FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0440.PDF
JUNE 30, 1921 LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday Evening, June 27 THE French Grand Prix on Sunday caused a rush of passenger traffic through Croydon during the week-end. Bookings for Saturday became so heavy during the week that the air transport companies concentrated machines at Croydon on Friday. No fewer than 40 aeroplanes were housed in the sheds and hangers on Friday night, and the extra hangers erected during the threat of the Triple Alliance strike became extremely- useful. With three Goliaths, three Handley Page" 0-400's, a Vickers " Vimy," and two D.H. 18's, in addition to all the small fry, there was an overflow even after the permanent sheds had been packed full. Though Friday's traffic was heavy, the real exodus from Croydon was on Saturday, when close on 100 passengers left for Paris. Owing to the continued heat the atmosphere was very thin, and some of the heavily-laden machines had difficulty in getting off, while their climb was painfully slow. The aerodrome Meteorological Office are at last moving into their new hut, and were busy today transferring their instru- ments. Many of these have not been in working order owing to the cramped nature of their old quarters"; but in the new station, replete with every convenience, many new and interesting instruments are to be installed. Mr. Hey, the meteorologist-in-charge, was unable to super- The Airship Mooring Mast at Croydon Aerodrome, in the making : The top of the mast being riveted, as seen above—the main structure below. (N.B.—The photograph of the top section is not to the same relative " scale " as the mast photo.) This metal top will be "placed" in two halves, from corner to corner; the rest of the mast is constructed of wood with metal angle plates, and the interior stairway is zig-zag with platforms, instead of the straight-up ladder, as in the Pulham mast. vise the change, having much more important business on hand. He was married at Aberdeen on the 22nd, and is using up a tremendous amount of back leave on an extended honeymoon. His deputy, Mr. Matthews, speaking jokingly, says he believes the whole affair to have been arranged with the object of saddling him with the task of removal and of the equipment of the new hut. Films and Photographs by Air MR. BARNARD, on the Instone D.H. 4a, made a rapid trip from Belfast to London on Wednesday with newspaper pictures of the opening by the King of the Ulster Parliament. Mr. Hearn, who possesses his own Avro, also brought pictures and cinematograph films from Belfast on the same day. He flew over to Croydon from Hendon today, and seemed quite proud of the performance of his old 'bus. Though the work on the airship mast is not now so spec- tacular, an enormous amount of detail construction has been done this week. The power-house at the foot of the mast has developed from being merely a concrete base into a mass of dynamos, motors, pumps, and switch-gear. A hut has been built round all this electrical plant, the steam " Rocket," or " Puffing Billy," occupying a concrete base of its own out- side the power-house. The pipes for the water-ballast are now in position up the mast, and electricians are swarming over the outside, fixing obstruction and other lights all the way from the base to the top. The iron frame work for the revolving-head, which arrived in sections, has been riveted together, and is now waiting to be hauled up the mast. News from Amsterdam THE general manager of the K.L.M., Mr. Plessman, arrived from Amsterdam by air on Wednesday. After spending the rest of the week in London, where he conferred with many British air experts, he returned to Amsterdam by boat on Saturday night. He teils me that Amsterdam is becoming quite a busy air- port. During the last fortnight, for which figures are avail- able, 270 passengers passed in and out of the Schipol aero- drome. There are now services of monoplanes running from Amsterdam to London and Hamburg, while to Brussels and Paris there is a double service, one being run with " Goliaths," and the other with the Spads and Breguets of the Messageries Asrienne. Since the restarting of the Handley Page services between London and Paris on March 19 last, their machines have completed 100 trips and carried 812 passengers. Mr. Cogni tells me he is extremely disappointed at the delay in getting the W. 8 on the service. It appears that the Handley Page Company have been unable to get Napier engines owing to the fact that the military branch of the Air Ministry- has prac- tically cornered the output. Though Mr. Cogni has made every endeavour for three months past, to get two " Lions " released in order to put the W.8 into commission, these engines have only just been delivered. The Shell-Mex bulk storage petrol plant is now nearing completion. To the uninitiated it looks a bewildering mass of tanks, pipes, and pumps, but I understand that it will get over the difficulty, experienced with the Anglo-American plant, of the extreme " stiffness " of the pump owing to the long delivery pipe. The new plant is expected to deliver a gallon of petrol into the tanks of an aeroplane with one turn of a rotary pump which " a child could work." Visitors from France A PARTY of French Senators arrived by air on Friday. Half of them travelled in a Breguet and the others by Goliath. Quite a distinguished group was waiting oh the aerodrome to receive them, including Capt. Guest, Air Minister, and Mr. Joynson-Hicks, M.P. H I am told that the main object of their visit was to confer with the Admiralty and Air Ministry about the erection of airship masts in France. As they arrived about 1 p.m., they lunched at the Trust House before making a tour of the aerodrome and proceeding to London. They left Croydon on Saturday afternoon in a Goliath, which had, unfortunately, to force-land at Amiens. Some of the Senators completed their journey by train, pt In order to cope with the influx of travellers for the Grand Prix, and also with the visit of the Senators just mentioned —why will these people always pick out busy days ?—the Grands Express had three Goliaths leaving Croydon on Satur- day and one arriving. They have had quite a busy week, carrying no fewer than 134 passengers between London and Paris. 440
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
