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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0084.PDF
object of earning revenue from the carriage of pas sengers and goods. That some of them also carry mails does not alter the fact that the times of departure are planned primarily with the passenger and goods service in view, and not with the object of getting the best value out of what has, after all, up to the present been a minor side-line—i.e., the air mails. Even so, the utility of, ska: instance, the London-Paris air mail, is not inconSraerable. While it is undoubtedly true, as pointed out in the Report, that there is no advantage in sending off an air mail machine to arrive at Paris about midnight (assuming this to be practicable at the present moment), when already mails posted in London at the end of a business day are despatched by train and steamer and delivered by first delivery next morning, there is an advantage by which the Committee does not appear to have been sufficiently impressed. • If a letter is posted in London at the end of a business day, and arrives at the Paris address by first delivery next morning, the French house has time to write a reply, post it by air mail, and have it delivered at the London address on the same day before the close of the business day. That is assuming that the Post Office terminal services are as good as the Report would have us believe. Here again we have our doubts. In practice—and we speak from per sonal experience—there are in many cases consider able delays in the transmission at the terminals. Whether these occur most frequently on this side or on the other, it is a fact that they do occur. Then there is another side to the question. We have frequently referred in these columns to the doubtful wisdom of carrying passengers, goods, parcels and mails in the same machine. No doubt up to the present conditions have been such as to make this inevitable, but the time has certainly come when we should begin to specialise, and to use several types of machines for at least goods or (and) passengers, and one for mails. We are quite certain that if this were done the reliability of the air mail would be considerably increased. When a pilot has 10 passengers on board his responsibility is naturally very great, and he has perforce to place " safety first " every time. On the other hand, in a special mail plane, carrying no other occupants than the crew, flights would undoubtedly be made in very many cases when a passenger machine would not be despatched. Much the same remarks apply to Imperial air mail routes, and we must -confess to being disappointed that the Committee has seen fit to consider aeroplane (again including presumably seaplane) services of no immediate importance in view of the " acceptance in principle" of the Burney airship scheme. That scheme is not working yet, nor will it be working for at least two years at the best. We do think that the scheme suggested by Gen. Spears and Com mandant Faure for a combined Anglo-French service should have been given serious thought. On part of this route, at any rate, it may be presumed that seaplanes would be used, and this raises another consideration : the experimental flying boat service to the Channel Islands was, presumably, chosen because it provided a good route for the early experimental work. That there is a small volume of mails to be carried does not greatly affect the argument, and is merely another instance of machines being used for mails which are mainly run to cater for passengers and goods. On another route, such FEBRUARY 14, 1924 as from Harwich to Hamburg and Copenhagen, the seaplane is undoubtedly capable of good service, and this fact does not appear to have been sufficiently realised by the Committee. On the subject of internal services little need be said. That there is little gain when used between London and provincial towns is probably true, but Croydon to the provinces as a link in a longer chain undoubtedly has possibilities, and we are glad to note that the Committee realises this and that the Report refers to the possibility of some such service being developed. • • • Very naturally considerable interest has Li*?t*?r been aroused in aviation circles con- Air cerning the attitude of the Labour Government on matters aviatic. We, among others, had the privilege a few days ago of being granted an interview by the new Secretary of State for Air, Brig.-Gen. Baron Thomson, in which he pointed out that he had been in office such a short period that he had scarcely yet had time to pick up the threads, while on the other hand he was but one of a body of men in the Cabinet, and had not yet had an opportunity of discussing air matters with them to any great extent. From the interview we came away with the feeling that the new Secretary of State for Air is extremely keen on aviation matters, commercial no less than Service, and he stated that so far as he could see the greatest danger that threatened this country, if not the only danger, was from the air. From this it may, therefore, be assumed that Gen. Thomson is very much alive to the importance of air defence, and will use his influence to ensure that whatever reductions are made in our fighting services, the R.A.F. will not be handled so as to endanger our safety. Much will, of course, depend upon the interpretation of what constitutes an adequate air defence. On the commercial side we received the impression that Gen. Thomson, while fully realising the import ance of civil aviation by aeroplane, is somewhat of an airship enthusiast, and he expressed the opinion that it would probably be easier to gain the confidence of the public in airship travel than in flying by aero plane. The statements to which the new Air Minister felt justified in committing himself were so few that at present one must reserve judgment. Personally we are more than satisfied that in the new Air Minister is found an enthusiastic advocate of air progress, and it remains to be seen how far he is strong enough to carry with him his brother Cabinet Ministers. As regards the statements that have appeared that the Labour Government intends to call an Inter national Conference to limit aircraft, this must be a purely, academic movement, as hopeless to attain as it is a perfection devoutly to be hoped for. That this is generally recognised is evident from the fact that at the 1921 Washington Conference the decision was unequivocally against the limitation of aircraft. For us, therefore,. to neglect this side of such a " peace power " would be national suicide, as it is practically impossible to have control or reasonable m check upon the development and construction of aircraft by any other nation, even down to the smallest. The Government that took risks in this direction would indeed be well on the road to invite the dismemberment of the British Empire.
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