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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0002.PDF
to be somewhere in the neighbourheod of one-third of the total, should only ±>e between one-fifth and one-sixth seems rather surprising. We do not pre- sume to question Mr. Handley Page's figures, but merely express our astonishment. Wh t Accepting these figures as being suffi- It Means ciently nearly correct, what does the fact indicate ? It would appear to show that on the score- of engine economy we have but little hope of being able to effect any great improvement. For instance, suppose for the sake of argument that the price of petrol and oil were suddenly halved, or that an engine were produced which used only half as much fuel and oil per horse- power per hour as do the present ones. Such an improvement, regarded purely as engineering progress, would be phenomenal. Yet its effect upon the total cost of running an air service would be almost negligible. If, therefore, we are to have any hope of reducing the cost of air transport it-seems that we must look in other directions for improvement. The first necessity, as Mr. Handley Page pointed out, is expansion of the services so as to reduce overhead charges. Yet the lecturer was convinced that also in other respects there was room for improvement. Thus he stated that, although with present machines the average power loading was 15 to 17 lb./h.p., out of which but 4 or 5 lb./h.p. was paying load, it should not be impossible within the next few years to increase the total carrying capacity to 25 lb./h.p., and obtain a paying load of 10 lb./h.p. How this vast improvement was to be effected the lecturer did not state, but he estimated the cost per ton mile, resulting from such improvement, at is. 6d. instead of the present 3s. 6d. On the London-Paris route this would mean a cost of £18 per ton, or £1 10s. per passenger and i\d. per lb. of freight. It would be interesting to know exactly how these figures were arrived at. Aerodynamic improvements in machines would seem to require to be of a rather startling -character before we could hope to double the paying load carried, even if coupled with a certain amount of reduction in structure weight. Mr. Handley Page also referred to the matter of subsidies, but as our own views on this subject have been stated over and over again, we do not propose to enter upon a discussion here. The question of Germany's position in ir£aftand the. m.atter °f aircraft rights and Germany obligations is very much to the fore « at the moment, owing to the fact that January 1, 1923, was the date upon which was terminated the clause of the Treaty of Versailles dealing with the right of the Allies to fly their machines over and land on German territory. The clause—Article 320, to be exact—fixing the date of January 1, 1923, had a proviso to the effect that the Allied rights should terminate on this date unless Germany had, fh the meantime, been admitted to the League of Nations, or had been authorised to adhere to the International Air Convention. Now it appears that Germany never has attempted to become a party to the I.A.C., and the question therefore arises what is her position as regards International aviation. The situation is not without JANUARY 4,^1923 its humour, as evidently when the Treaty of Ver- sailles was drawn up it was taken for granted that Germany would want to become a party to the I.A.C., or else would join the League of Nations. Germany has not expressed the desire to do either, and consequently the time limit for her obligations was reached on January 1. Realising that something would have to be done, as obviously Germany could not be allowed to stand aloof from the I.A.C., the Conference of Ambassadors, at which the representa- tives of France, Italy and Great Britain are stated to have been in complete agreement, summoned, in a note of December 19, the German Government to adhere to the Convention. In the German reply to this note it was stated that the Reich would accept this invitation in principle, but that it would demand certain supplementary information on technical points. On December 31 the Conference of Am- bassadors replied to the effect that the question of supplementary information would be dealt with later, but that in the meantime it would consider German adherence in principle to the International Air Convention to mean that Allied aeroplanes had the right of free passage over German territory. There the matter appears to rest at the moment. What will happen when Germany has received the additional technical information asked for still remains to be seen. It would appear that if Germany refuses to become a signatory to the I.A.C. there is nothing to compel her to do so. Any country has the right to decide for itself whether or not it is to its advantage to join. We think, however, that Germany is not likely to take such a foolish attitude. No country in the world can afford thus to cut itself off from aerial communication with its neighbours, nor is there any reason to think that Germany really wishes to stand out. She may have had several reasons for refusing to have any dealings with the I.A.C. while herself under a number of restrictions, but once a state approaching more to equality has been reached Germany would be cutting off her nose to spite her face by holding aloof.. Much as it is to the interests of Great Britain and France to have the right to fly across Germany, it is even more to the interests of Germany that she should be allowed to fly her machines to these countries. That this is so will be realised when it is pointed out that in the case of France and this country routes are possible which, by making a detour, would avoid Germany altogether, but in the case ot Germany failure to come to an agreement with the Allies would mean the hemming in, to a serious extent, of German air services. The very fact that representatives of one of the most powerful German groups are at present in this country in order to negotiate with Daimler Hire for the common operation of an air line between London and Berlin should be an indication that, in German aviation and financial circles at any rate, it is not expected that Germany will refuse to come into line. Which is all to the good of progress. As we have said repeatedly in these columns, no nation can afford to cut adrift from its neighbours altogether, and it is a very short-sighted policy to attempt to isolate any nation, more especially a great and powerful nation. We have the best hopes that a mutually satisfactory arrangement will be found possible, and that 1923 will see the beginning of real international aviation, the only form which is likely to amount to anything.
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