view, but from a humanitarian point, much more indeed than it has revolutionised warfare, although theeffect on that is very great. Civil, as opposed to military, aviation in pre-war days has simply meant civilian pilotsacting professionally or for sporting purposes, but civil aviation after the war will certainly be of quite a differentcharacter and with objects of very much greater importance. I am not one of those who think that commercial aeronauticsare going to beat railways and other forms of transport out of existence, but rather that flying will act as an adjunct to thepresent modes of transport. The question which we have to decide to-night is : "• Can the aeroplane, taking intoaccount the advantages of speed, &c, which it alone possesses, be regarded as a practical means of transport ? " I wish tomake it quite clear that I in no way intend to deal with the type of aircraft to be. used for commercial purposes, butsimply to deal with these uses as I foresee them in the near future. Again, I am only, for commercial purposes, going totalk about aeroplanes. The lighter-than-air machines have their uses, but the cost is, I think, too great to bring themin for commercial purposes, at any rate at the moment put under its very nose more than Great Britain. The firstgreat meeting after Rheims was held at Blackpool. In 1909 I brought Paulhan to London. In 1910 the first greattown-to-town flight in the world, London-Manchester, for which a prize of £10,000 was given by the Daily Mail,took place, and nothing in my very full life gave me greater pleasure than organising it. The Circuit of Britainwas an event which ought to have convinced anyone. The airmen in the Circuit of Europe, in which I acted for thiscountry, after passing through France, Holland and Belgium, arrived in London to meet more police than public. Thefirst flight on Salisbury Plain, which I arranged with the late Captain Dickson, at the Military Manoeuvres in 1910,would have convinced anyone but a Britisher. But luckily, like Britishers always do, we got there in the end. Now this isall ancient history, but why I refer to it is because our want of initiative was due to public apathy and apathy on thepart of business men. No country depends more on public opinion than our own. It can carry anything, and ourdilatory methods in military aviation are entirely due to public apathy. The fact that a handful, of machines crossedthe Channel on the outbreak of war is not due to the Flying Corps. No keener body of men existed, but up to the out-break of war they were starved. It is a wonder their enthusiasm was not entirely quenched. It was not due entirelyto the War Office or the Cabinet, who, I again affirm, could PREPARING FOR AFTER THE WAR.—A couple of photographs from the aim which illustrated Mr. Holt Thomas's remarkable lecture on Commercial Aeronautics on Wednesday before the Aeronautical Society. On the left: Loading up. On the right: Distribution of mail and aerial post. In full flight. Note These photographs are from actual full-sized machines in operation. (although I speak as one interested in airships as well asaeroplanes), and their speed is not sufficient. It is, however, certain that we must be first in airships, as in everything else,in this country, and airship services subsidised by the Govern- ment to a very large extent will undoubtedly be the courseso far as lighter-than-air machines are concerned. A great compliment has been paid to the AeronauticalSociety and myself this evening inasmuch as we have as Chairman Lord Cowdray, the President of the Air Board, andpersonally I am quite as pleased to have him as my Chairman in his unofficial position, viz., as one of the most eminentbusiness men of this country, for this reason. The successful use of aircraft for commercial purposes will depend on theviews of business men, and no one is more capable than our Chairman to-night to decide whether there is a commercialuse for aircraft or not, whether aerial services will constitute a financial success or not, and generally to decide whetherI am talking common sense to you this evening or whether I am to be regarded, as I have been for so long, as simply anenthusiast. In my opinion there exists no doubt at all on the matter, no more doubt that has been the case for the use ofaircraft for military purposes, now proved up to the hilt; and as I was a true prophet on military uses, I would ask youto have some confidence in my statement as to commercial uses. The history of aviation in this country is lamentable, butglorious. No country has had the practical restflts of flying * A Paper read before the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain on May 30th, 1917. do very little without public opinion behind them. Theglorious record of the Flying Corps, notwithstanding their infinitesimal beginning, is now known to us all. Theimportance of military aeronautics is now known to us all, but nobody can say how we might have changed this war ifwe had taken it in time. To-night I am speaking in exactly the same strain on commercial aeronautics as I spoke sevenyears ago on military aeronautics, and I assert without the slightest fear that I am speaking on as large a subject, andone of just as vital importance to the Empire. But we must not let history recur. We miitst be first. No one will bequicker than the Huns to recognise the importance of this, the latest form of" transport, but this time we must be theleaders. As British military aviation lias shown, we have the men, second to none ; we have the designs, and I amaddressing you to-night to ask you to give the public support, the energy, the finance and the encouragement which mustbe behind a movement of the kind if it is to succeed. It is a world-movement, and we must lead.Another point is the fact that Lord Cowdray has recently appointed a Committee, witli North Northcliffe, who hasalways taken such a keen interest in the subject, as Chairman, to advise on the uses and development of commercial aircraft.This Committee should be one of enormous importance, as although I shall touch to-night on a few evident uses ofaviation for commercial purposes, frankly I think they are illimitable. The aeroplane is mobile. It can move fromone route to another at will, and always at enormous speed compared with other forms of transit. It is going to open 53<5
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