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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0655.PDF
OCTOBER 8, 1925 PROGRESS OF CIVIL AVIATION Annual Report on the Period April 1, 1924, to March 31, 1925 THE Annual Report of the Directorate of Civil Aviation on *^e progress Of civil aviation. during the period from April 1 )r A oJ^rch 31> 1925' has Just been issued as a White Paper(Omd. 2489), price 2s. net. As in previous yea*s, the Report is divided into two main sections, Part 1 dealing with generalsubjects and aviation in the British Empire, and Part II with civil aviation in foreign countries. In the section dealing with relations with foreign countries the Report states that the States which are now parties to the International Air Navigating Convention are : Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand' India, Irish Free State, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France' Greece, Italy, Japan, Persia, Poland, Portugal, Roumania,' Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Siam and Uru- guay. Bolivia, one of the original signatories to the Conven- tion, is stated to have denounced the Convention with effect from August 30, 1924. The Report also states that pro- visional air traffic agreements are in force with Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The agreement with Germany on a reciprocal basis of three months at a time has been continued, but concerning the temporary agreement with Czechoslovakia, it is stated that further discussions have taken place with the Government, but that owing to the attitude of the German Government it has not been possible to operate any air service to Czechoslovakia. The interesting announcement is made that, in view of the conclusion of a long-term agreement with Imperial Airways, Ltd., it was considered that the necessity for continuing the Civil Aviation Advisory Board no longer existed, and the C.A.A.B. was accordingly dissolved in July last. Commercial Air Services A considerable amount of space is devoted in the Report to an outline of the history of the amalgamation of the four older air transport companies into one new company, Imperial Airways, Ltd., and reference is made to the delays which occurred in opening up the services under the new arrange- ment. Thus it is stated that the London-Paris route was opened on April 26 ; the London-Brussels and London- Cologne routes on May 3 ; the London-Amsterdam-Hanover- Berlin on June 2 ; and the London-Paris-Basle-Zurich on June 17. The Channel Islands service, it is stated, has only been operating spasmodically during the period under review, and it is expected that it will not be in regular operation before 1926. Under the terms of agreement Imperial Airways were com- pelled to fly a minimum of 800,000 miles in the first year, and the Report states that the total mileage covered was 825,525 ; the monthly totals being :— 1924.—April May JuneJuly August September. . OctoberNovember. . December . . 1925.—January February' . .March I,3JO miles. 46,590 ,, 99,680 . . 146,820 „ .. 139,280 „ .. 110,345 „ 72,I7D .. 47,280 „ 36,420 „ .. 27,105 „ .. 43,810 „54,670 „ Total 825,525 As an instance^of the durability of British it is pointed out that up to March 31, 1 W» machine and two De Havilland 34's had ^ Handley Page Ha ^ completed about 2,300 hours of flying, representing, approximately miles each; and three Napier "Lion" engines run an average of 1,350 hours. f t g appy f?Lion" engines had each services, and the foundations were laid for further discussions.Keen interest in the possibilities of air transport was met with everywhere." The Report also states that in India an investigation wascarried out in conjunction with the Director of Airship Development, Group Captain P. F. M. Fellows, D.S.O., intothe question of sites for airship bases, and that at the end of last year Air Ministry representatives made a thoroughexamination of possible airship bases at Karachi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi and Colombo, and that as a consequenceof discussions with the Indian Air Board, the Standing Finance Committee of the Indian Legislative Assembly have recom-mended that approval should be given for the leasing rent-free, to the British Government of a suitable site at Karachi,and for a grant-in-aid approximately equal to the import duties on the materials to be employed in the construction ofthe base. Under the section dealing with the training of ReserveOfficers it is stated that the number of complete courses carried out during the period under review was as follows :—the De Havilland Aircraft Co., 92 ; The Bristol Aeroplane Co., 87 ; William Beardmore & Co., 69 ; Sir W. G. Armstrong,Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd., 55 ; and the North Sea Aerial and General Transport, Ltd., 32 ; giving a total of 335. OnMarch 31, 1925, the number of pilots in Class A and AA of the reserve was, approximately, 510. The seaplane sectionof the school at Brough was opened during March, 1925, and it is hoped that about 25 officers will receive instructionon a modern type of float seaplane at this school during the year. During the year in question the following licences and certi-ficates were granted :—Pilots, 40 ; navigators, 2 ; ground engineers, 90 ; aerodromes, 130 ; heavier-than-air craftcertificates of registration, 80 ; lighter-than-air certificates of registration, 2 ; heavier-than-air certificates of airworthiness,128 ; and lighter than-air certificates of airworthiness, 1. The Report also gives the interesting information that onMarch 31, 1925, the following number of licences or certificates were current :—Pilots, 140 ; navigators, 3 ; ground engineers,294 ; aerodromes, 44; 184 heavier-than-air craft, and 7 lighter- than-air craft were on the Register ; and 186 heavier-than-aircraft, and 1 lighter-than-air craft had their certificates of airworthiness. Reference is made to the experimental and test workcarried out in connection with night flying and it is stated that it is intended to endeavour to produce a scheme involvingthe employment of the leader cable principle in connection with Neon" tubes which, it is hoped, will enable the aircraftto operate from aerodromes during dense ground fog. The direction-finding wireless is stated to have been madefurther use of by pilots and further instances have occurred where by means of courses given by the Croydon station, orpositions given by both Croydon and Pulham, flights have been carried out under conditions which would otherwisehave proved impossible. The establishment of a third direction-finding station at Lympne will greatly increase thescope of this work. Technical Services The section of the Report dealing with Technical Services states that definite minimum requirements as regards take- off and landing of civil aircraft have been formulated and are now operative for land planes, but the corresponding requirements for seaplanes have not yet been determined. A reference to experiments on sleeve valve engines is interesting, and states that this form of construction is likely to prove very satisfactory as regards reliability. A complete ne of 450 h.p. is now almost ready for testing on i, and it has been found that on a single cylinder^^enf h a g y no trouble's are experienced up to a diameter of 8£ ins. Theiiiti t ig heavy Oil has now beenrun a average of 1,350 hours. Twthern Air n trouble• The Report then refers to the work of the_I<orthem to compression-ignition system usin heavLines, the De Havilland Aeroplane Hire Servicethe Savage P^ £ tQ fete aer0 engines, which, it is hoped> wiu Sky-Writing Co and the aerial survey workyarned out: by P ^ Jhc R gtates that m s0 far as theLin,Sky-Writing Co., and the aerial survey of which have done excellent work during the year. Details of Sir Sefton Branckers flight to India and back are given, but as this flight has been fully r^°?f ?emJ^1™*' it should not be necessary to repeat it here. It is;<however of interest to note that, according to the Report, In everycountry visited, views were exchanged with responsible country visiu;u, vie no w^^. ~--~ ° , t • t;»nmnrf authorities as to the future development of air transport be in" the air. The Report states in so s th ... ^.^n system is concerned very little trouble has been experienced, all the difficulties met with so far being of a mechanical nature inside the engine itself, due to the higher maximum pressures developed in this type of engine. A section dealing with new experimental aircraft is of interest but as much of the information given is already con- tained in Sir Sefton Brancker's paper, published elsewhere, there is no need to refer to it here. 655
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