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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1353.PDF
flying services between London and Cardiff, London and Bristol, London and Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Reasonably Cheap Public Aerial Services Another development we may confidently expect to materialise shortly is the seasonal public aerial service, as from the big centres to the more popular of the summer health resorts in these islands, say from London, or the Midlands, to the East Coast; or to Devonshire ; or to the coast of Wales. The public should not overlook the fact that huge aerodrome schemes have been embarked on all over the country, many of which could be profitably leased by the Government at least in part for ventures of this sort, though such is far from the official intention at the moment, as will appear in due course. Nevertheless, all such enterprises as these should in the end be financed by those members of the public who, for the most part, cannot afford to own a middle ' sized motor vehicle, far less a flying machine. To enjoy such a change as travelling by the Magic Carpet to the place chosen for his summer holiday, many a clerk would gladly save for a year, not grudging a farthing of the money spent on gaining an experience. One need not say that the educational value of such will prove extraordinary. Certain it is, therefore, that similar winter season services will be established to the Riviera, to Egypt, Morocco and so on. But while we are on the matter of finance, which is really the key to the practical application and the fullest possible exploitation of flight now that aircraft and engine constructors have solved all the other problems to the necessary degree, the question of fuel supplies for aircraft will have to be gone into very seriously by the Government. Lord Weir of East- wood, the Air Minister, has revealed already that at the time " Cease fire " sounded there were 22,000 British pilots in process of training. He has expressed soundly based anxiety that all our aerial efforts in this war should not be allowed to NOVEMBER 28, 1918 lapse, but that those costly training schemes, as well as the equipment series, should really prove the basis of a start to yet better things. But inasmuch as an aeroplane or a sea- plane uses an engine which has not merely to propel it forward, as does the motor of a taxicab or of an omnibus, but has, besides, to develop sufficient force to lift the entire weight of the aerial vehicle, it follows that such big aerial machines as alone would make passenger services practical propositions, use, some of them, a gallon of petrol for every five miles for each engine. As some have four engines, in some cases the cost of flight is a mile, or a mile and a quarter, per gallon of petrol. Even prospective reduced prices of motor fuel will be so high a»greatly to limit the rate of development desirable. Wanted—Immediate Government Policy Concerning Fuel Costs for Aircraft Use We want an immediate decision by the Government that, to encourage the establishment of flying services and their use by the public as the main means of rapidly developing the movement, the necessary high grade engine fuels for such services will be supplied at special rates. For a period of years, at any rate, all fuel so used should be duty free. Such fuel could be distributed by the suppliers with the maximum economy in that it would be a case of bulk supply, with none of the , appalling waste of labour involved by placing it in two-gallon tins. Provided the thing were organised properly, it ought to be commercially possible to encourage flying by supplying motor fuel for this purpose at rates not exceeding the lowest granted to, say, the omnibus or taxicab companies according to the largest contracts those enterprises have placed in the past, and are doubtless placing at present. Of course, in the case of aircraft, very much better quality spirit is needed. The point is that it will pay the fuel trade, as well as the nation, to make flying as cheap as possible. (To be concluded.) " - - The King's Speech " ^ " - IN the message sent by His Majesty in reply to addresses from both Houses of Parliament on November 19th, there was the following tribute to the Royal Air Force : " Let us remember also those who belong to the most recent military arm, the keen-eyed and swift-winged knights of the air, who have given to the world a new type of daring and re- sourceful heroism." ; I ~ : "••••'••"•• A Select Committed'8 Opinion IN their second report, just issued, the Select Committee on Transport state: " In view of the improbability of aerial transport being available upon any-considerable scale for many years to come for the internal transport of passengers and goods, the Committee has made no inquiries in regard to it." Release of Wood-Working Tools THE Minister of Munitions announces that restrictions upon the release of new machine tools and wood-working machinery have been removed, provided such machines are purchased from firms or persons holding permits from the Minister to trade in such articles. The End of the " Campania " IT was announced last week that the famous Cunard liner, the " Campania," was recently sunk in the Firth of Forth through breaking from her moorings and colliding with a battleship. She went down before she could be beached, but fortunately all on board were saved. For some time she had been used as an aeroplane-carrying ship, and had under- gone considerable structural alterations. Her funnels, for instance, were placed abreast and her decks laid bare, thus completely transforming her appearance. Wireless 'Phones for Aircraft ONE of the developments of wireless work which has now been disclosed is that by which aeroplane pilots are enabled to keep in telephonic communication with their station and with each other. A demonstration was recently carried out at Washington. President Wilson, by the aid of the wireless telephone, from the portico of the White House, directing a series of evolutions by half-a-dozen Army aero- planes. The telephone, it was stated, had a range of six miles. Air-Raid Damage—£677,000 THE Committee on War Damage, writing to Mr. G. L. Wardle, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, again urging the Government to give "full effect, without further delay, to the principle of national responsi- bility as accepted by the Prime Minister on July 13, 1917," declares that from returns sent in from fifty-one municipal districts which have suffered from air raids or bombardments it is shown that at least 488 persons were killed, 1,014 injured, and the estimated cost of making good the damage to pro- perty is £677,773. A Farman " Goliath ** - ~ - * —. IT is not only in this country that the possibilities of post-war commercial aviation are realised. We understand that a new commercial aeroplane has just made its appear- ance at the Far man works at Boulogne-sur-Seine. The new machine, which has been christened the " Goliath " has made its official trials, piloted by Bossutreau. It is of the F.60 type, and is capable of carrying 20 passengers. It is said to have a speed of 160 kilometres and to be able to make a continuous journey of 3,000 kilometres. Fitted with floats the " Goliath " is expected to be able to under- take the trans-Atlantic journey. For a start the new machine will, we understand, be employed on a Paris-London pas- senger air route. Bleriot also in the Running WE are informed that at the Bleriot works two new large four-engined aeroplanes are nearing completion, which will, it is expected, be suitable for aerial transport in the colonies, where roads are none too good and railways non- existent. In such cases the aeroplane will link up by postal air service one colony with another, and with the capital, while numerous other spheres will doubtless be found, in which the large weight-carrying aeroplane will be of inestimable service. Aircraft Workers' Holiday ••~r±r<&. EMPLOYEES of the Royal Aircraft establishment at Farnborough have been granted a holiday as from noon on Saturday next till the following Thursday morning, with pay, in order to mark the signing of the armistice. A Mishap with the Paris Aerobus WHEN an " aerobus," which had taken twenty passengers for a trip round the suburbs of Paris on Sunday was landing, it fell and eleven of the occupants were injured. An Aerial Escort for the U-boats WHEN the first instalment of twenty German submarines came across the North Sea on November 20th, they were met by a squadron of British aircraft, including the rigid airship R26, a Blimp, and three flying boats. The Kaiser's Aeroplane Post FROM reports received in Paris from Dutch sources last week, it appears that the Kaiser was still in continual com- munication with Germany, the castle at which he was interned having a convenient wireless station, while German aeroplanes were said to be continually going over the frontier and drop- ping messages. Handing Over the Spoil IN a dispatch from General Headquarters on Novem- ber 23rd, it was stated that a number of aeroplanes arsu quantities of rolling stockfhave passed into our possession. 1354
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