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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1455.PDF
DECEMBER xg, 1918 preparation. On the'contrary, the organisation of aerial routes for commercial purposes must be as meticulous as that4of any other transport system, whether by land or sea, and unless that fact is fully recognised by the would-be promoters of aerial services we shall be asking for failure, abject and complete. It has seemed to us to be wise to make this point, since we are able to discern in certain quarters a disposition to think that it is possible to chance things, and that it will do to inaugurate ser- vices on the principle of "you get there, or you don't." We need hardly say that this will not do at all, and we should be more than sorry if the really wonderful flights that we hear about almost every day now should give rise to the impression that all that is wanted to fly from London to New York is an aeroplane capable of covering the distance. That, of course, is the first necessity, but there is much more beyond. ••/ . ,.,-. • • • ' •' _> • In the matter of organisation for com- The Future mercial services, " FLIGHT " has been Commercial at some Pams to ascertain the views Aviation 0I certain of our leading constructors, and these all seem to be agreed that the success of such services is now much more a question of efficiency of organisation than of the purely •mechanical aspect. Engines and machines have now arrived at a stage of such relative perfection that the physical limitations of flight have very little bearing. That is to say, a mail and passenger ser- vice from this country to the Antipodes is far more a matter of proper organisation than of the machine itself. Interviewed on the subject of organisation, one leading constructor expressed the view that before an air service is allowed to start the Govern- ment should make certain that it is well financed and that the organisation is such that the risk of accident is reduced to the absolute minimum. To effect the latter, it will be necessary that all machines shall follow well defined air routes and that landing grounds—not necessarily aerodromes, but grounds large enough for safe landing—shall be established at intervals of ten miles or so. As he pointed out, if such grounds are established, a pilot who encounters engine trouble -could glide down to the nearest landing ground, telephone to his depfit and report that tie was down at ground number so-and-so. A fresh machine would be sent, mails or passengers transferred and the journey completed with very little delay. On the other hand, what would happen in the absence of such official landing grounds? Taking the example of a cross-Channel mail service, we can imagine a machine being compelled to land somewhere south-east of Amiens. The machine may be damaged in landing, but, even if it is not, there is the possibility that the engine trouble cannot be put right on the spot. The pilot, therefore, has to tramp X miles across country to the nearest telephone, ring up Paris and report that he is down " somewhere in France." The relief machine first of all has to find him and then look for a suitable landing ground, transfer mails #and passengers and then get on to Paris, where it will probably arrive hours late, the total time occupied from London being greater than the journey would have taken by train and boat. It need scarcely be said that a very few experiences of this sort would be enough to damn any aerial services and to set back development almost indefinitely. Naturally, we are deeply concerned to see development carried out as rapidly as possible, but we are very much of the opinion that it is far better to " ca' canny " now, even at the expense J of considerable delay, and to proceed first with the essential organisation before being in too much of a hurry to start services which are not reliable. It must be borne in mind that one failure to arrive within a reasonable margin of the time scheduled will do more harm to development than 20 arrivals ahead of time ~- would help. In the case of a new means of transport like aviation certainty is everything. At the present time the man in the street has a perfectly open mind in the matter. He knows that flying is easy enough, and he believes that it is at least reasonably safe, but he wants the evidence of successful pioneer services before he is going to commit himself to using it as a matter of habit. Therefore, we may say that the first few services to be established will be in the nature of propaganda services, and unless our propa- ganda is successful it is abundantly clear that we shall not secure the faith and the support of the public on whom the success of the whole movement naturally depends. Some of our constructors do not appear to be over optimistic in the matter of aerial services in these islands, because distances are short and the saving of time effected by aerial transport is not great enough to be of very material effect, and again there is the trouble of fog. There may be something in the argument, although the possible saving of time in transport by even hours in these days is often of great moment. Between the south of England and the remoter districts of Scotland and Ireland at least it is obvious that very substantial saving could be effected in the case of mail and passenger ser- vices. Whilst in the matter of fog, experience will evolve means of surmounting this serious obstacle. The argument might suggest there is no future for commercial aviation. But, on the contrary, we are more convinced than ever that there is an enormous future for it,but the greatness'of that future does not lie, we think, in short distance services within the confines of the British Islands. Later on, when.the carriage of comparatively bulky goods in the air is possible there will be a great internal field to be exploited, but for the present at any rate.the estab- lishment of successful passenger services in England will probably go a little slowly. We must never forget that for a service to succeed it must be ab- solutely regular, and not an affair in which a machine may start to-morrow or may not, as the case may be. Commercial aviation, to be commercial, cannot be run like a pleasure-steamer service to Margate. " wind and weather permitting," else the public will not believe in it, and the essential support will be lacking. It is in the development of international services that the immediate future seems to hold out the most promise. After all, however, it seems to us that the whole future is more or less bound up in the sort of propaganda work that is done now. Even when we have admitted all the limitations to which aircraft are subject, it is clear that there is still an enormous field for development if the matter i- handled aright, and if the educational process is begun properly and prosecuted assiduously, as we have so often advocated in the past, there is no fear for th1 future of the movement. '..'' 1424
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