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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0654.PDF
accurate data being obtained to enable the autho- rities to decide upon the route for the Transcontinental . railway without going to all the expense, trouble and delay of carrying out a detailed ground survej? on more orthodox lines. What this means in the quicker opening up of the country to civilisation and settle- ment is too obvious to need labouring. On the face of it, a year will be saved in getting to work, and in such enterprises as that contemplated a year counts for a great deal. And the aeroplane and the airship—for both have their distinct spheres of usefulness in such tasks—are only now beginning to demonstrate their possibilities in this direction. We can safely look forward to the time when all prelimi- naries of survey work for the opening up of new countries will be accomplished by the aid of aircraft. The aeroplane will be followed by the airship, carrying a survey party whose duty it will be to dot the i's and cross the t's of the first survey. The saving of time and money will be enormous, let alone the saving expressed by the bringing into production of new areas and fresh oountries. Lord Weir, in a^letter^ to' the Press, OCTOBER 6, 1921 memoriesjthe Fund is intended to perpetuate were keen pioneers of their chosen branch of aeronautical science. They lived it, thought it, dreamed of it, and at last died for it. It. would be their wish that those to whom their memory is a sacred thing should assist by all means in their power to carry on the great work they themselves had left uncompleted. There could be no finer, no more appropriate, manner of commemorating their sacrifice than thus to carry on their self-appointed task. Believing that, as we do most whole-heartedly, we wish the Fund every possible success. It is needed on every count, apart altogether from its initial object. As Lord Weir says, there will be a hiatus and a following period of reconstruction, owing to what we conceive to be the short-sighted, policy of the- Government in the matter of the airship. We cannot afford to enter upon the reconstruction period from the point at which we stand now. Others are working hard upon airship problems, and, as it seems quite clear that the Government is no more interested and will extend no further help, it is for private enterprise to fill the gap. Thus there is the double appeal of sentiment and practicality to commend the Fund to all who tin* announces that the Royal Aeronautical are interested in aerial development, and particularly .._ __ .. *• Qrwip+^r VIQ\T& rlprirlpri +n AC+aVllicTl a flinrl tn +Vir>ce mnc+ irlon+ifiorl inri+Vi +V>o 1inrVi+ar_t>ion_oif" R 38 y decided to establish fund to commemorate those who lost their Iives in " R.38 " and in previous airship accidents, this fund to be designated the " R.38 Fund." It is proposed to invest the capital and devote the income to the investigation of problems connected with airships or allied subjects. This course, it is believed, would best meet the wishes of the relatives of those who have given their lives in the cause of the airship. Lord Weir points out that it has been decided to suspend all Government work on airships, and it is probable that no provision will be made for the continuance of experimental or research work. It is, however, of paramount importance that some such work should be proceeding, on however small a scale, pending the time when the resumption of an airship service is decided upon. A sufficient capital sum to provide an annual grant towards the carrying out of some specific investigation—on a large or small scale according to the amount available—would be a valuable aid during this hiatus and the period of reconstruction following it, and would serve as some safeguard against the complete neglect of airship possibilities. It is proposed that the results of such investigations should be embodied in papers to be read before the Royal Aeronautical Society. The aims and objects of such a fund as that announced by Lord Weir are altogether admirable. It is with not the smallest disrespect to the dead who have given their lives in peace and war to the cause of aerial development that we say the per- petuation of their memory in stone and bronze is not, in this practical and utilitarian age, the best manner of keeping green the recollection of their service and sacrifice. Nor do we think it is the manner which most appeals to those they have left behind. There are two ways of doing it better. The one is along the lines of that admirable institution, the Royal Air Force Fund, which aims at bettering the lot of those living dependents left behind by those who have made the ultimate great sacrifice. to those most identified with the lighter-than-air side. Touring by Air We publish in another part of this issue of FLIGHT the5* log of a recent tour undertaken by two business-men de- sirous of visiting the principal commercial centres of Europe and who chose the aeroplane as the swiftest and most elastic vehicle for accomplishing their purpose. Not the least striking aspect of the journey is that in 18 days some 4,500 miles were covered, without the semblance of a mishap, yet the amount of interest taken in what constitutes a record business journey is almost microscopic so far as the Press and the public are concerned. Yet it is little more than a decade ago since the whole country was excitedly discussing whether Paulhan or Grahame-White would win the London-Manchester race, the conclusion generally reached being that neither would succeed in flying the bare 200 miles lying between the two cities. It is the fact that such a flight as this trip through Europe excites little or no curiosity that impresses us with the gigantic strides which have been made in the interval, short as it has been. We who have followed every phase of development keenly and have noted each step as it has been taken, each milestone as it has been passed, are apt to lose perspective and fail to realise how great the advance has been. We expect the country to be convulsed with wonder at the performance of modern aircraft, while the truth is that development has been so great that there is no wonder left. It needs some- thing more spectacular than a prosaic business tour such as the one we are speaking of to arouse more than the mildest sensation in the mentality of the man in the street. He has become blase to flight performance, and nothing less than the girdling of the earth by aeroplane, will impress him as anything more than commonplace. Not that we regret this aspect of the matter. We would scarcely have it A single life made better, happier, and more useful otherwise, since it proves that flight has become to the community is worth a whole pantheon in so matter of fact, so much a matter of daily routine, marble. Another way is through that embodied in that it is now accepted simply as a means of transport, the suggestion we are discussing. Those whose neither more nor less. 654
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