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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0782.PDF
.•«;• - v . - •. Y . - - • • j,. • NOVEMBER 24, 1921 LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday Evening, November 21.BAD flying weather has interfered seriously again with the regularity of the Continental air services, and many landingshave had to be made at Lympne to await improved conditions. Passengers have fallen off very considerably, and there ismuch competition for the patronage of those few who are still travelling by air.On one occasion during the week all the Instone " air- liners " were away from Croydon, and the service to Parishad to be abandoned. When this sort of thing happens, it seems generally on a day when there are plenty of passengers—who have, of course, to be disappointed ; and then when the machine and the weather are both "O.K." there areoften no passengers to be found. All this, though, is in keeping with the general " contrariness " of life, business andotherwise. The K.L.M. should have run their last machine of theseason to Amsterdam on Saturday ; but, owing to the weather, they found themselves with three machines andpilots at Croydon on Saturday morning. The weather was reported quite unfit for flying in Holland, but in spite of thisMr. Hinchcliffe, the K.L.M. chief pilot, went off in one of the monoplanes, and was successful in reaching Amsterdam. The other two pilots, Messrs. Hofstra and Geysendoffer,though quite willing to attempt the journey, were kept at Croydon until today. To the Winter Sports by AirON Saturday the Grands Express began their regular service from Paris to Lausanne, and, in spite of fog on theroute, the journey was accomplished in about three hours. The machine returns to Paris from Lausanne today. It isthe intention of the Grands Express to run this service every week-end, and passengers can book through from London toLausanne at a single fare of ^14 6s., or £27 for the return journey. A new map for pilots has been compiled officially by theFrench, and consists of a strip for the London-Paris route. It is printed in three sections, and has route directions em-bodied in the map itself. All unnecessary details have been eliminated, and a special feature made of contour markingsand of roads and rivers. Aerodromes, emergency landing grounds, and wireless stations are also marked in, and thethree sections, when joined together, form a continuous strip map of the route. Maj. Foot, Capt. Muir, Mr. Piercy and Mr. Courtney havebeen going to Brussels on Disposal Company's Avros during the week ; but, what with weather and other delays, thefirst two did not leave until Friday. The second pair got off on Saturday, but were compelled to stay the week-endat Lympne. Mr. Shaw was also to have gone to Brussels, but onSaturday the Instone Air Line found itself a pilot short, and Mr. Shaw piloted one of the D.H. 18's to Paris for them.Prior to leaving, he took the " 18 " up for a short test, and surprised many people—and alarmed some others—-by theslowness of his alighting. Mr. Shaw actually landed this machine at only 28 miles an hour, and it practically pulledup dead. The Grands Express Fleet THE Grands Express have had some more new " Goliaths "on their service this last week. I am informed they now have 10 of these machines towards the 12 required by theterms of the French subsidy, and the other two are rapidly nearing completion. These Farman machines are shortlyto be added to by a fleet of Vickers " Vimy's " which are to be built in France. The Grands Express have a definite objectin view. They do not intend to refuse a single passenger this next summer, though they have had to turn away scoresthis year. Hence the firm intention to have enough machines for all possible emergencies. An Official Ignoring of the " Air Express " MUCH disappointment was felt by the various civilair transport firms when Capt. Guest went to Paris in an R.A.F. machine on Tuesday, rather than by one of thescheduled commercial machines, in which there were plenty of seats available. Then, soon afterwards, as a sort ofpoetic judgment for this ignoring of the commercial " air expresses," news came through that the machine carryinghis luggage had forced-landed, and that while the Secretary of State for Air was in Paris his luggage was " somewhere inFrance." With the misfortune that overtook Flight-Lieut. J. M. Robb on his return journey from Le Bourget to Kenley,when his engine stopped while over the Channel and he failed to make the shore at Folkestone by 200 yards, thisparticular official trip to Paris must have cost the taxpayers rather more than the fare by " air express " ! It was intended that the " amphibian " should fetchCapt. Guest back from Paris to London. She was out of the shed having her Napier engine tested, and Capt. Grace,the aerodrome A.I.D. Inspector, went carefully over her to see that everything was quite " O.K." Then, however,for some unknown reason, this idea was abandoned. After a period of hesitation, the Sports Club has now gotfootball going. Two matches have been played, and a knock-out competition for six a side teams is being arranged,after the style of the cricket competition that was so successful this last summer. The Napier engine people are presentinga cup for the winners of this competition. ROYAL - AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY NOTICES Next Lecture.—On December 1st, at 5.30p.m., Major G. H. Scott, C.B.E., A.F.C., will read a paper on " The Present State of Air-ship Development," at the Royal Society of Arts. Technical Discussions.—It has been de-cided to hold from time to time, technical meetings in the Society's Library for thepurpose of discussing scientific papers of a more intricate character than those whichare suitable for the Society's Lecture programme. Any papers submitted will first be considered by the Libraryand Publications Committee, when, if approved, a date will be fixed for their discussion. A limited number of advanceproofs will be prepared and distributed only to members who apply for them, or invited guests. The meetings willconsist of discussion only on the assumption that the paper has been previously read by all present. The papers maysubsequently be published in the Journal, together with the discussions thereon, each individual forwarding his con-tribution to the Secretary in writing for this purpose. *? Memorial Lectures.—In addition to the Wilbur WrightMemorial Lecture, which was constituted in 1912, and for which a capital sum exists in the hands of Trustees sufficientto pay an annual fee of £50, a Fund has lately been raised by private subscription to provide a small fee for an annuallecture in memory of the late Wing-Commander Kevill Usborne, who played so important a part in the early derelop-ment of British airships. It is proposed to hold the first Usborne Memorial Lecture in 1922. Students' Discussion Meetings.—At the second monthlymeeting on November 10, Mr. W. L. Le Page read a paper on " The Soaring Flight Problem," when Mr. F. HandleyPage, Fellow, took the Chair. These meetings are confined to Student Members of the Society and their friends, and atthe end of the Session the Pilcher Memorial Prize will be awarded to the paper inaugurating discussion at one of thesemeetings which is judged by the Council to be the best. The next meeting takes place on December 8, when Mr.Colin Daniel, will read a paper on " Practical Points in Fuselage Construction." Donations.—The Council acknowledges, with gratefulthanks, the gift of the following books from Air-Commodore Brooke-Popham on vacating the Chair:—" Manual ofMeteorology, Part IV," by Sir Napier Shaw; "The Gas, Petrol and Oil Engine," by D. Clerk and G. A. Burls;" The Heat Treatment of Tool Steel," by H. Brearley ; " Thermodynamics for Engineers," by J. A. Ewing ; " Theoryof Structures," by A. Morley. W. LOCKWOOD MARSH, Secretary Suspension of London-Amsterdam Air Service "Roma" Redivivus.THE Postmaster-General announced that on and from THE airship "Roma," purchased from Italy by the November 19, the air mail service between London and U.S. Government, is being erected, but is not expected to be Amsterdam has been suspended. ready before early next year. • .-' '-.. • 782 ... „ . . ; .;•., ";'o,V" ''-I:"''
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