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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0342.PDF
a similar purpose, and a trained seaplane pilot should have little difficulty in making a safe " landing " in the dark or in a fog. On the question of forced landings a seaplane would be no worse off in stormy weather than is a land machine in a fog. As a matter of fact,. the sea which a seaplane will negotiate (and by seaplane we mean flying boat at least as much as a twin-float machine) is largely a matter of size, as in the case of ships. What is a very heavy sea to a dinghy is only a ripple to a steamer, and so on. For use over fairly calm stretches of water a fairly small seaplane would be perfectly safe. For use over more open and disturbed stretches, the seaplanes used should be larger, but there is no difficulty in building fairly large seaplanes, even with the knowledge we have today. In this matter of size the sea plane is far better off than is the land machine. Doubling or trebling the size of a seaplane does not introduce any great problems, but a similar increase in the size of aeroplanes is attended with various difficulties. For instance, to mention but one, the bearing load on the wheel axles and the bearing area of the wheels themselves on the ground are matters which assume some importance in a very large land machine. An excellent instance of this was provided at the Elta show at Amsterdam. The aerodrome was newly laid down, and was, although fairly hard on the surface, decidedly soft underneath. The small light machines had no difficulty in alighting and getting off, but the large, heavy, twin-engined machines were bogged and stood on their noses. From the point of view of seaplanes as a national necessity, it cannot be doubted for a moment that in the future great numbers of seaplanes will be required to co-operate with the Navy. If we are to gain the necessary experience in design and construction, and in the training of personnel, purely during routine work with the Navy, it will cost enormous sums of money if it is to be done on a scale commensurate with our requirements. On the other hand, if we choose to develop the seaplane along commercial lines (as well, of course, as along the highly specialised lines which the Navy will certainly demand), there is every prospect of being able to do this at a very reasonable outlay, owing to the excellent prospects which the seaplane offers of being a paying propo sition, or very nearly so. Some Seaplane Routes With this brief outline of what the seaplane has to offer, let us turn to the question of its practical application in civil aviation. The possibility of being able to use rivers running through towns as " aerodromes " is a fascinating one, avoiding as it does the delay of travelling to and from an aerodrome situated several miles outside towns. In very many cities this would be feasible. Experiments have shown it to be feasible under favourable conditions both in London and Paris. Both rivers are, however, relatively narrow, are fairly crowded with surface traffic, and, finally, the route to Paris leads to nowhere as far as we are concerned. A service could undoubtedly be operated between the two cities, but it would have to be run with machines of light power loading, and therefore with small capacity for paying load. It is therefore questionable whether that route would offer any better prospects than do the existing land-machine routes. We know that in the colonies and dominions there are innumerable opportunities for using the seaplane; but without going so far afield, let us examine whether there are not, nearer home, routes which could profitably be exploited. For instance, our road to Central and Northern Europe lies over Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In order to reach all these countries it is necessary to cross an arm of the North Sea, or, at any rate, the Straits of Dover. Is there any reason why a flying-boat or seaplane service should not be run from some east coast port, or from the mouth of the Thames, to Antwerp, Amsterdam, Emden, Bremerhaven, Hamburg and onwards to Copenhagen, Stock holm and Christiania. In the case of a letter to Copenhagen, it takes three days from posting in London to delivery in Copenhagen. By a seaplane or amphibian service it should be possible to leave London early in the morning and be in Copenhagen the same night. In other words, a letter would not take more than 24 hours, instead of the 72 now taken. The* saving to the other ports mentioned would be in propor tion. For a passenger service it might be advisable to use one of the east coast ports as the seaplane terminus. At Harwich, for instance, there are already customs and passport facilities for Denmark and Holland. The train service is excellent (about i£ hours), and the Felixstowe seaplane station might be taken into use. Later on, when and if things settle down a bit in Ireland, a seaplane service between London and Ireland should help considerably in bringing the two closer together. Again, in order to bring nearer such parts of the Empire as India and Australia, a flying-boat service from Marseilles (if French permission could be obtained) via Malta and Crete to Egypt, or possibly as far as Karachi, should be feasible. By linking up with the existing overland air route to Baghdad a very great saving in time could be obtained. In India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada there are enormous possibilities, but it appears to us that the first step should be made at home, by bringing these places nearer to London. And how can we, except by airships, hope to do so without taking into our service the possibilities of the seaplane ? Some of the routes indicated would take the seaplane over fairly long stretches of land, and might make the use of amphibians advisable. But even in an ordinary seaplane not so fitted we would far rather travel across country than we would across wide stretches of sea in a land machine. During the war it was repeatedly shown that, even with such a relatively primitive outfit as a " 225," it was possible to penetrate quite far inland. The flying boat has, on occasion, been known to make quite a respectable landing on grass. But what land machine has alighted on the sea without serious damage to itself and, at least, great inconvenience to its passengers ? We could go on advancing reasons for seriously setting to work on seaplane development, but sufficient has, we think, been said to indicate the sheer folly of continuing to spend large sums on the London-Paris route, where the return is not, and cannot be for years, in the slightest commensurate with the outlay and expense of the organisation. We do not suggest that the London-Paris service should be stopped altogether, but we do think that one firm would be quite sufficient to subsidise on that route, and some of the money might be spent to far greater advantage in subsidising a few seaplane services which had, at least, a reasonable prospect of becoming self-s'upporting some day. That the London- Paris route will not be for years. And while we stick to this route, using land machines, England is and will remain " off the map." Married. Flying Officer DUDLEY FISHER COX, R.A.F., the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Cox, was married on June 6, at St. Jude's, Hampstead Garden Suburb, to DOROTHY, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. BASTABLE, of The Gables, Wood lands, Hendon. On June 7, at Stoke-Damerel Church, Devonport, Flight- Lieut. H. M. DANIEL. R.A.F., was married to MARGARET ANNA, youngest daughter of the late Mr. PERCY BULTEEL and Mrs. MATTHEWS, of Plymouth. DOUGLAS GORDON NAIRN, Major, R.A.F., was married at Ottawa, on June 10, to FLORENCE MURIEL, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. MABEE, of Ottawa. Capt. EVELYN JACK NEEDHAM, late Northants Regt. and R.A.F., elder son of the late Col. the Hon. H. C. Needham and the Hon. Mrs. Needham, of The Gate House, Windsor, was married on June 7, at St. Michael and All Angels, War- field, to MARY CAMPBELL, only child of the late Rev. B. C. LITTLEWOOD, M.A., Vicar of Warfield, and Mrs. Littlewood, of Hillside, Bracknell, Berks. To be Married The marriage will take place on June 29 between GEORGE VEEVERS CARTER, R.A.F., and MARY GLADYS STARK, daughter of the late Dr. M. D. STARK, of Oxford. The engagement is announced between GRENVILLE WAIN- WRIGHT WILSON, D.F.C, R.A.F., only son of Capt. A. C. Wilson, of Wilsonia, South Africa, and CICELY, youngest daughter of the late JOHN LANE DENSHAM, late of Waldron- hyrst, Croydon. 342
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