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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0966.PDF
there are already^passenger services in operation radiating from Berlin to various more or less remote parts of the country. Some of these routes are from the capital to Weimar, Frankfort, Leipzig, Warne- munde, Hanover, Westphalia, Hamburg and Breslau. There are also services from Weimar to Hamburg, Hamburg to Warnemunde, Weimar to Leipzig and Hanover to Westphalia. The Berlin-Weimar route has been in operation since the beginning of February, and up to the end of that month 120 flights were attempted, of which all but 18 were successful, while there were no accidents at all. Similarly, the service between Berlin and Hamburg was opened early in March, and during the month a total of 108 flights were successfully carried out and a load of no less than 3,737 kilogrammes carried, while the percentage of failures to complete the trip was only 6-i. The services are operated by the Deutsche Luft Rederie, a combination of various German aeronau tical firms. The whole thing seems to be organised on typically German lines, with nothing left to chance. Return tickets are issued, and are valid for a period of thirty days. Flying kit and motor transport to and from the aerodromes are provided at an inclusive charge covered by the cost of the ticket. From Berlin to Hamburg costs for the single journey 450 marks, and for a return ticket 700 marks. From Berlin to Breslau the charge for a single ticket is 500 marks, with a return rate of 750 marks. Serial tickets available over any of the routes operated by the combine are obtainable for 3,600 marks, and are transferable. Railway troubles seem to have had a favourable reaction on the aerial services, and a considerable increase in the traffic is reported. On the Berlin-Weimar route, which seems to be the most important and popular, the number of flights from February to the end of April was 538, while between Hamburg and the capital, from March 1 to the end of April, there were 262 flights. This seems in marked contrast to the laggard way we are conducting things here. We have not a single regular aerial service running even now—nearly at the end of July—and we see no real prospect of any such service being established for some time to come. We fully realise that some of the delay was unavoid able, but it does seem that Germany has once more stolen a march upon us, and has got going while we have been endeavouring to turn round. It is quite evident that if we want to retain our lead in the air we shall have to move faster than we have been doing. We shall have to keep an eye on Germany. It is very evident that the Hun realises the value of aerial communications, and will use his utmost endeavours to exploit aerial travel as a means to getting his place in the sun again. He, with all his manifold faults, is a clever and enterprising competitor, and we shall do well not to assume too readily that he is " down and out " as a possible competitor. But at the same time where will all this German air activity ultimately lead, having regard to that country being restricted under the Peace terms in respect to aircraft. •*• • • At the time when the news of German Official aerial developments comes to hand, it is View interesting to see the semi-detached view taken by our own Government officials of the possibilities of aerial communication. During the recent debate on the Post Office Vote, Captain Wedgwood Benn suggested that it would be a good thing if the Post Office were to inaugurate an inland air post and a service to the Continent. Mr. Pike Pease admitted that " an aerial mail service was not a matter to be thrown aside as a wild dream." He believed in the possibilities of aviation for com mercial purposes and for the carriage of mails. In fact, he thought these possibilities were very great. Why not put them to a practical test ? During the peace pourparlers, Cabinet Ministers, from the Premier down, had ample opportunity of testing these possi bilities, and surely their experiences might have convinced even the Assistant Postmaster-General that aerial carriage of mails has more than mere possibilities. A very large number of flights were made between London and Paris with, so far as we remember, only a single serious accident. Even that was a matter of sheer bad luck, which would hot have operated on one occasion in a thousand. May we once more remind the Post Office authorities that the Germans have been operating mail and passenger services with considerable success for the past five months ? • • • British officialism is an exceedingly R 34 7~ peculiar thing. It has neither soul nor After imagination, while its high priests live in a rut out of which there is apparently no escape. These reflections are inevitable when we regard the story of the home-coming of the captain and crew of the airship R 34, after having made history by their successful double voyage across the Atlantic. Did General Maitland and Major Scott arrive in the capital of the Empire at the end of their epoch-making enterprise to be received with open arms and with the official plaudits which their exploit deserved ? Not at all. A small group of officers, gathered spontaneously and because of their personal friendship for the two men most concerned in bringing home to England the glory and the credit of a unique exploit, which has demonstrated that aerial naviga tion is not only possible but practical, represented all the welcome vouchsafed them. Why ? We are given to understand that the question of giving these gallant officers and their men an official reception worthy of their feat was mooted and was peremptorily turned down by the authorities, on the ground that the Atlantic crossing was a " Service flight " only, and therefore in the strict routine of duty. Heavens! What imagination! What an appreciation of the fitness of things ! We have a profound admiration for General Trenchard's work during the war, but we must say we entirely disagree with his attitude towards the great performance of R 34 and her crew. The Americans showed a much better appreciation of the importance of the thing by the reception they gave the crew of R 34 on her arrival at Mineola, and we dare wager that had she been an American vessel they would still be talking about it. The question we cannot help asking ourselves is : Have we really any policy in regard to aviation ? In another column we have already dealt with the official attitude towards the encouragement of civil aviation. Is there any reason to think, in the light of what has happened in connection with the flight of R. 34, that the official mind is any more imagin ative in regard to purely Service developments r
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