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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0260.PDF
FEBRUARY 27, 1919 construction of airships has been practically an Admir- It is impossible to regard these assurances of alty monopoly, while nothing was allowed—and very ) General Seely's with anything but profound satisfac- properly so—to leak out during the War as to types /tion. There has undoubtedly been a feeling abroad and their success or non-success. Now that hostili ties have terminated, however, there seems to be no logical reason why the essential data should not be placed at the disposal of those who are seriously that the industry itself and the development of com mercial aviatioq were to be kept in leading strings, and that liberty of design would be the first thing to be interfered with by the Government. And, taking a desirous of entering upon the lighter-than-air side of line through the attitude of numerous officials during commercial aviation. It might be as well to remind the officials of the Admiralty that, after all, the results that were achieved in the airship service during the period of the War were arrived at by the expenditure of public money, and are thus in truth the property of the nation. It goes without saying that the community at large stands to benefit by the development of the commercial airship, and that all the assistance possible should be given by the Department which alone has access to the data. There is no need to speak more plainly than this at the moment, but the hint may start a line of enquiry in the proper quarters and lead to questions in Parlia ment on the subsequent readings of the Bill we are discussing. The Controller-General will supervise the new regulations for air-channels, and the arrangements for linking up this country with the Dominions. All these vast possibilities, involving both heavier and li^hter-than-air craft, will come within the purview of General Sykes' department of the Ministry. • • • Lieutenant-Colonel Moore Brabazon, SafprUvTt1eiDgwho seems raPidly t0 be making his In.tiat ve mark in the House, moved an amend- mend providing that no Government certificates should be withheld from a machine simply because the plans had not been submitted to the Secretary for War. He pointed out that there was a danger of the Government controlling the design of all aircraft in this country, and if that were to be done it meant that no firm would take the initiative in starting new designs and thereby handing over to the Government their ideas for the exploitation of the new industry. There was, he said, an idea behind this Bill that unless a machine would bear the potential possibility of being turned into a war machine right away the Government would not ap prove the design. If that was what the Government intended, then they should say so openly and subsi dise the industry. General Seely expressed himself as being in agreement with the principle embodied in the suggested amendment, but said the only doubt was the best way to achieve the results the experts were anxious to secure. He suggested that instead of putting the amendment into the Bill he should undertake to make it perfectly clear in the regulations, which would be more drastic even than the amend ment. The duty of the Ministry was to see that air craft were reasonably safe. In his judgment the divergence between civilian and war types of machines the period of the War, we stilLbelieve that the intent existed, and that had it not Been for more enlightened counsels at the head of the Air Ministry the design would have succeeded. However, it has not so succeeded, and for that we, and all interested in the future of the aviation industry,are profoundly thankful. At the same time, we would again point out that the Bill now before Parliament is a short-lived one—the resultant Act will terminate at the end of the year, and between now and then a great many things may happen. It is possible, though we trust not likely, that a less progressive man than General Seely may hold the reins of office at the Air Ministry, so that, satisfactory as the position seems to-day, there is yet need for vigilance. tbe Empire On the day before the debate on the ? third reading of the Aerial Navigation Bill, General Sykes took the oppor tunity, in the course of a public address,v to insist upon the importance of civilian flying and tc impress upon his hearers that it demands energy, foresight and enterprise. During the War this country and its Dominions attained a foremost position in aviation, and the question for the future to solve is : Can we maintain it on the civil side of the move ment ? As one of the most important of these is geographical position. It is the geographical position of the British Isles which has been the dominant factor in securing for us our important position in relation to sea-power and commerce. But in relation to aerial supremacy our position places us at a dis advantage. The sea, which has been a friendly fron tier to us, is, so far a? flying is concerned, a hostile element. It is obvious from a study of the map of the globe that Great Britain is situated at the western edge of the flying world, with the remoter Dominions at the circumference and with India and Egypt near the centre. General Sykes' view, in which we imagine most people who have studied the question will concur, is that Egypt is likely to become one of the most important flying centres. It is on the direct route to India, to Australia and to New Zealand, while the most practicable route to the Cape and to Central Africa is via Egypt. It is sufficiently clear that if we are to take the lead in flying and to maintain it, commercial services will have to be heavily subsidised by the State. The figures relating to the cost of establishing overseas services are simply stupendous, and it would be im possible for private concerns to find the whole of the capital expenditure involved in beginning them, was going to be on an ever-increasing scale, and he There is nothing to be afraid of in that, so far as the was convinced that in five years the type of machine future success of commercial flying is concerned, which would be flown for civilian transport would The initial cost of establishing any new system of have divereed in a far greater degree than had a liner from a battle cruiser. The Ministry had no intention of trying to interfere with designs, and still less had they the intention of trving to make their air force a little cheaper by compelling civilians to build machines to their designs. transport is of necessity extremely heavy, and this is a rule that applies with double force to such a method of commercial transport as that by the air. Such services as we all have in mind must and will be established, and the only question we have to answer is : Are we going to do it, or are we going to 260
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