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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0034.PDF
For instance, the London-Brussels and London- Amsterdam lines form the direct route to northern and central Europe, and they might very well be covered with seaplane or amphibian services, which would be able to follow a more direct route than that at present taken by the land machines, and would thus be able to effect a considerable saving in time on that score only, apart from doing away with the tedious journey from towns to land aerodromes. Flights carried out between London and Paris have shown the possibilities of using the rivers in the centre of towns as " aerodromes," and in the summer at an-y rate such services should be capable of being run with good regularity. We recommend the subject to the very serious consideration of those in authority. • • * The report on the Health of the Royal theR^F *^r Force for the year 1920 recently published by command of the Air Council does not include statistics relating to the Air Force in India, nor those relating to certain scattered units such as certain detached flights in the Middle East, drafts on board ship, and the African Aerial Survey Parties, for which it was found impracticable to introduce the approved system of returns. The Royal Air Force system of medical adminis tration is based on the principle originally instituted in the R.N.AS. Stations, sick quarters being organised to provide bed accommodation for 1 per cent, of the station personnel, and having facilities for emergency treatment of serious accidents and cases requiring isolation. They are not intended to accommodate cases requiring hospital treatment. Illustrations of the value of this system, the report states, are especially shown in the many cases of sandfly fever and malaria treated entirely in sick quarters at Baghdad and Constantinople respectively in 1920, a a JANUARY 19, 1922 No. 55 Squadron, which was only at Constantinople during July and August, being able to cope not only with the majority of its sick without evacuation to hospital, but also to proceed to Mesopotamia practically intact. The report shows the general state of health of the R.A.F. to be good, and incidentally it indicates that the R.A.F. is not nearly such a dangerous career as might be imagined, whether in the branches doing actual flying or those working on the ground in various capacities. Thus the' case incidence of flying, accidents among officers and cadets was 21 -o per 1,000 of strength, and the death-rate 8 -5. A considerable number of accidents are shown to be due to starting engines and swinging propellers, but, as the report states, the majority of these accidents can be considered as preventable, as they are usually due to holding the starting handle with thumb opposed to fingers, in the case of starting engines. Propeller swinging always has been a dangerous practice, and in commercial aviation it is rapidly disappearing. For military flying, however, it will probably survive for some time, at any rate for the smaller types of engines. It is not without interest to find that the number of accidents due to athletics is vastly greater than that due to flying, although the death-roll of flying is naturally higher than in sports. It is stated in the report that, although of a primitive nature, the air ambulance has had an opportunity of proving its worth, and " the old blood wagon," as the air ambulance (a converted " D.H.9 ") was generally called, did such good work as to call forth the following statement, reprinted in the report : " Thus the aerial ambulance has shown that, especially in operations over country where other transport is so tedious and trying, the aeroplane is a veritable godsend for sick and wounded." a a AIR PARCELS POST THE Postmaster - General states that parcels are now accepted on behalf of the British air transport companies, at sixteen additional Post Offices in London, and in twenty- two additional towns in the provinces for conveyance by aeroplane and delivery in Paris each week-day. The additional London offices are the following ;— Hatton Garden ; East Strand ; Fenchurch Street; Fins- bury Park; Kilburn ; Knightsbridge ; Leadenhall Street ; Northern District Office; North-Western District Office ; Peckham; St. James's Street; Shaftesbury Avenue; Stratford; Throgmorton Avenue; Westbourne Grove; Young Street, Kensington. The provincial towns which have been added to the list of accepting centres are the undermentioned :— Aberdeen ; Blackburn; Brighton ; Burnley; Derby; Dover ; Dundee ; Halifax ; Huddersfield ; Hull; Ipswich ; Leicester; Luton; Newport (Mon.) ; Norwich; Notting ham ; Reading; Rugby; Southampton; Walsall ; West Bromwich; Wolverhampton. The London and provincial centres which already partici pate in the arrangement are as follows :— General Post Office, E.C. ; Lombard Street; Threadneedle Street; Fleet Street; Western Central District Office; High Holborn ; Charing Cross ; Parliament Street; Western District Office; 191, Oxford Street; 148, Regent Street; 294, Regent Street; South-Western District Office ; South- Eastern District Office; 21, Regent Street; Church Place, Piccadilly ; Spring Street, Paddington ; Croydon ; Birming ham ; Bradford ; Bristol; Cardiff; Coventry ; Edinburgh ; a" a Abolition of Air "Corridors " THE regulations which have hitherto been in force relating to the "corridors" by which aircraft might enter and leave the U.K. have now been abolished, according to an Air Ministry "Notice to Airmen," which states: "The provisional agreement relating to aerial communication Glasgow; Leeds; Liverpool; Manchester; Newcastle-on- Tyne and Sheffield. Parcels may be posted in the morning at certain London post offices for dispatch by aeroplane on the same day. At other London offices, and at the provincial offices parcels posted in the afternoon or evening will be forwarded by air on the following day. Enquiry as to the latest time of posting should be made at any accepting Post Office. The aeroplanes leave Croydon about noon, and are due at Le Bourget (Paris) about 2j hours later. The parcels are cleared through the French" Customs, immediately after arrival, by the air transport companies, and are normally delivered to the addressees by the companies on the day of arrival, subject to payment of the small extra charge, usually made for such delivery. The saving in time of transmission afforded by the use of the air service and by the rapid clearance of parcels by the French customs is considerable. The rates for parcels sent by air service are as follows :— Up to 1 lb., is. 6d. ; 2 lb., 2s. 3d. ; 3 lb., 3s. 3d. ; 4 lb., -4s. ; 5 lb.f 4s. gd.; 6 lb., 5s. gd.; 7 lb.. 6s. 6d. ; 8 lb., 7s. 3d.; 9 lb., 8s. 3d. ; iolb.,9S. ; 11 lb., 9s. gd. The above amounts are the inland parcel post rates, plus an air conveyance charge of gd. per lb. Further particulars of the conditions of the service may be obtained on application at any accepting Post Office. The names of the accepting offices and the latest times of posting in any of the provincial towns mentioned may be ascertained from the local Head Post Office. a a between Great Britain and France (Article 12) has been amended in the following respect:—" The corridors of entry into Great Britain have been abolished. Aircraft may there fore cross the coast of Great Britain at any point, except over a prohibited area. The corridor of entry into France from Great Britain extends from Etaples to the Belgian frontier." 34
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