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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0682.PDF
I* <Ss!eE£> notjable to spare the money for the subsidisation of civil flying that he is against the majority of the Committee. This crying need for economy and yet more economy runs right through his Report, until, greatly to our surprise, we find at the end that the motive apparently underlying his oppo- sition to his colleagues is the desire to secure the money for the development of the Service side of aviation. We would not wittingly do Sir Hugh Trenchard the smallest injustice, but that is the plain meaning of paragraph (ii) in Section 5 of his Minority Report, which refers to spending the money on placing orders for experimental machines with certain approved firms. Thus we get down to a difference of opinion between two opposing schools of thought—-the one which thinks that Imperial defence can be best served by the direct encourage- ment of civil aviation and the consequent building up of a great reserve of material and personnel ready and trained to expand the fighting Service in case of war, and the other which holds that we can best prepare by an expansion of the latter. Our own view is that the former school is the nearer right and that we can best provide against the necessities which will arise if ever we become involved in another war by training civilian pilots who will in the mean- time be creating instead of dissipating wealth, at the same time maintaining the fighting Service at a level adequate to present needs. Even on the ground of economy, on which the Chief of the Air Staff lays so much stress, such a course is to be recommended. How far will a quarter of a million go in the expansion of the fighting Air Service ? We cannot say, but it is definitely certain that it would be better employed in the alternative way. However, there is very little need to labour this particular point. Gen. Trenchard is in a minority of one in so far as the opinions of the Committee are concerned. He also has against him the overwhelming consensus of opinion of those who have studied the question from both the military and the civil points of view. At that the matter may be left for the present. - .. • • The success of the London-Paris air S "^1 " serv*ce ^s beginning to be appreciated by the business community. This is reflected in the figures relating to the numbers of passengers carried by aeroplane between the two capitals, which show that during the five weeks ending on June 13, over 700 people took advantage of the speed and certainty of the service to save in the aggregate many hundreds of hours of valuable time. One lesson that has been learnt is that an aeroplane service differs essentially from the train or boat in that it consists of a large number of independent small units which are able to operate irrespective of the number of passengers desiring to be carried. In this way: that whereas the train is a fixed unit and must proceed at its scheduled time, JULY I, 1920 irrespective of whether it is overcrowded or partially empty, the number of aircraft to be employed on any particular route on any given day can be adjusted to the needs of the moment. What this means in reduction of running costs is too obvious to need stating. More important than this is the power of expansion possessed by the aeroplane service in comparison with other forms of transport. The way this works in connection with the London-Paris service is eloquent of the results which can be attained in this ; direction. Suppose, for instance, two travellers who , have taken single tickets to Paris to just miss the scheduled mail. For an extra fee of £9 they can charter a special machine and be in Paris as soon as "^ the passengers by the mail. In a case where two - passengers desire to proceed in haste to the French capital they can, for an extra fee of £22 4s. over the cost of the return ticket, charter a small machine : which will fly them over and bring them back at any time to suit the exigencies of the business they have in hand. No other form of transport is at once so accommodating and so low in cost. Yet even now ' there appear to be some who doubt if commercial aviation is a business proposition ! There is very little that we can usefully ~, A T^,l add to what we. have already said about ow Oiyforthcoming Aero Show at Olympia. As the time draws near for its opening it becomes more and more certain that this Exhibition of 1920 will far surpass in wonder and in interest any Show of the kind which has ever been held in Britain or elsewhere. It would be useless even to attempt to indicate in advance the enormous strides which the Show will demonstrate have been made since last a function of the description was housed under the roof of Olympia. As a matter of fact, it would be useless in any case, even had we the comparative details before us. So great has been the progress made in the interval that it simply cannot be measured in any terms which would give an adequate impression of where we stood in 1913 and how far in advance of that point aviation is in this present year of grace. Then aviation and the aeroplane were regarded as having possibilities. The reliability of the machine and its power plant had been demonstrated by such flights as the London-Manchester and from Salisbury Plain to Montrose, but even these were regarded as in the nature of freak performances, attended by a great deal of luck. Only the enthusiast really believed that aircraft would in the years to come be an effective factor in transport. A lot of water has passed beneath the bridges since then. We shall not attempt to show what the progress has been. As we have said, it would be useless in any case. Besides, there is the Show itself to drive home the lesson to all who care to read it. It remains only to say that the Show will open on Friday, the 9th inst., and will remain open until the 20th. The Memorial Pageant at Hendon ON Saturday next all roads will lead to the London Aerodrome, Hendon, where the great aerial rageant in aid of the R.A.F. Memorial Fund, will take place during the afternoon. From the provisional programme which has been drawn up it is evident that the Royal Air Force is determined that this meeting shall put the best of the pre- War Hendon meetings completely in the shade. There will be races, one between hali-a-dozen Avros and another— a relay event—between teams comprising a Bristol Fighter, a Sopwith Snipe and an Avro, and in the latter case visitors have an opportunity of getting their full measure of excite- ment for there are a dozen or so passengers' seats vacant at £10 JOS. each. There will be a balloon " strafe," in which a " Rupert " will be shot down in flames by a famous " Ace," the balloon officer escaping by parachute, while demonstra- tions of " dog-fights," trench-strafing, bombing and trick flying will keep things lively right through the afternoon. It is probable that the R. 33 and the N.S. 7 will cruise over the ground and drop members of their crews by parachute. The officer in charge of the pageant will be Air Vice- Marshal Sir J. M. Salmond, K.C.B. 682
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