FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0840.PDF
DECEMBER 24, 1925 SOVIET AIR LINES IN CENTRAL ASIA IN the August issue of the Soviet Press (Russia) some very interesting information is published regarding the aerial activities carried out by Soviet Russia in Central Asia, or Turkestan. Possibly few of our readers are aware of the fact that aviation has during the last year or two, played a small but none the less important part in this somewhat isolated region, with, it would seem, some considerable advantage to the commerce of the districts served. Therefore, we think the following particulars, from the source referred to above will be of more than usual interest. Firstly, an article by A. Onufrieff describes the work carried out by the Dobrolet in Turkestan and the adjacent autono- mous republics. Hitherto all mails, goods, etc., in this part of the world were either carried by camels or horses, or else were water-borne, and in consequence this naturally took a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, valuable goods were exposed to the risk of raids by bandits lying in wait— a by no means uncommon occurrence in Afghanistan. Again, the bed of the Amu Daria river—one of the principal water- ways in the locality with which we are dealing—is constantly shifting, and boats which are in the fairway at night frequently find the river bed has shifted during the night, with the result that they are stranded in the morning with the river probably about a mile away ! With conditions such as these prevailing it will be seen that the air services planned and operated by the Dobrolet are of considerable importance to the whole of Central Asia. Plans for air services were first drawn up in 1923, but no service was operated until 1924, when the following three services were opened:—(1) Tashkent Alma-Ata (813 kms.). (2) Kagan (Bokhara)-Khiva (467 kms.). (3) Kagan-Dush- ambe (730 kms.). The erecting of hangars at Tashkent and Alma-Ata and the establishment of aerodromes at Kagan, Khiva and Dushambe cost 133,050 rbis., while, during 1924, eight Junkers XIII passenger aeroplanes were acquired, at a cost of 342,158 rbls., for operating these three lines. Between May 1 and December 31, 1924, the services were operated as follows :—Scheduled and special flights—187. Passengers conveyed—1,316. (Of these, 809 were paying passengers, 146 were officials, and 361 were conveyed free of charge). Mails and goods carried—5,017-78 kgs. Total number of hours flown—946. Total distance flown— 135,784 kms. The receipts amounted to 211,156 rbls. and the total deficit was 242,000 rbls. This deficit was largely due to the fact that the period 1923-24 was taken up in organising and operating the air services, on a somewhat large scale, for the first time. Also, the Dobrolet made many mistakes, such as, for instance, operating an air line parallel with the railway from Tashkent toTAlma-Ata, which proved a failure, while the services were not operated regularly and the traffic was therefore limited. Later, plans were made for additional services, i.e., Tash- kent-Samarkand and Poltorack-Tashaus, while a scheme was considered for approaching the Kirghiz Republics with a view to establishing air lines between Pishpek-Werny- Lepsinsk-Serigiopol-Semipalatinsk. This service possessed great economic significance not only for the Kirghiz Republics but for all Eastern Territories, uniting Central Asia with Siberia. Elsewhere in the same issue of the Soviet Press some par- ticulars are given of more recent activities. In January, 1925, the air lines were reorganised and the Tashkent-Alma- Ata service was closed down. The lines then consisted of the following:—(1) Pishpek-Alma-Ata (246 kms.); (2) Khiva- Bokhara (Kagan), (460 kms.) ; (3) Bokhara-Dushambe (730 kms.) ; in all, 1,436 kms. No regular service is operated on the Pishpek-Alma-Ata line, but when in operation the route is covered in 1 hr. 45 min., and the passenger fare is 60 rbls. On the Khiva- Bokhara line the service is operated three times a week in both directions, and the distance covered in 3 hrs. 20 min. ; the passenger fare is 135 rbls. This line has now been extended to Tashaus (60 kms. from Khiva), and the passenger fare from Kagan to Tashaus is 155 rbls. On the Bokhara (Kagan)-Dushambe line a service is operated three times a week in both directions. Machines leave Bokhara (Kagan) and Dushambe on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Mondays, and leave Termes for Bokhara on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The passenger fare from Bokhara (Kagan) to Dushambe is 180 rbls., from Kagan to Termes 135 rbls., and from Termes to Dushambe 100 rbls. It is proposed to extend this line from Dushambe to Kuliaba, a distance of 150 kn.s. The figures for these three lines, from January to June, 1925, are as follows : — Mar. April. May. June. Scheduled flights 11 Kms. flown.. 8,104 Number of passengers 27 Goods (Kgs) (T Jan. Feb. 35 36 53 56 74 23,205 29,092 42,276 38,466 51,674 2 348- 89 821-6 175 1447-5 150 1914 6 202117g 982-5 (\*OT£.—This table only includes scheduled nights and paying passengers, and not special nights or joy rides.) In 1926 the Dobrolet proposes to organise additional air lines to Eastern Siberia between the Aldan gold fields and the Amur railway and between Irkutsk and Yakutsk along the river Lena to the Bodaibinsk gold fields. The Dobrolet has already dispatched an expedition to draw up plans for the first line. At present communications between the Amur railway and the Aldan gold fields take 35 days and all freight has to be carried in packs along forest paths, at a cost of about 25 rbls. per 36 lbs. By the air service this distance (600 kms.) could be covered in 5 hours and the cost would be reduced to 25 rbls. sfe Light 'planes for East India : A batch of Pander light monoplanes built for Dutch East Indies. Note the tubular cabane added over the cockpit to protect the pilot's head in a crash. m 840
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
