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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0558.PDF
AUGUST 18, 1921 LAUNCHor "Flight" Copyright CHRISTENING THE FAIREY IIID-ROLLS : At the moment of the breaking of the bottle of champagne on - ithe propeller boss, by Mrs. A. M. Hughes, wife of the Australian Premier. AN interesting function took place on Friday of last week (August 12), at the Hamble works of the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd., when the first of a batch of Fairey seaplanes ordered by the Australian Commonwealth Government was launched b\ Mrs. Hughes, wife of the Australian Premier. The func- tion was of more than ordinary interest on account of being the first occasion on which a Dominion Government has had launched a seaplane, ordered by it and designed and built in the Mother Country. To Australia thus belongs the credit and honour of being the first Dominion to realise that a country with such a vast seaboard can most economically and effectively protect her shores by the establishment of a strong Naval Air Service to keep a patrol of the coast line. A fleet of such size as to be able to perform this function would be extremely expensive to establish and maintain, whereas with aircraft, owing to its greater speed and handi- ness, not onlv is the first cost very materially smaller, but the cost of upkeep and running costs are also very much smaller. Thus it may well be that our Dominions, who have not already a large established fleet, may outdistance the Mother Dominions, on the other hand, there is less in the way of traditions, of the old-fashioned naval way of thinking if one likes, while the distances to be covered are generally in- comparably greater, and other geographical considerations frequently such as to offer a much vaster field for immediate aerial activity. One must, therefore, come to the conclusion that, for a start at any rate, the Dominions will be able to derive much greater benefit from fostering aviation in all its branches than will the old country. And it is in view of this fact that we think the function at Hamble on Friday of last week was one of con- siderable significance. ' Members of the party invited by the Fairey Aviation Co. and by Rolls-Royce, Ltd., proceeded to Southampton by- train, where they were met by motor vehicles and conveyed to the Hamble works of the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd. Arrived at the works, the visitors were received by Major- General The Rt. Hon. J. E. B. Seely, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Fairey and Mr. C. R. Fairey. It was originally arranged that Mr. Hughes, the Australian Premier, should be present, but THE FAIREY " A.N.A.I " Flight" Copyright ' : The machine being launched from its slipway. Country as regards the establishment of powerful Naval Air Services. At home we have become used to regard the Navy as our sure shield, and so deeply rooted is this feeling that it is a matter of some difficulty for the man in the street (on whom must ultimately rest the decision) to grasp the possibilities of aircraft, and to realise the effect which its development will^-and must—have on Naval warfare. It may, and pro- bably will, therefore, take considerable time before it becomes generally accepted that our future lies in the air. In the he was unavoidably detained in town on urgent public business. At the luncheon which followed, Gen. Seely presided, and, in a short speech, proposing " Success to the Australian Commonwealth," congratulated Australia on having a Premier whose far-sightedness had, among other things, led to the establishment of a Naval Air Force. He expressed the hope that Australia would also show the way as regards commercial aviation. Twenty-eight years ago, he said, he was in Australia, and who could then have foreseen that some day the wife of 558
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