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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0332.PDF
MARCH 25, 1920 enterprises. The flight across the Atlantic was a single dash, lasting some sixteen hours. It was a magnificent performance, but now it is viewed in perspective we are able to appreciate that its chief claim is historic, in that it was the pioneer flight of its kind. The flight to Australia was a much more arduous undertaking, but it must be remembered that it was carried out over a series of routes which had been flown before and on which all the conditions were known. Landing grounds and repair facilities were fairly numerous, and to that extent the flight was rendered a matter of reliability of machine and engines, backed up by good organisation and human endurance. Let it be understood that we are not for a single moment attempting to detract from the wonder of the achievements of those who so success- ,f ully completed the historic flights across the trackless Atlantic and from England to Australia. The intention is simply t.o compare the difficulties met with to those which Col. van Ryneveld and his companion had to encounter. The routes they had to follow have for the most part never before been flown over. The climatic conditions they had to contend with are far worse than those encountered on either of the other flights. The ground surveys of the interior of Africa _are very incomplete, while the organisation for dealing with air travel is almost non-existent. It is true that something has been done to prepare the way, but arrangements are in so incomplete a state that it would be hopeless to attempt to run anything in the shape of regular services.. In a word, the flight from one end of the African continent to the other was quite the " chanciest " of the three. It was a gallant effort which deserved to succeed, and while we sympathise profoundly with the others who essayed the flight, and who have failed gloriously, there is something fitting in the fact that it is Col. van Ryneveld who has succeeded. He has gone back to South Africa to take up the post of Director of Air Services under the Minister of Defence of the Union Government, and it seems to be in the best accord with the fitness of things that he should have returned to the Union by air and that he should have been the first to do so. We most heartily congratulate him and his companion on the success of their venture, carried out as it was in face of tremendous difficulties which might well have deterred men of less pluck and determination to succeed. • ; _ -• " .. '.-. :: -Vv_••.,.; The In connection with the great dealGin*\ whereby the whole of the Government Aircraft Deal stocks of surplus machines, engines and spares have passed into private hands for disposal, Messrs. Handley Page—who are closely associated with the deal—have issued a statement as to.their objects and policy regarding the matter. It states that at the conclusion of the Armistice in November, 1918, the company turned its attention to the development of civil aviation. Subsequently there came the decision to drastically cut down the Royal Air Force, involving the handing over for disposal of increasing numbers of machines at ever-decreasing prices. The consequence of this Was that it became impossible to manufacture machines at market prices which might at any moment be materially reduced. This, the state- ment points out, threatened the very existence of the aircraft industry. The one solution of the difficulty thus created was to take over from the Government the whole of its surplus stock of air- craft, together with all material surplus to require- ments. The statement continues : " The financial syndicate which has supplied the capital necessary for the purchase is the Aircraft Disposal Co., Ltd., but we have been appointed sole managing and selling agents, and as we are the largest subscribers to the Syndicate, the financial success of the arrange- ment should materially benefit the shareholders of Handley Page, Ltd. With proper commercial organisation the sale of the material should prove many times more lucrative than it would have been under the control of a Government Department, and as the Government will receive a half share of the profits, in addition to the usual taxes, the total yield to the Exchequer should be considerably higher than as if the business had remained in Government hands." It is just as well that such a statement should have been made, because it clears up any ambiguity in the terms upon which we commented last week. Now that these terms have been thus confirmed, we are more than ever of opinion that the Government has done wisely in thus transferring the task of disposing of the huge accumulation of aircraft and engines on its hands to a private enterprise. We agree entirely with the view expressed in the Handley Page statement, that the sale of this material will " prove many times more lucrative than it would have been under the control of the Government Department." Therefore, the country, as well as the Syndicate, is to be congratulated upon the fact that in at least one direction the Government has done the right thing in liquidating its war liabilities. • • • During the debate on the Naval Ministry of Estimates> the idea of placing the Defence three fighting services under a single Minister of Defence—which seems to be a pet scheme of Mr. Churchill's—came in for a rough handling. Gen. Seely described it as " foolish " to propose that one Minister should preside over the Admiralty, the Air Council and the Army Council, but spoke very strongly in favour of better co- ordination between the Services. He pleaded for the reconstitution of the Committee of Imperial Defence, armed with adequate powers, in order to ensure that there should be no further waste of men or power through any such lack of co-ordinate effort as had characterised the past. The First Lord of the Admiralty said his Board was very greatly in favour of the Committee of Imperial Defence being set up immediately, and thought .there should be a definite arrangement whereby the staffs of the three great fighting services should meet regularly and consult and work out as far as possible a common policy. We should have considerable diffidence in pro- nouncing upon the merits of grouping all the Services under a single Minister of Defence. That is a question which can only be definitely decided by expert opinion after exhaustive discussion. On the face of it, it appeals to the Jay mind as a retro- grade policy. Surely it is imperative that the head of each service should have an undivided responsibility, though it is obviously essential that there should exist a means for ensuring a common policy and
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