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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0710.PDF
kept operating it is likely to require a subsidy. The French are running passenger services on the London- Paris route, and while they are doing so we must do the same. That we can only do, at the present moment, by some form of subsidy, nor is it likely that it will be possible, within the near future, to operate this route without a subsidy. So far as we can see, the only real reason for maintaining the London-Paris route at all is that the French are running services—subsidised services—over it. It does not appear to be a route leading to anywhere in particular, as far as all-British services are con cerned. It was originally to be regarded as a sort of full-scale laboratory in which we could learn a good deal about the running of civilian air lines. But it is extremely doubtful whether the last couple of years have taught us anything that we did not know at the end of 1920, for instance. There is one thing to be said for the new subsidy arrange ment : Instead of spending all the subsidy money on the London-Paris route we are now only spending a portion of it, the rest being allocated to the firms operating the London-Cologne and London-Amster dam (Berlin) lines. Now for the other side of the picture. A news paper service is undoubtedly of the very greatest value to the country. But a newspaper air service can, and should, be run with machines totally different from those required for passenger work. There is no elaborate passenger cabin to equip, no seats to run away with paying load, no need for two pilots, possibly no need for„wireless equipment, and finally the fuselage of such a machine need not be very large, the newspaper load occupying very- small space in proportion to its weight. All this means that a machine specially built for the work would be vastly more economical to run, cheaper in first cost and insurance, and more of a commercial proposition all round than the passenger machine. In fact, it seems to us that, with a properly designed machine it should be possible—assuming that the load of close upon 2,000 lbs. per day could be counted upon—to run a newspaper service without any subsidy, other than that already provided indirectly by the existing ground organisation. It would, therefore, appear that to take away the subsidy from the passenger line and give it to a newspaper air service on the London-Paris route would not result in a better spending of the tax payers' money, and that the real solution is to get away, as soon as it is possible, from the London-Paris route altogether, at any rate if there is no prospect of extending it beyond Paris. If it can, some day, be made a stage of a route linking us up with the East, it is altogether a different matter. • • * - The regulations governing the gliding ^elfrS-df£r competition for the 1,000 guinea prize Gliding offered by Messrs. Selfridge and Co. Competition have now been published, and will be found elsewhere in this issue. The competition is, it will be remembered, for the first flight in a straight line of a distance of 50 miles. That this feat will be difficult to accomplish goes without saying. But so appeared the Daily Mail competition at Itford, and yet the minimum time stipulated was exceeded on the first day of the competition. We should, therefore, hesitate to say that the Selfridge prize will not be won next year, DECEMBER 7, 1922 although it is infinitely more difficult than was the previous competition. The regulations have been drawn up with the utmost regard for the convenience of competitors, any district in the British Isles being available, the only expenses to which competitors will be put being the entrance fee of £5 and the expenses of the official observers. Even so, in order to reduce expenses, the Royal Aero Club is arranging to appoint official observers resident in the various districts that are likely to be chosen, and except in a very few cases no competitor' should, therefore, need to pay any very heavy charges. We are satisfied that the regulations will be accepted as sensible and fair by all who are con templating taking part in the competition, and the Gliding Committee of the R.Ae.C. is to be congratu lated on the very common-sense spirit in which it has set to work. It will now-rest with competitors to show the world that we are not behind in this form of aviation, and certainly nobody could accuse the Royal Aero Club of having placed any avoidable obstacle in their way. One drawback to a competition of this sort is that the public will not be greatly attracted by the performances. Most of the practice flights, and probably also the majority of the competition flights, will be made without the general public being aware of them until they are over, and even then it is likely that the mere statement that sa-and-so has flown 10 miles will not arouse a great deal of general interest. It is possible, however, that if several flights are made within a short period, one slightly longer than the previous one, the interest will be stimulated. From the point of view of technical interest the competition should be of value in teaching us a very great deal about air currents and how to make use of them, and aerodynamic efficiency will play a far greater part than it did at Itford. The response to the designing com- Frr^HT Petiti°n instituted by the proprietors Designing °* FLIGHT has been very gratifying. Competition A great number of designs have been sent in, and elsewhere in this issue we publish a brief reference to some of the more promising designs submitted. The judging will naturally take considerable time, and it is doubtful whether the announcement of the winners can be made until early in the new year. In the meantime we thank all those who have put so much work into their designs, and assure them that, had conditions justified us, we should "have remunerated them on a scale more commensurate with the value of the work. As it is, we would ask competitors to con sider themselves rewarded, to some extent, by the fact that they have, with ourselves, helped to make progress in the latest form of flying. We hope to publish several of the designs, in addition to the winning ones, in forthcoming issues of FLIGHT. N m Prince of Wales—New Appointment His Majesty the King has been pleased to approve the following appointment:— His Royal Highness Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, K.G., K.T., G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., G.CV.O., G.B.E., M.C., to be a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. 710
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