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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0164.PDF
has seriously studied the subject. Indeed, its truth is so self-evident as to be axiomatic. Yet we look in vain for any signs of clear apprecia- tion of the fundamental factor in air policy—that it is only by the direct encouragement of aerial traffic on the commercial side that a nation can build «p that margin of air power which will render it immune from hostile attack. France recognises it, and we know the measures she is taking to ensure a lead in commercial flying. Germany also recognises it, atwd we have been told a good deal about her plans for the future. America is well to the front, and is encouraging commercial aviation by all and every means. Only in this country is there an apparent failure to grasp the facts of the situation, and then that failure is only by the Government, led by its responsible adviser, the Air Minister. Outside the Government it is only too well recognised whither our present policy is leading us. There is absolute unanimity of the Press on the subject. Indeed, we cannot recollect any previous occasion or problem upon which the Press of the country has spoken with a more definite and united voice. There is not a dissentient. Public opinion is as unanimous. Yet we still have no policy ! '"• '•.•• •*•••__, ".y.~. •• "*..•..' '• ;.." MARCH IO, 1921 who can approach the subject from a different angle of view to that adopted by the soldier pure and simple, the better it will be for the future of British air power, civil and military. In any case, it is impossible that a single Minister should fulfil the dual role he is trying to enact now. So much is certain, so why the Prime Minister delays making an announcement of his inten- tions regarding the Air Ministry baffles the ordinary person. Is Mr.- Lloyd George never going to drop the habit of waiting to see what is going to happen tomorrow ? A Wrong Conception The truth of the matter is that Mr. Churchill appears to have a totally wrong conception of aerial policy, and he has been led into that by the defects of his undoubtedly brilliant qualities. He is much more the descendant of the great soldier-duke, Marl- borough, than of his father the statesman. He regards air policy almost entirely from the point of view of the soldier. That is obvious from the tenor of his speech. He spoke almost caressingly of the score of training establishments, where officers and men of the R.A.F. are to be instructed in every branch of air war and initiated into the refinements of scientific man-killing from the air. From begin- ning to end there stood out the justification of the fighting man. Yet when he came to discuss civil aviation, upon which the fighting Service must depend for its reserves, the question was slurred over as though it were of no account. We are not climatic- . ally well situated for the development of civil avia- tion ! He drew contrasts between the inconvenience of travel by air, with attendant journeys to terminal aerodromes, and travel by motor-car, which was a door-to-door business. Even the train, which carries its passengers into the heart of towns and cities, is to be preferred to aircraft ! Certes, the future of civil aviation is not worth regarding ! Mr. Churchill did promise a Committee, including representatives of the aircraft industry, to devise alternative methods to meet the competition of French and Belgian subsidised services across the Channel—and then knocked the bottom out of the promise by saying very definitely indeed that there must be no commitments that would carry the alloca- tion for civil aviation beyond the £1,000,000 already voted for its " encouragement." That does not take us far, since £940,000 of this is spent on salaries of staff, messengers, charwomen and " services," and only a beggarly £60,000 is available for encouragement of the industry. We regret exceedingly to have to record the opinion that, after all, Mr. Churchill is the wrong man for the Air Ministry. He has had his chance, and has failed to realise the true needs of the situation. The sooner he hands over .to a Minister The Fate of the Airships What is to be the ultimate fate of the rigid airships ? The Air Minister an- nounced during the discussion of the Estimates that they were at the disposal, free, gratis, and for nothing, of any group of com- mercial men who would take them over under appro- priate guarantees to work them on passenger routes. The alternative seems to be to scrap them altogether, since the information has been vouchsafed that the Navy for the future intends to replace airships by heavier-than-air craft. It seems a pity to let these ships fall to pieces, or to break them up for the sake of the scrap metal and the fittings that could be recovered. The loss to the taxpayer would be less if some workable alternative could be discovered. Why not, therefore, sell them to the Germans ? They at least would appreciate the value of seven modern airships, which could be put straight on to passenger and goods traffic. Especially would they value the return of " L.64 "' and ' L.71," which were handed over to us under the terms of the Peace Treaty. The money the Huns would pay us—doubtless in cash—could be used for the purchase of a brand-new uniform for the R.A.F. ! Everybody would be pleased, particularly our late enemies on the farther bank of the Rhine. Seriously, however, it is to be hoped that some strenuous effort will be made to secure that these fine craft are put to some useful purpose. Very few out- side the handful who have been actively associated with the airships branch during the past few months are aware of the highly valuable data that have been collected during the recent experiments at Pulham. It is common knowledge that the principal disability which has had to be encountered in connection with the use of the big airship for commercial purposes is the great expense of providing it with housing accom- modation. A shed that costs a quarter of a million to build is not precisely a tempting accessory to contemplate when a determination has been reached that the airship, qua airship, is a craft of commercial possibilities. Even when the shed has been built and the expenditure faced, there still remains the trouble that there is serious danger in housing and unhousing the craft it has been constructed to accommodate. The Germans could tell more than one story of a Zeppelin wrecked while being manoeuvred into or out of its shed, while our own experience with " R.34 ' the other day is informative in the same direction. There remains now no room for doubt that the mooring mast is the real solution of the difficulty. At Pulham one of the rigids has been moored out to the mast which has been built there every day and night since January 27. She has been unmoored and has flown up to the mast every day without difficulty or mishap, whatever the force or direction of the -wind has been—and there have been winds with a velocity up to about 40 miles an hour. This method of mooring-out has exceeded the most sanguine 164 '
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