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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0022.PDF
in! control in the hands of one Minister for Defence, but just as many and equally cogent against the adoption of so revolutionary a change. For our own part we are not particularly enamoured of the idea, especially in the light of the experience gained by the present quality of office held by the Secretary for War and the Air. Without the slightest wish to belittle the truly brilliant work which Mr. Churchill has done for the nation and the Empire, we are nevertheless convinced that he would have made a better Secretary for War if he had not been Air Minister at the same time, and, conversely, he would have done better in Kingsway if he had not at the same time had an office in Whitehall. What might have happened if he had had the Navy to look after as well we should not like to hazard a guess, though it is only fair to say that a Minister of Defence, presiding over a properly organised Department, would not actually be in the position JANUARY 13, 1921 occupied by the present Secretary for" War, in which he has the whole of the work of two great Depart- ments of State to oversee. When the question is examined in detail, there seems to be a good deal to be said for the closer co-ordination of the three Services, but there is always this to be taken into account, that none.of the Great Powers have ever adopted the principle we are discussing. That is not to say it is wrong, but it is significant nevertheless that it is only the smaller Powers and certain of our own self-governing Dominions, with relatively small interests and small forces to protect them, that have adopted the principle of a single Ministry. All the great military and naval Powers have preferred to keep the administration of the Services several and distinct from each other. From that point of view alone it would seem that very mature considera- tion is essential before the principle is adopted—if indeed its adoption is being seriously entertained. AIR MINISTRY SUBSIDIES FOR CIVIL AVIATION THE Air Ministry announces that the Cabinet has approved, subject to Parliamentary sanction, the grant of a sum for the direct assistance of Civil Aviation. During the financial year 1921-22 payments under this grant will be limited to a maximum sum of ^60,000, and will be made to British companies operating on approved aerial routes. They will be calculated, subject to the above limita- tion in regard to the total sum available, within the year, on the basis of 25 per cent, of the total ascertained gross revenue of each company (exclusive of the Government grant) earned by the carriage of passengers, mails and/or goods, on and after January 1, 1921. No differentiation will be made with regard to the class of load carried, and payments will be allotted on the return for each period of three months treated separately, provided that the company can show that on a minimum of 45 days in each period of three months (or such other factor of regu- larity as may be determined later by the Air Council) flights have been completed in both directions by aircraft of British manufacture fitted with British-made engines within & fixed maximum period of time allowed for each journey. The routes at present approved are London to Paris, London to Brussels, and London to Amsterdam. • Extensions to these routes and additional routes, such a England-Scandinavia, on which the possibilities of a service employing flying boats or amphibian machines, or a mixed service of sea and land aircraft, can be demonstrated, may be approved from time to time if satisfactory proposals are received by the Air Council. The maximum time allowed for journeys between London and Paris, between London and Brussels, and between London and Amsterdam, will be four hours from aerodrome to aerodrome (or such other time-limit as may be determined later by the Air Council). Payment of the grant will be subject to the pro duction for departmental inspection, when required, of such accounts and records as the Air Council may deem necessary. Any British company intending to run on the routes and notifying the Air Council of this intention, will become an "approved" organisation by fulfilling the conditions laid down. Such notification should be addressed to the Secretary (C.G.C.A.), Air Ministry, Kingsway, W.C.2, to whom requests for further particulars in respect of the grant should be addressed. COLONEL SIR H. A. VAN RYNEVELD HONOURED AT the Office of the High Commissioner for South Africa on January 6, a gathering took place for the purpose of pre- senting to Col. van Ryneveld (of Cairo to the Cape-by-air fame) a large, specially-embroidered South African Union flag as a " send-off " gift to him upon his departure at the week-end for Pretoria to take up the position of First Director of the "Union of South Africa Air Force. Lord Desborough, President of the Imperial Air Fleet Committee, made the presentation. The flag, designed and embroidered by Mrs. Fairfax Scott, which is to hang in the South African Air Force Headquarters, Pretoria, is to serve as an historic souvenir of the great * pioneer South Africa Government flight, the first to link up in the air London with the Cape of Good Hope, and also of the two Imperial Air Fleet aeroplanes, which were presented to South Africa under the organising auspices of the Imperial Air Fleet Committee, viz., the I.A.F. " South Africa," and the I.A.F. "City of Birmingham," the gifts respectively during and after the War of the London and Birmingham Chambeis of Commerce. Col. van Ryneveld is the official pilot of the I.A.F. " South Africa "—a D.H.9 machine, the same type with which he flew the last thousand miles to the Cape, and Major van der Spuy, who lately returned from a Bolshevist prison in Russia, will be the pilot.of the I.A.F. "City of Birmingham." Before leaving England, we are glad to learn that Col. van Ryneveld said that as a result of the assistance and gifts of the Home Government, Pretoria would have the finest aviation workshops in the world, and that he anticipated great developments for aerial services in South Africa, both for Government and for civilian purposes. It would seem from this that the South African authorities had got a hustling mood on since last we had occasion to comment upon the impasse in aviation affairs which had apparently come to pass. A Subsidised Concern in Belgium AN aeronautic construction company has been founded in Brussels. The Belgian Government is said to be supporting the scheme with a view to rendering Belgium i ndependent of foreign aerial transport. Commercial Aviation in Belgium A REPORT published in Belgium shows that on the Brussels-London service 130 trips were made between June 19 and September 30 ; 187 passengers were carried, 1,000 kilogs. of goods and 337 kilogs. of mail matter. On the Brussels- Paris service from June 18 to August 23, 217 trips were made, 164 passengers were carried as well as 675 kilogs. of goods and95 kilogs. of mails. In the Belgian Congo a service was regularly maintained between Kinshasha and Combe by fourwaterplanes. A New Italian Speed Prize SlG. LUIGI MAPELLJ, who last year presented prizes for a competition for small machines in Italy, has now offered to the Aero Club of Italy a prize of 50,000 lire (about £2,000 at pre-War rate of exchange) for a speed contest. The course will be 150 kiloms. for the first race, and it will be doubled for each of the two succeeding events.
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