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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0130.PDF
as cheap as could be wished, the reductions are dis- tinctly encouraging. Another direct advantage of the light aeroplane club movement is that it serves to introduce flying to persons with the necessary money to enable them to acquire machines for their own private use. We have no actual figures available relating to the number of private owners who have purchased machines during the last year or two, who have been influenced in their decision to do so by their connection with one or other of the light 'plane clubs, but they form, we imagine, a very large percentage. Thus these clubs, both directly as clubs, and by their influence on potential private purchasers of light 'planes, are doing extremely valuable propaganda work, not to mention the number of pilots who have already received their tuition in flying at the clubs. In short, it would be difficult to overestimate the value of the light aeroplane clubs in " making the nation air- minded." It is therefore with whole-hearted satisfaction that we record in this week's issue of FLIGHT the formation, at Norwich, of yet another light aeroplane club, following a very successful rally last week at the Mousehold aerodrome of Boulton and Paul's. From the fact that the movement was from the first in the hands of the Lord Mayor of Norwich it was to be expected that the citizens of that ancient town would take an immediate interest in the proposal to form a club, and the response does not appear to have failed to justify that expectation. Offers to finance the purchase of machines were made at once, and members enrolled to the tune of something like 100. Not at all a bad beginning, Norwich. We feel sure all having the movement at heart will join us in wishing the new Norfolk and Norwich Light Aeroplane Club .every success. Moreover, we hope the excellent example thus set by the capital of East Anglia will shortly be followed by many other towns throughout the Kingdom. MARCH 3, 192 machines, these could be used by officers in the R.A.p. for a variety of purposes, and the money which ht machines represented would be more than compen- sated for. In all probability the Air Ministry would be per- fectly willing to do something of the sort, but prob- ably, as usual, the Treasury is the stumbling-blo k. In convincing the Treasury the daily press could help a good deal, and we would suggest to Mr. Cole- brook, whose lecture at the last house dinner of the Royal Aero Club contained several valuable pro- posals for helping forward the private flying move- ment, that here is a sphere where the press might well get a lead and thereby do a great deal of good. Among the suggestions made by Mr. Colebrook was that of doubling, by the State, the equipment of such light 'plane clubs as had reached a certain standard of efficiency, a suggestion with which we entirely agree. But as in the case of our own pro- posal, it is probably mainly a matter of convincing the Treasury. Mr. Colebrook also asked the Air Ministry to throw open all Government-owned and controlled aerodromes to private aircraft free of charge, and suggested that storage facilities be granted at car rates. There might be certain difficul- ties in thus admitting civilians to some of our service aerodromes, but in very many cases there could be no reasonable objection to doing so, while in the few stations really of a secret nature, the use of such aerodromes could be confined to officers serving in the R.A.F., who have their own machines. There are many other ways in which the Air Ministry could help, the most obvious being, of course, the abolition of the somewhat silly restrictions which at present apply to private aeroplanes. And that particular form of aid would have the advantage of costing nothing, so that even the Treasury might be counted upon to raise no objections ! One cannot help thinking that the Psychological Present time iy most propitious for the Moment inauguration of a real campaign in favour of private flying, as distinct from flying over organised air routes, which is a different problem altogether. The general public is willing to take an interest in flying if flying is presented to it in the right way. One right way is by making flying less costly, and a good beginning has been made by the light aeroplane club scheme. But this is not, in itself, sufficient if really rapid progress is to be made, and we personally believe that there is no time to be lost. Another way of making flying cheaper was first sug- gested in these columns several months ago, when we proposed that the Air Ministry should make itself a sort of clearing-house or agency for light 'planes by ordering machines in such numbers as would enable them to be produced much more cheaply than they are at present, and selling the machines to clubs and private purchasers at cost price. By this means there is little doubt that the present price of light aeroplanes could be reduced by one-quarter or one-third, nor is there any doubt that if the price were to come down to something like £500, the Air Ministry would be able to sell the machines comparatively quickly. As we pointed out in our original comments on the subject, even if the Ministry should be left with a few dozen 1 The Seaplane again Two more have recently been added to the already long list of successes of the seaplane. The two flights were of a totally dissimilar character, but both ol great merit, and thus serve to illustrate the wide range of possibilities that the seaplane type of machine offers. The flight of the Marquis of Pinedo across the South Atlantic once more demonstrated that the seaplane is capable of long " jumps " across the open sea, while the flight from Zurich to Cape Town by the Swiss pilot Mittelholzer, undertaken not as a sporting event, nor to cover the distance in the shortest possible time, but for exploration and scientific purposes, has provided an instance of the seaplane being used over enormous inland areas by making use of lakes and rivers. The consistent attitude of FLIGHT towards the sea- plane is already well known, and we are very f^r from sharing the views expressed recently by Major Mayo that the entirely-reliable aeroplane will rend r the seaplane superfluous. Rather do we agree wi' li Mr. Nicholson, when he said that the commerci J machine of the future will be a seaplane. Of one thr g we are very certain : we would much rather go acres considerable areas of land in a flying-boat than ^ e would go over the same area of sea in a landplar.•••. Pinedo and Mittelholzer are spreading the gospel <f the seaplane. All honour to them. 10
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