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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0063.PDF
JANUARY 27, 1921 AIRCRAFT IN THE EAST A VERY interesting paper was read before the Central Asian Society on January 20 by Capt. P. D. Acland of Vickers, Ltd. Capt. Acland headed his paper " Communications in the East—their expansion by means of aircraft," and the paper was illustrated by a series of excellent lantern slides, several of which have not, so far as we are aware, been shown before. Capt. Acland drew attention to the vast importance of personality in vital affairs of State, business, or war, and pointed out how the written message is only a subterfuge. Before long, the lecturer said, we shall be able to say to America, " We shall be with you tomorrow," to India and South Africa, " the day after tomorrow," and to Australia "in five days." The uttermost ends of the earth will be as near to us then as Egypt is today. Capt. Acland then gave an outline of the progress made up to the present time, and dealt with the conversion of war-type machines into commercial aircraft, showing as an example the famous Vickers Vimy-Commercial adapted from the Vimy bomber. After giving statistics of the amount of commercial flying done in this country during the period May, 1919, to September, 1920, Capt. Acland called attention to what has been and is being done in Germany, and mentioned as a significant indication of how seriously the late enemy takes commercial aviation that the trading aerial transport com- panies have associated themselves with the Hamburg- Amerika line and with the Norddeutsche Lloyd. He also referred to the matter of subsidies and congratulated Sir Frederick Sykes on having at last succeeded in obtaining one for aviation. With regard to the aerial routes to the East, the lecturer mentioned Cairo as of very great importance to aviation in general and to this country in particular. The London-Cairo route is not, he said, " all-red " as we see it, but Cairo is nevertheless a very convenient first stop for an airship radiat- ing from our capital in an easterly direction. The full complement of aircraft for an Empire aerial organisation would include the airship, aeroplane, amphibian, and, per- haps, the flying-boat, each to be used in its own sphere. The part to be played by heavier-than-air craft is to liak up points not touched by the airship and to operate the shorter distances from the airship stopping places. Capt. Acland mentioned that the present unsettled condi- tions in the near East have retarded progress considerably, but even so wireless stations have been opened every 300 miles or so between Cairo and Karachi. He then showed a series of lantern slides illustrating weather condition on the Cairo-Karachi route, and said that to the pilots who had maintained an average efficiency of 85 per cent, on the London- Continental services the weather to be encountered in Egypt, Persia, and Mesopotamia should not present any great difficulties. In conclusion Capt. Acland pointed out how the necessity for quicker transport and communications appears to become more important day by day, and the control and administration of the world's affairs becomesmore centralised as time goes on, less freedom of action being given to the man on the spot than was the case in pre-telegraphand pre-railway days. " This is a factor," he said, " which has to be faced, and I do feel that at the present time, withfew exceptions, sufficient use is not being made of the air." Regarding the question whether aircraft should competewith railways and ships, Capt. Acland said he thought not. Aerial travel is an addition to the present means of transport,not a competitor. During the discussion which followed the reading of the paper Sir F. Sykes spoke of the difficulties of the transition from war to peace, and mentioned that we must now design specially for commercial flying, which means a large outlay in money. Here the subsidy will help a good deal. He men- tioned that Malta is a step on the all-red route to Egypt, and called attention to the amphibian type of machine as an important type of the future. He also told the audience of the experiments now being made with the mooring mast at Pulham for taking on and landing passengers from airships. Dr. Chalmers Mitchell remarked that for middle-aged people aircraft was the most comfortable means of transport, and a short trip which he had recently enjoyed in an amphibian had convinced him that this was a type which held great promises. With regard to the route to Cairo, he thought the airship would be the best craft for dealing with the great amount of traffic which might be expected between this " hub of aviation " and London, and thought that non-stop journeys could be made. From Cairo onwards the journey would probably be by aeroplane. General Swinton pointed out the expense involved in making roads or permanent way, and how, in the case of air travel, the road was already there. He told of reading just recently a German pamphlet setting out to show that Germany was naturally the centre of aviation in Europe, although admitting the importance of Cairo for routes outside Europe. Sir Arnold T. Wilson said he had flown some 300 hours in the East as a passenger, and had crashed several times owing to the unsuitability of landing-grounds, etc. He was, he said, much more afraid of what is on the ground than of the conditions in the air, and he pointed out that when flying over some of the districts in the East the native tribes could not always resist the temptation to fire at the " bird." He mentioned that in flying there is such a thing as " drift," and that this can play havoc with navigation. At present, he said, we see a lot of " drift " in politics, and if we do not look out we shall have a very bad crash shortly. He also pointed out the value of aircraft for survey work, and mentioned that surveys can be made by aircraft at two-fifths the cost and in one-fifth the time taken by ordinary methods. He called attention to the difficulties of establishing aero- dromes with supplies of petrol, spares, etc. Married. Maj. ANGUS MCALISTER, R.A.F., was married at Van- couver on January 5, to ELSIE, youngest daughter of the late JAMES RICHARDSON CARRUTHERS and Mrs. CARRUTHERS, 15, Bowmont Gardens, Glasgow. THOMAS RALPH SPENCE (late Major, R.A.F.) was married on January 22 at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London, to IRENE CHEVALLIER MUDD. . • . To be Married The engagement is announced, and the marriage will take place shortly, between Flight-Lieut. GEORGE WILLIAM BILES, D.F.C., R.A.F., eldest son of the late George William Biies, of H.M. Treasury, and of Mrs. Biles, and MARY BEATRICE, only child of the late PERCY EDWARD POMROY and of the late Mrs. POMROY, of Johannesburg, South Africa, and niece of Mr. W.F. Spafford and of the late Mrs. Spafford, of Sheffield. Commercial Aviation in Belgium FROM the figures issued in Belgium, 130 journeys have been made on the London-Brussels service between June 19 and September 30 ; 187 passengers, 1,000 kilos, of goods and 337 kilos, of mails were carried. On the Paris-Brussels route, June 18 to August 27, there were 217 journeys com- pleted, 164 passengers, 675 kilos, of goods and 95 kilos, of mail. In Belgian Congo it is announced an air service between Kinshash and Combe is being worked by four seaplanes. To Assist Italian Aviation . . WITH the idea of giving practical assistance to com- mercial aviation in Italy, and also to stimulate popular interest in the industry, the Italian Aero Club is proposing to organise a huge lottery. The price of the tickets has been fixed at two lires (15. 8d. at pre-War rate of exchange), and while there will be some cash prizes, the great bulk of the prizes will be in the form of tickets for flights, of varying lengths, over existing or projected aerial lines. A somewhat similar scheme has been put forward in France.
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