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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1065.PDF
OCTPBER 7, 1920 M. SADI LECOINTE, as a result of his piloting of the winning machine in the Gordon-Bennett Trophy race, has been " bagged " for America by Mr. Cox, whose " Wildcat " was an unsuccessful candidate in the race. M. Lecointe is credited with a " princely salary "^and will seek fame by exhibitions at aerodromes in the States. Incidentally no doiibt he will be retained to fly in the contest for the Cox Trophy, which, through its President, is to be in charge of the Texas Aero Club. FOLLOWING the example of the Allies during the War, Poland is making good use of aeroplanes for propaganda work amongst the Bolshies. In connection with the big advances which the Poles have made and the taking of Grodno. Polish aeroplanes have been flying over the Bolshevist lines and distributed large quantities of " prisoners' passes," telling the Red Army men that if they come over with these slips of paper they will be well received and well fed. These prisoners' passes " have been a great success. QUITE a little fuss is being made about pigs being now able to fly, a brace of these v«ry useful beasties having the other day been carried over from London to Paris by the air-route. It was hardly to be expected that so long a period would be allowed to elapse after flying for man was made possible, before the old adage was rendered a back number. And, therefore, for the sake of accuracy, it should be noted that pigs did fly long ago in the very earliest days of aviation—and at Eastchurch. If you don't believe it, ask Lieut.-Coi. Moore-Brabazon, M.P., and then check it by the files of FLIGHT. SWEDISH air-post provisional stamps have been issued for the recently-started air mail service on September 18, consisting of three values of the now obsolete official stamps of 1910-11, overprinted " Luftpost " in a semi-circle of heavy blue capitals, and surcharged with new values in the same colour—viz., " 10 " on 3 ore brown, " 20 " on 2 ore orange, and " 50 " on 4 ore lilac. Other values are quite likely to be issued later on. The Swedish post office accepts letters and postcards for transit by air mail provided that they are prepaid with the ordinary postage, and (if required) registration fee, plus the following rates for air transit:— Letters and printed matter (weight 20 gr.) : To Germany, Switzerland, and other countries in Europe not specified below, 20 ore; postcards, 10 ore. To Holland. Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal, 40 ore ; postcards, 20 ore. To England, U.S.A., and countries which are mailed via England So ore ; postcards, 30 ore. machines for training purposes. An aviation school had been started a few miles outside Peking, with Handley Page representatives in charge. The Chinese, he said, took very kindly to aviation, and would make excellent pilots. Commercial aviation in China was feasible. The greatest drawback to China at present was lack of communication, and -anything that tended to improve that position was of the greatest assistance to her. In countries like England and America, where the roads and railways were good and allowed of rapid communication, commercial aviation had to face serious compe;ition, but in China, where distances were great and roads and railways practically did not exist, and even on the inadequate railway system the fastest train only averaged 25 m.p.h., aviation had more than a chance. In his opinion, there was a big field there for British manu- facturers, but there was serious competition to be faced from other nations who recognised the position, and while British manufacturers were being cramped by our own authorities on the ground that the machines wanted by the Chinese Government were for military use, and, therefore, under the agreement between the Powers such material must not be supplied, other nations took a less strict view, and, in his opinion, very rightly so. Aeroplanes without guns were no more war material than horses which might be used for cavalry or other purposes. Their use for passenger and mail carrying was proved bv the company in May last, when they made the first passenger and mail trip from Peking to Tientsin and back, and had the honour of carrying His Majesty's Minister, Sir Beilby Alston, the British Com- mercial Attache, Mr. Archibald Rose, and some leading business men in Peking, fifteen passengers in all. Sir Beilby was the first Minister to fly in China, and well deserved all the credit they could give him for his enterprise, which gave the Chinese the proof necessary of the belief the British had in the reliability of their machines. FROM the above it emerges that there seems to be a differ- ence of opinion in regard to the indiscriminate supply to China of machines. This is a difference which should be settled diplomatically without delay if British constructors are not to be at a disadvantage by reason of their over scrupulousness. Mr. Barson, the Chairman of the Peking Co., is undoubtedly right when he foretells great develop- ments in China, and to this end he further announced at the same meeting that they intended, with the object of improving that trading business, to form a separate company co-operating with the Chinese, to be managed in China. THE prediction that aeroplanes would be largely availed of by owners of agricultural and pastoral properties in the Western Districts of Queensland, is already coming true. A station owner, Mr. T. Behan, of Garneld Station, near Jericho, is reported to have purchased a machine for use in working his pastoral properties, and to keep in touch with his Bilbah Downs, in the Isisford district. The Central Queens- land Graziers' Association is also purchasing an Avro 3-seater for organising purposes. It is suggested that these will be the forerunners of others, and that a company will be promoted to supply machines. . CORNWALL is the latest direction in which the aeroplane may help the fishing industry. The Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee is to consider at its next meeting a proposal to employ aircraft in locating shoals of fish for the benefit of the county's fishermen. . ' :. . .'..'•'. •.,.•:.;•,... VERY interesting was the report of aviation progress and prospects in the doings at the Peking Syndicate, Ltd., general meeting the other day. The Chairman said that at the last meeting he announced that the company hai been appointed agents for several well-known firms, such as Handley Page, Ltd., Marconi Co. and Siemens. Since then they had sold to the Chinese Government six large Handley Page machines. They had also placed orders since then for a few smaller HAVING regard to old traditions, it would appear to be singularly appropriate that Professor Maxwell Lefroy made his • statement at Margate the other day to the Annual Conference of the Sanitary Inspectors' Association in regard to " Insect Enemies of Man." -It was the same suggestion again as to trouble via the air. Professor Lefroy's reference was to what he termed the menace of man's dispersal of insect pests as a result of aerial communication with distant lands. We did not, for instance, he said want cholera brought direct from Africa to an aerodrome outside London at a time when there were abundant flies to spread infection ; nor did we want an airman from, say, Holland to come with a fur-coat full of typhus-infected lice. One of the worst disease- carriers of the tropics, not normally found in England, was reported breeding near a London aerodrome last year. Another phase was the use of insects in warfare. In order to spread cholera, it was not necessary to poison wells. Releasing flies fed on a culture would spread the infection. It would be easy for the agent of a country hostile to us to liberate thousands of disease-carrying flies at a time when our own flies were abundant. One continental country would hesitate to infect another for fear of the plague spread- ing back to themselves, but with an island like ours, or with a continent vast as America, the use of this weapon was obvious. WHICH all make? for quite a pleasant through the Air, with a Vengeance !••'.-• .:". • outlook. War IO67
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