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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0869.PDF
AUGUST 5, 1920 of service W/T stations and land lines from a war basis to that sufficient for peace requirements. Tables for visual signalling have been compiled and issued, and a syllabus for visual training has been published. Imperial Air Routes—On the Cairo-Karachi route the wireless and lann line systems have been improved ; Cairo and Bushire have been connected by W/T, with intermediate stations at Ramleh, Baghdad and Basra ; and the equipment of Karachi, Bandar Abbas, and Chahbar with W/T stations is now being taken in hand. There are, in addition, minor stations equipped with comparatively short-range apparatus at various places along the route. Considerable importance attaches to the establishment of an aerodrome at Malta as a link between England and Egypt. The section of the route between St. Raphael and Pisa is not satisfactory, and an alternative line via Corsica and Sardinia to Malta, which would have the advantage of utilising one of the few British possessions in the Mediter- ranean, has been under consideration. A site for an aero- drome at Malta has been selected, and operations have been carried out which prove that the outcrop of rock which presented the chief obstacle can be removed at a moderate cost. Meteorology—The Headquarters of the Meteorological Office were transferred from South Kensington to the Air Ministry on November 18, 1919, and all the Government meteorological agencies, including the Marine, Statistical, and Instruments Divisions, and the British Rainfall Organisa- tion, are now co-ordinated under the Department of Civil Aviation, which is responsible for, and bears the cost of, the meteorological service of Great Britain, not only in regard to aviation, but to the development of the science of meteorology as a whole. An important problem, which is in process of solution, is the completion of arrangements for the issue of the full data for synoptic charts, envisaged in Annex G of the International Air Convention. This has been delayed, partly owing to the necessary preparation cf very detailed instruc- tions to the primary reporting stations, mainly staffed by coastguards, and partly owing to the need for co-ordinating the code for the reports for land and sea, which was not completed in Annex G. The provision of meteorological information for night- flying marches hand in hand with the general development of the meteorological riseau. Knowledge of the upper winds will enable compass bearings for flights up to 150 miles to be set out with accuracy beforehand, and the co- ordination of the synoptic chart with the local observations of temperature ana humidity will enable the Meteorological Department to provide valuable data in regard to night-flying. Insurance—Lloyd's have decided to undertake the sys- tematic collection of information for purposes of aviation insurance, and the information collected will be circulated to their members in a confidential record. The Department of Civil Aviation has promised to give them any assistance in their pbwer. Research—The Research Department and the Department of Civil Aviation have co-operated in producing, in conjunction with the manufacturers, new types of recording and measuring instruments for the Air Ministry Competitions, which according to the rules must be of British manufacture. Progress has been made with the development of the various types of turn indicators, which are now being used to enable aircraft to fly safely in and above clouds. The development of the R.A.E. sextant, the aperiodic compass, bearing plates and navigational flares for use at sea, facilitate the methods of checking dead reckoning for air navigation. Attention is being paid to the design of all-metal machines. The Dominions, India, and the Colonies—The Govern- ments of Australia, Newfoundland and New Zealand have approved the ratification of the International Air Convention as soon as such a course is considered advisable. Australia—The body which at present deals with aviation •'•<&;• is a Committee of the Prime Minister's Office, called the " Air Services Committee." No air regulations have as yet been drawn up by the Commonwealth Government, but it is under- stood that the whole question of the administration of civil aviation is now under consideration. A number of demonstration flights are being conducted by ex-members of the Royal Air Force, and a gift of one hundred aeroplanes has been accepted from the British Government. Canada*— -The Air Board Act was passed in January, 1919, instituting an Air Board consisting of not less than five and not more than seven members, to be appointed by the Gover- nor-General in Council. The functions of the Board, which has been reconstituted under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Militia and on which the Naval Service is represented, are similar to those of the Air Council in Great Britain. The Board includes a Superintendent of Flying Operations, respon- sible for all civil aviation undertaken by the Government, and a Superintendent of Certificates, who controls the licensing of personnel, aircraft and air harbours, and is re- sponsible for civil aviation conducted by private enterprise. The Associate Air Research Committee, which held its first j meeting on February 7, has been formed under the Honorary" Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and will work in close co-operation with the Air Board. The co- operation of the Meteorological Office and the General Superin- tendent, Government Radio-Telegraphic Service, has also been secured. Dangerous flying was prohibited by Order in Council on July 7, and regulations governing civil aviation, and based on the International Air Convention, were published on January 17, 1920. The Air Board is giving consideration to the special uses to which aircraft can be put in Canada, such as forest patrol and survey work ; and authority has been obtained to carry out experiments in photo-topographical surveying in the province of Quebec. India—The ban on civil aviation has been removed, and an Air Board has been set up under the administration of the Department of Commerce and Industry. Its functions are advisory, executive authority for carrying out its decisions being vested in the Department's Member in Council. The Indian Aircraft Act of 1911 empowers the Governor- General in Council to make regulations governing civil aviation. In accordance with these powers, in December, 1919, regulations based on those in force in Great Britain were published in draft by the Department of Commerce and Industry, and are now in operation. New Zealand—An Act entitled " The Aviation Act of 1919 " was passed in December 1918, and empowers the Governor- General to make regulations by Order in Council as to the issue of licences to flying schools and pilots, the registration of aircraft and prohibited areas. South Africa—Civil aviation is temporarily under the control of the Department of Railways and Harbours, but on January 25, 1920, a conference was held to consider the best method of controlling and developing civil aviation in South Africa, and the whole question is now under consideration by the Union Government. The Government is fully alive to the importance of aviation, and has already offered to take over the aerodromes on the Cairo to Cape Town route situated within its territory. West Indies and Bermuda-—A strong combine of British firms is considering plans for the establishment of air services in the West Indies and Bermuda and its proposals are receiving the attention of the Colonial Governments concerned. The legislature of the Bahamas has passed a Bill for the provisional regulation of air navigation, and the grant of concessions to a company undertaking an air mail and passen- ger service between the Bahamas group of islands and between those islands and Florida has been under consideration. * The High Commissioner for Canada signed the International Air Con- vention on April 13, 1920. (To be Concluded) Aeroplane Guard for General Lucas AN aeroplane guard was among the precautions against Sinn Fein activity when General Lucas left Tipperary on July 30. Just before the car containing the General left an aeroplane flew over from Fermoy and appeared to drop messages, then looped the loop and returned to Fermoy. It was followed by a second machine, which acted as scout to the General's escort. ;• • • The Patent Situation in the U.S,THE cabled reports of the action of the Wright Aero- nautical Corporation, owner of the Wright aeroplane patents,<*Sainst the Interallied Aircraft Corporation, have resulted in misunderstanding as to the right of the Interallied Aircraft to sell its Avro and Sopwith aeroplanes. The decree of the court in that suit did prohibit the further sale or use of these machines, but the Interallied Aircraft Corporation has made an agreement with the Wright Aeronautical Corporation so that all the 'planes which the former concern is selling are licensed under the Wright patent, and the interallied Aircraft Co. has the absolute right to sell them. N o purchaser or user of the aeroplanes sold by the Interallied Aircraft Co. has any reason to apprehend any legal difficulties with respect to the Wright patent. This agreement does not protect purchasers or users of unlicensed foreign aeroplanes.
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