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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 1319.PDF
ocxoBER 2,19I9 EJJlr3 LORD WEIR ON FUTURE DEVELOPMENT BY way of affording a public welcome to the officers and crew of the R 34, and also to inaugurate the Scottish Section of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a meeting was held in the St. Andrew's Hall, Glasgow, on September 24, at which Sir William Beardmore presided. Lord Weir was to have read a paper on aviation, but as he was detained in London, the notes of his speech were read by his brother, Gen. Jas. A. Weir, R.A.F. The chief deduction Lord Weir drew for the future was one which the War had made perfectly clear—namely, the supreme necessity of the strictest vigilance in the development of research and experiment. Whatever influence the exigen cies of the moment might exercise on retrenchment, there must be no reduction of our expenditure on technical develop ment. War was the compelling influence on the intensifica tion of our technical effort. Referring to the immediate future of civil or commercial aviation, Lord Weir confessed that he was a genuine believer in the future of civil aviation. He accepted flying seriously, as an ultimate invaluable system of achieving high speed transport for goods and passengers. He had an unflinching faith that aircraft comprising heavier-than-air and lighter- than-air machines would ultimately confer a genuine boon on civilisation. Early progress in civil aviation would to the uninitiated appear slow and unsatisfactory. An aerial transport company today was like a merchant shipping concern without ports or harbours. Regarding commercial aviation he thought only of the practical and utilitarian aspect of regular services carrying goods and passen gers. He fully recognised that the immediate developments were admirable and profitable. He looked for a considerable development on the sporting side and in the personal use of aeroplanes, by the not inconsiderable number of those who were pilots during the War. For photographic and survey work a definite field of enterprise and usefulness was open ; an increase in the rapidity of communication and of transport would be one of the most definite aids to the pro gress of civilisation. Mail matter would represent the most favourable class of work as a source of revenue. Thereafter would come the urgent and emergency passenger traffic and the carriage of goods of a light, valuable and specialised nature. The vagaries of our climate and the highly developed and speedy existing mail transport rendered the immediate application of aerial mail carrying in the United Kingdom improbable. After referring to the performances of the new London to Paris service and the American mail. Lord Weir wrote that they must also realise the tremendous usefulness and value of obtaining actual experience on a more ambitious scale as early as possible. With that in view one visualised the problem of handling, say, a part of the Indian mail over the section of the route where weather conditions are favour able and uniform at an early date. If that route were started from Egypt to Karachi that would constitute the initiation of a chain of Imperial air routes connecting by trunk lines the main units of the British Empire, and they would foresee HOUNSLOW, ETC. At dawn every morning four Avros leave Hounslow for Cardiff, Birmingham or wherever they are wanted to go, carrying newspapers, etc. They return home by mid-day, and after lunch machines often leave for Manchester. One of the machines returned from Manchester to London in two hours, at a speed of 100 miles per hour, which shows that, while the comparatively low-powered engines used are eco nomical to run, the Avros can on occasions show a very respectable turn of speed. Sir William Crossley is among those who have chartered an Avro for a journey from Man chester to London. The crisis has demonstrated the results of the missionary work which Messrs. A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., have been doing throughout the summer in popularising flying in so many parts of Great Britain. People stroll in or ring up and ask for an Avro with the same easy confidence with which they would call a land taxi. In consequence the transport department has been snowed under with demands, and has been quite unable to meet all the calls made upon it. What the public does not seem to realise is that the company must charge for the full journey made by the machine. If a traveller would arrange with one friend or three friends to travel rs in addition auxiliary feeder lines to and from the smaller ;h centres. is There were also many independent services. The most 4, favourable he considered to be the coastal work service in is Australia and the West Indies. At present he had the greatest n faith in the usefulness for the coastal sort of flying boats, r, As regards Imperial air routes and civil aviation, there entered into the problem the important factor of the future military LS aerial activities of the Empire. Whatever sum might be le apportioned for the defence of the Empire it would be allocated it between air, sea and land power, and it was clear that air 1- power was the developing factor of the three. Accordingly, :e for strategical reasons alone, the different units of the Empire >- would require to be linked up by definite aerial routes, which 1- would be found to a great extent to coincide with the com mercial routes. The best ends of civilisation would not il be served by keeping civil aviation for a Government mono- ;r poly. Co-operation between the activities of the State r, and of private firms would produce the finest results, d The State must be the pioneer. It must help, build, en- g courage and exercise control, but emphatically it must not :- monopolise, ti The King sent the following telegram in response to a 0 loyal message :—" The King has received with much pleasure il and satisfaction the loyal message from citizens of Glasgow g assembled at the invitation of the Scottish branch of the il Royal Aeronautical Society to do honour to the first British n airship to cross and recross the Atlantic. His Majesty 1- heartily joins in congratulating the designer and all those associated with the construction of this airship on the remark- s able success it has achieved. He is glad to think that the e Clyde has played so prominent a part in establishing this i fine record in the annals of British history. The King much s appreciated the kind allusions to Prince Albert." 1 On the same day the officers and crew of the R 34 were 3 entertained at luncheon at Glasgow by Sir William Beard- f more, whose firm built the airship. Proposing the health of the guests, Sir Robert Home t emphasised that the public never realised how much was r done during the War by airships. The Admiralty started 1 with eight of these vessels, and ended with about 100. The 1 work these accomplished in the War was incalculable. We 1 were always beaten by the Germans by rigid airships until ; the R 34 had proved that, even starting with a great leeway 1 to make up, we had beaten Germany in the ship which was her own special pride. 1 Maj. Scott said he thought that civil airships would for ; a long time run along with military or naval airships. There I could not be very much difference between them for several 5 years to come. In a few days any civil ship could be con- 1 verted into a warship. That was much more so with an : airship than with any other type of craft. The conversion of civil airships, for the next six or seven years, to a military 1 use would be a very simple matter. That was a thing to be i remembered, because he thought that the development of > airship construction to civil uses would do a great deal for : the development of the airship as a whole. together, the expenses would be halved or quartered. It would be a good thing for enquirers to ask at the ticket agencies if they know of anyone else who is desirous of travelling in the same direction. In the same way enquiries might be made at the town of destination as to the chances of getting the seats booked for the return journey. The Blackburn Aeroplane Co. are running a service between London and Leeds. Eight passengers and 400 lb. private mails or merchandise can be carried. The fare is 15 guineas single or ^30 return. The British Aerial Transport Co. started a service from London to Birmingham on September 29. The B.A.T. saloon machine carried four passengers. NOTTINGHAM Lieut. Macrae, M.C., and his travelling circus of Avros have been at Nottingham during the past week, but previous to the outbreak of the strike the weather was not very favour able for flying. When the crisis came, fine weather returned, and the Avros got busy. One notable journey was made to Grantham and Lincoln, taking the local representative of Messrs. Boots' and a supply of drugs. The latter were delivered in shops in both Grantham and Lincoln within an hour of the start. COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT 1321
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