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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0652.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 28, 1929 ALTHOUGH no doubt the'cost of investigating, by theAir Ministry, the air and tide secrets of nature, and recording the results obtained, is a charge against that department in the Air Estimates, the Ministry should be credited with a much wider field of activity on behalf of the good of mankind than solely in the air. One very important direction of this research is in regard to ocean currents, which of course also, in a great measure, affect atmospheric conditions. For years a system has been adopted of consigning bottles containing a Drift-bottle Paper No. 4955 as issued by the Meteorological Office of the Air Mnistry, which when found enjoins the finder to record where it was picked up and to send it to the Air Ministry and thus help to solve the great problem of deep sea currents. By piecing together the records of these floating messages it is hoped by degrees to make navigation an exact science, having regard to the fact that there are close on 500 ships from which these bottles are thrown overboard every day. A magnificent work, for which the Air Ministry gets very little credit. UNDER the new air agreement between France andItaly their relationship in the Mediterranean should be less strained in the future, having regard to the provision for allowing Italy to construct commercial air stations at Marignane (near Marseilles) and Tunis. This will enable her to complete her air lines in the Western Mediterranean between Trieste, Barcelona, and Tunis. Per contra, France is allowed to send commercial aircraft over Italian territory, and to establish stations at Naples and at Castellorigo in the Adriatic, which will enable her to organise the air line from Marseilles to Beirut. FE welcome Mr. W. V. G. Christensen as a co-optimist with ourselves in regard to the future of cross-Channel traffic, when he wrrites doubting whether the Channel tunnel will ever materialise, adding that by the delay in commencing it, it will be probably found that the present-day development of the air ports and air liners, the Conti- nental passenger crossing will pass into the hands of the aero companies, who will be running hourly services at cheap fares of up-to-date all-weather air liners quicker and more direct than any steamer, Channel tunnel, or train ferry. TO doubt there is a good deal in the above, but at the same time it cannot be lost sight of that fog is not a particularly good asset, even to flying, and, for a time at least, even we are unable to visualise an air service that would be capable of handling daily many thousands of tons of cargo and heavy packages that without question would seek to be conveved via a railway tunnel. T7OLLOWING the Wandsworth Borough Council's -IT protest against the establishment of aerodromes in their district, they have now passed a definite resolution against this procedure. Just wondering how they can carry out their edict, and, assuming they can do so, it wouldjseem as if it were about time there should be a" court of appeal " against such decisions based upon purely local interests versus communal rights, in similar manner to appeals for the granting of licences for public vehicles in provincial urban centres where local interests have refused to admit fair competition into their district. "^TENTURERS in the Arctic regions have indeed to be V prepared against many emergencies, and the latest report from Commander Byrd's Antarctic expedition details just one weird experience, fortunately, in this case, with not unduly serious consequences. Owing to the strand- ing of the members of the Advance Party by reason of the wrecking of Mr. Balchen's aeroplane due to a terrific gale which prevented the sending of wireless messages, Commander Byrd had himself to take up the search for them on another aeroplane, fortunately, after an hour and a half on the rescue trip, with the happiest results, and the return of himself, his crew and of two of the advance party to safety, although not actually reaching their " base " of " Little America." The trouble to Mr. Balchen's machine apparently was caused by a 120 to 150 miles an hour gale which is reported by the New York Times to have torn the plane from the snow and the lines by which it was anchored, dropping it a splintered wreck on a glacier a mile away. The men worked in the dark for hours, battling with the gale. At times it momentarily blew them straight out from the lines they were holding and pelted them with lumps of snow from a mountain two miles away. When resting, Mr. Gould and his companions had to lie flat and hold themselves in place by means of knives and ski-sticks stuck in the ice. Only a sloping wall of snow- blocks prevented their tent from being blown away. After this even our dear old English climate can take a back seat. i EGARDING Antarctic research, Sir Hubert Wilkins has again strongly emphasised the great value of aviation in regard to the relationship between Com- merce and Polar flying, he being particularly pleased with the fact that both in the North and South it had been possibk- to use ordinary commercial aeroplanes. In one of his short flights to the South, he said, when speaking at the British Chamber of Commerce in New York the other day, he dis- covered more than a thousand miles of new territory, more than twenty islands, several hundred mountain peaks, two water channels and a new part of the Autarctic continent. I wonder how long prior to the use of aircraft such a record would have taken ? S was hoped, the Empire Air Mail service will start this week-end, the original route being followed, thanks to Italy's good offices. So all's well that ends well, and now Air Mail philatelists will, if they are lucky, be able to despatch their 10,000 more or less " covers " for the acquiring ultimately by amateur collectors. ^ AEOLUS ['• FLIGHT " Photograph PROGRESS IN TRAVEL -.—Here we get symbols of the rapid developments in mobility ; from an old-fashioned bicycle to a modern Riley-Nine Monaco Saloon car, and so to the new luxurious Coupe Gipsy-Moth of Mr. Jackaman's, who is seen with Miss Jackaman, his sister. " " 262
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