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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0496.PDF
JULY 21, 1921 LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday Evening, July 18. THE. projected visit to the aerodrome of the Dominion Premiers was spoiled by the non-appearance of the Premiers of Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. Mr. Hughes, of Australia, and Mr. Ashbold, Agent-General for Tasmania, were among the visitors, and there were also representatives of the other Dominions ; but a good proportion of those present appeared to be Air Ministry officials. All the resources of the aerodrome were used to make the visit a success, and the Civil Aerial Traffic officers, Major Creer and Capts. Glasson and Baker—on the aeroplane side— and Mr. Dollery, of the airship department, are to be con- gratulated upon the arrangements. The various " air expresses " were lined up outside the public enclosure, and, as soon as the visitors arrived, the two D.H. 18's of the Instone line left for Paris—smothering the visitors with dust as an incidental preliminary. The night-lighting, meteorological, and wireless apparatus •were all on view, and the delegates were conducted round •the aerodrome in three parties. The " amphibian " attracted a great deal of attention, as did the Fokker monoplane, while Mr. Barnard took several of the visitors for short flights in the " Vimy." The " R.33 " was, however, the centre of attraction, and several energetic people, including ladies, climbed up the mast to get a closer view of the airship. The simplicity of all the arrangements for re-fuelling, filling the water-ballast tanks, and releasing the ship from the mast, evoked much admiring comment, and it was evident that the delegates from the Dominions were impressed by the possibilities of airship travel. The proceedings terminated with the departure of the " R-33 " for Pulham, carrying as passengers three of the delegates and Sir Ross Smith. There was a rush on Trust House by the Air Ministry people at the close of the proceedings ; but stocks of drinks and ice had been laid in for the occasion, and, by the exercise of a little patience, thirsts were quenched for a time—only to be re-created, however, in the subsequent dash to catch the returning motor-cars. Air Passenger Record THERE was a record number of passengers on the Con- tinental " airways " during the week. No fewer than 470 were registered in and out of the Customs' House. An examination of the passenger returns reveals the fact that by far the greater proportion are foreigners, chiefly American and French. The Britisher is, of course, very conservative, and has not yet learned to profit much by the advantage offered by the speed of air transport. The bulk of the traffic is between London and Paris. Although the K.L.M. have also had a record week, their passengers numbered only 27 out of the total of 470. But there is a large and growing goods traffic by air between London and Amsterdam. Several times this week there have been three of the Dutch monoplanes at Croydon at one and the same time, and on two occasions the 10 a.m. service to Amsterdam has had to be duplicated. New 10-Seater Fokker CAPT. LEVERTON informs me that the new 10-seater Fokker monoplane is now ready for testing. This machine is fitted at present with a Liberty engine, but Mynheer Fokker is hoping to instal Napier " Lions " in future machines of this design. There is also an improved F.III Fokker which will definitely carry five passengers and the pilot, in addition to baggage and goods. A D.H.9, owned by the De Havilland Company, smashed its under-carriage while landing with a passenger in a field near Havre, and on Thursday Mr. Cobham on another D.H.9 flew over to Havre with spares and a mechanic to effect repairs. There was a spare axle on the bottom wing against the fuselage, while a new aileron was fixed under the fuselage, in a fabric sling tacked on to the bottom longerons. The Flying Taxi-man MR. COBHAM is becoming quite a familiar visitor at the , aerodrome. During the week he flew a special passenger to Amsterdam for the K.L.M. Leaving Croydon at 3.15 p.m., he picked up a passenger at Rotterdam on his return journey, and was back in London the same evening. On Sunday he carried a jockey to Ostend, and, waiting until the finish of the day's racing, brought him back to London in time for dinner. The Sports' Club is now firmly established, and an inter- section cricket championship has been arranged. The teams are limited to eight a side, and each side bats for an hour, unless of course all are out in lees than that time. The first match was played between the Meteorological and Wireless section and the Miscellaneous, section, resulting in a win for the former. On Wednesday the Instone Air Line played Handley Page Transport, the former scoring 53 against their opponents' 33. A match between the London Terminal Aerodrome and the University Air Race teams during the week resulted in a win for the aerodrome by 57 to 47. The Instone Air Line are progressing steadily in the direc- tion of regular shipping ideals. They have now supplied their personnel with gold-wire badges of the Instone House Flag, flanked with laurel leaves and surmounted with a gold- wire " Vimy." This is, it is rumoured, the first step towards equipping their staff with uniforms. They are, apparently, breaking them into the idea gently. Landings after Dark ON Monday last two of the Instone machines, the 4a and the " Vimy," landed, from Lympne, after dark. As no intimation had been received that they were to be expected until after Mr. Saul and the searchlight staff had gone home, the only lights working were the petrol flares. Safe landings were, however, made, though it is stated that one of the machines had a narrow escape from hitting the Disposal Company's hangars. Testing the Mooring Mast / THE airship mooring-mast was finally tested on Wednesday afternoon. The cable used for hauling in the airship was run out and fastened to a tree some distance away. The haulage engine was then started, until a pull of five tons was registered on the cable. The entire mast was then gone over carefully, with the strain still on, for any sign of weakness. Even with a 30 miles-an-hour wind the airship exerts a pull of under three tons, and, if the wind exceeds this strength, the propellers are set in motion and the airship eased up to the mast. On Thursday night the " R.33 " arrived from Pulham, and was moored without any hitch at 8 p.m. After a stay of about an hour, she returned to Pvtlham. On Friday night the airship was again mocred at Croydon about 7 o'clock, the whole operation of mooring" occupying only 20 minutes. There was some doubt, when the idea of the mast at Croydon was first mooted, as to whether it would be possible to operate airship* in such a confined space as is available at Croydon—hemmed in as it is by houses. The past week's experiences have, however, effectually dispelled these doubts. All other airship bases have, it should be remembered, acres of clear ground in every direction. Need for a Gas-Plant at Croydon OWING to the heat-wave it is not thought advisable to make more than one " landing " with the airship at Croydon without returning to Pulham for re-gassing. The ship loses gas each time she is moored, and in the hot weather the loss is appreciable. Doubtless, if the latest conference now proceeding to decide the fate of the airship succeeds in preventing them from being handed to the Disposals' Board, a gas- plant will be erected at Croydon. I am informed that there is a suitable one at Wormwood Scrubbs, and it would only require re-erection here to make Croydon into an airship base where all but big repairs could be carried out, and from which an airship service could operate for months without the necessity of the ships proceeding frequently to Pulham. Mr. Hearn, who has his own Renault-Avro, has decided to house his machine at Croydon instead of Hendon, and it will now be available for joy-rides and " taxi " work. He is the aerial equivalent of the taxi owner-driver, doing all his own minor repairs and maintenance. Capt. Muir, of the Surrey Flying Services, covered a distance of 700 miles during his recent three days' tour of the battle- fields, and his passengers were highly delighted with their trip. : * . - The New Bristol Arrives ,, THE 10 seater Bristol biplane, with the Napier " Lion engine, arrived at the aerodrome on Friday night. The cabm of this machine is more spacious than that of any single-engined machine on the air-lines. A particularly good feature is the amount of head-room provided ; also the sliding panel in the roof. Mr. Earl, of " Air Express," has visited Paris during the week. It would be interesting to know what this enterprising firm have in view with regard to the new subsidy scheme. 496
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