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Aviation History
1930
UNTITLED0 - 0015.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 3, 1930 Birthday Messages—continued ... ..,,-. .^Mj'^Vi From ANTONIN SRBA, fonner Czechoslovak Minister for Public Works and Aviation, Hon. President of the Association of Czechoslovak Pilots. " During the last twenty years much has been done for the conquest of the air and still more yet awaits us. Every bird, every flying insect shows us now far Nature still is in advance of us as regards safety and economy of flight. But the development of aviation is proceeding so rapidly that in the course of a single generation it has made as much progress as was achieved by the whole of antiquity and the Middle Ages in the mastery of the sea. Thousands of brains and hundreds of thousands of hands have once and for all established a definite technical basis for aviation. This is the joint labour of all civilized nations of the world on behalf of the com- mon culture, economic prosperity and political intercourse of mankind. " To us in the Czechoslovak Republic, however, the discovery of flying means much more than ' ' to the maritime nations, such as the English, French, etc. The latter by the mastery of the air merely acquire another sea in addition to the one the waves of which wash the shores of their countries. Since time immemorial they have possessed their ' high road of the nations,' linking them with all parts of the world, but we, an inland nation, who, from the earliest times, have been settled in the midst of the mountain strongholds of our Central European home, surrounded by nations of a different race and language, have always deplored our remoteness from the sea. The discovery of aviation has liberated us from this. We, too, now feel that we are on the shores of a world-wide ocean. And we also are acquiring an immediate and —- easily practicable connection with all the rest of the world. We are aware how significant this circumstance is and that is why we are making such efforts ..:•., to keep abreast of other nations in the manufacture of aeroplanes and aeroplane engines, etc., the organisation of our own transport routes and in the training of pilots. That, too, is why we • are such attentive pupils of English aviation, with its wealth of experience and ample resources. FLIGHT can justly be proud of English aviation, while English aviation can entertain the same feelings towards its distinguished mouth-piece and pioneer, the weekly journal FLIGHT, with the celebration of whose twenty-first anniversary Czechoslovak aviation respectfully associates itself." From CAPTAIN A. GRAND JEAN, Royal Danish Navy, Chief of Danish Naval Air Service. ^U6 " To us the progress and development of aviation during the past two decades seem marvellous, but I feel convinced that to future historical eyes it shall rather look like stumbling steps towards the final utilization of the element which surrounds all the globe and through which the activities of mankind in the universe must be advanced. " The flight of imagination finds its best sustention in the atmosphere." From COLONEL V. A. VUORI, Chief of the Finnish Air Force. " The history of civilization is the history of communications. Each period of development requires the improvement of the means of transport. Ship, railway and automobile have developed and been taken into use. We now live in a new mighty stage of development, viz., that of aviation. " I have the great honour to give my opinion on aviation in the 21st birthday issue of FLIGHT. The progress of this excellent periodical illustrates, moreover, in a wonderful way the develop- ment of aviation in general. The first tottering steps, the furious compulsory development during the Great War, the easily understandable reaction following the same, and now a powerful continuous period of rising, the milestones of which can be sketched but hardly determined. " I am glad to ascertain that the energetic work which is nowadays carried on by all civilized nations for conquering the air is fertile. All the most important centres of Europe and the United States are in regular connection with each other by air—to our regret not yet by night traffic. The long intercontinental lines which it seemed not long ago to be impossible to realize are now working successfully. A new record which appears to-day unobtainable is to-morrow antiquated, beaten. The best example is the hasty rise in the speed of the aeroplane. The speetl obtained by the British Schneider Cup Team this autumn would, four or five years ago still have been looked upon as fantastic. The technical progress in all branches of aviation and every improvement is a step forward towards safety, regularity and profitableness. If the peaceful development is allowed to continue, there is every reason to presume that the Air Transport will, in the near future, ' fly by itself.' " It must, however, be admitted that this new means of locomotion and communication has not yet obtained the support which its great advantages presuppose. But new and ever new palpable proofs of regularity and safety will increase the demand. The interest and support of the public are, however, the fundamental presumptions for the development of civil aviation. They are maintained and developed just by such measures as the flight round England by Sir Alan Cobham and by the encouragement of sport flying. The youth, what an excellent soil ! it is. on them that the future depends. "• All nations—great and small—ought to be anxious to utilize the advantages offered by this wonderful field of activity to enhance the feeling of solidarity between the nations. The purely national endeavours form, unfortunately, still a considerable hindrance to the develop- ment of the spiritual and economic powers of humanity in this sense. " The chief objects of aviation are : political approach between nations, development of commerce and progress of science." U. 15
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