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Aviation History
1930
UNTITLED0 - 0080.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 3, 1930 countries with each other internally in their own countriesand internationally with the contiguous lines of neighbouring countries. Some of these lines deserve particular mention.For example, the Scandinavian Air Express transports the traveller from London or Paris to Stockholm in 24 hours,and to the capital of Finland in'30 hours. This is a Dutch, Swedish, Finnish combination, the necessity for the combina-tion well-illustrating one of the difficulties under which com- mercial air transport has grown up in Europe, particularlyin the atmosphere of post-war feelings which have not always made for the easy adjustment of difficulties between air opera-ting companies. Another important cross-line in European air transport is the Dutch-Czechoslovak route from Londonto Prague. The Italian and Austrian air lines which speed up communications between Rome, Venice, Vienna, andBerlin are of great value in middle Europe; while the Italian line from Brindisi to Constantinople via Athens is alsoimportant. The operation of Italian air lines in Albania is politically interesting as is the dearth of air communicationsbetween Italy and France, there being only the connections between Genoa and Marseilles, Milan and Monaco.Before leaving this brief study of European air transport, it is necessary to make some reference to the variation inroutes between summer and winter. Owing to the very- bad conditions which exist in parts of Europe during theextreme winter months some of the air routes shut down completely, while others fty reduced services. For example,the Deutsch Luft Hansa reduced their services from 67 routes to 14 routes on November 1, 1929, the winter service continu-ing to operate until February 28, 1930. During this period of reduced flying activity, the companies take the opportunityto overhaul the aeroplanes which are put out of commission. It is a normal condition of the operation of all forms of trans-port, ground, sea and air, that bad weather can interfere with regularity of running. Shipping may be frozen-in,railways may be snowed-up ; and aircraft may be weather-bound. Further extensions of ground organisation and of meteorological services will ameliorate but will not eliminatethese conditions for aircraft. As communications become faster, the effect of the slowing down of winter conditionswill become more apparent and trade and living generally will tend to become ever more seasonal. It is all a question ofdegree. In Canada, for instance, the settling down of real winter spells a diminution of activities to the point almostof cessation. One can imagine a constantly progressing world some day transporting the drones of industry en masse tomore southerly latitudes during the winter months to enable production to be maintained at a rate which the needs ofhumanity dictate. But this, I am afraid, is a step beyond our present stage of capitalised industrialism. It is not,however, beyond the present possibilities of the operation of modern aircraft that in the weatherbound days of the morenortherly latitudes their routes might be diverted to other and more southerly latitudes or even to the southern hemis-phere where their work could be maintained to serve the needs of other countries. American Air Transport The geographical layout of the United States of Americadetermined the type of service which aircraft could render to the country. The industrial middle east around Chicago hadto be connected to the financial centre of New York. Every minute saved on this run saved the interest on bills, cheques,and money in transit, which, during the time it was passing from one city to the other was earning nothing. The speedingup of letter communication was also important between these two great centres. Now if Birmingham stood on the Pent-land Firth, its distance from London would then be roughly equivalent to the distance between Chicago and New York ;the need for air communication between Birmingham and London would have brought an air mail service betweenthe two cities into being soon after the war ; that was the deciding factor in the commencement of the air mail servicewhich was commenced by the United States post office in 1920. By 1926 this service ran across the breadth of thecontinent from New York to San Francisco, a distance of some 2,665 miles, and was lighted for the first 2,000 milesout from New York. The day and night service which first commenced in 1924, with the establishment of lighted route sections, reduced the time for the whole distance to36 hours, against the four days required by rail transport. In 1926 there was a single daily service each way and a dayand night service between Chicago and New York. The post office has ceased to be the active operator of the air mailaeroplanes in the United States and their actual operation is now carried out by contractors. The New York-San Franciscoair line is the backbone of the air routes of the United States, and most of her other routes run north and south, and feedinto the main route. Perhaps the most important of the transverse routes are those which fly parallel to the easternand western seaboards. There is a transverse air route farther inland running from Chicago to Florida, there areair connections to Mexico City, and air routes in operation between the United States and Porto Rico, and to South andCentral America via Cuba, as well as lines running northward to the frontier of Canada.Her great distances, the continuity of land north into Canada and south into Mexico and South America offer the possi-bilities of air transport development which are not yet quite at the degree of route and operational stability whichhas been achieved in Europe. Next summer's operations in the United States, however, should see the commencementof the stable solution of the problem of air transport by the determination of more regular schedules over establishedand profitable routes. Europe announced her policy regard- ing public air transport by the signing of the InternationalConvention on October 13, 1919, while the International Commission for Air Navigation was set up under the termsof the Convention on July 11, 1922. In the United States, the Air Commerce Act did not become operative until Decem-ber 31, 1926. Prior to that date, public air transport as it had alread ? come to be known in Europe, did not exist.This difference in date in the setting up of the legal machinery of air traffic regulations gave an opportunity to stabilise thepublic air transport of Europe while the United States had yet to make a declaration of definite policy affecting thecountry as a whole. The rapid strides which have been made in the last three years are due to her unity of language,commercial prosperity and geographic vastness. Other Air Activities In South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, air routes arein operation. In the Belgian Congo, in French equatorial Africa, in the Dutch East Indies air routes fly with regularity.On the continent of South America, over the steppes of Russia, the aeroplanes of commerce cleave a passage through theair. At the end of the first decade of air transportation wehave learned many lessons. We have' found that it was necessary to break away from the traditions of war aircraftfor the purposes of commerce. We have seen that the satis- factory operation of air routes was built upon preparedorganisation. There have been evolved landing grounds, beacons to guide 'planes in darkness and in fog, automatically-oparated wireless position signal apparatus, special aerodrome night lighting equipment, directional wireless to bring thepilot flying above clouds to his destination ; rules and regula- tions have been framed from which a working code has beenproduced ; aeroplanes have steadily been improved, the public has become accustomed to the mere act of flying and it isnow no longer a novelty ; instruments have been devised to assist the pilot, more are being experimented with—turnindicators, horizon indicators, more sensitive altimeters recording to 5-ft. intervals, leader cables are being developed,the gyroscopic automatic control is an accepted accessory of flight ; meteorological co-operation with aircraft has reacheda standard of the highest utility on air transport routes ; landing gear has been improved, safety in regard to stallinghas been effectively dealt with, the number of passengers carried per aeroplane has been greatly increased as has theircomfort; regularity of flight is now very high ; the desir- ability of separating air mail transportation from passengerair transport has been recognised in many quarters ; the strongly marked difference between military and civil aviationhas been made apparent. This is a record of ten years. It is a very wonderful record. If the next decade showsadvances comparable with those we have witnessed in the past ten the dawn of the real air age is here. 80
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