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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0246.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 13, 1931 unitjof weight presented certain difficulties, but in view of the representations made by the deputation, it might be worth while to see if they could not be overcome by co-operation between the four parties concerned. Lord Herbert Scott again thanked Lord Amulree for re-ceiving the deputation, and said that they were very glad indeed to know that he was so much in sympathy with theviews put forward. THE FRENCH AIR LINE TO SOUTH AMERICA -CCORD1NG to the Paris correspondent of theTimes, the proposals of the French Government for the reorganisation of the Compagnie GeneraleAeropostale, which works the air mail line from France to South America, was rejected by the Air Committeeof the Chamber of Deputies on March 6 by 17 votes to three. The statement issued by the Government began with adeclaration that the Government considered itself bound " to maintain aerial communication with the North AfricanEmpire and the principal States of South America." The first article of the proposed scheme authorised the Govern-ment to make with the Compagnie Generate Aeropostale a contract involving a State subsidy of a maximum of80,000,000 fr. (£640,000) a year until August 1, 1944, at the outside. The second article provided that the Government shouldhold at least 25 per cent, of the share capital of the company, and should guarantee the authorised share issue of thecompany up to £800,000. The third and fourth articles provided for Government representation on the board ofdirectors, and abolished the payments to the Government hitherto made by the company. After hearing the objections of the Committee to thisscheme, M. Dumesnil, Minister for Air, decided to place an alternative scheme before the Committee. In a communique issued on March 6 the Aeropostale Companylays emphasis on the importance and value of its services, which extend over some 35,000 miles of routes, using 200machines, eight steamers, 46 aerodromes, and 70 wireless stations. Its services carried 32,000,000 letters in 1930,were used by 25 nations, and received 98 per cent, of the postal fees for French air mail services. On March 7 the Air Committee of the Chamber heard astatement by M. Dumesnil on the proposed reorganisation of the air line to South America. M. Dumesnil said it wouldbe very difficult to make any arrangement by which the Compagnie Generale Aeropostale would receive merelytemporary assistance, as the opponents of the Government plan desired. Inquiry had shown that the company needed funds forthe repayment of £400,000 advanced by a Brazilian bank. It had also to find £136,000- for interest on its shares and(.48,000 for various payments, and the Bank of France had advanced it £320,000. If the obligations of thecompany in Brazil were not met its creditors in the country would be able to seize its property and equipment there,and the line-would have to stop short at Natal. M. Dumesnil therefore proposed to enter into negotiations with the Brazi-lian creditors, and said.he hoped to be able to present a new plan to the Committee by the end of this month. A Night-Flying ExperimentAN Air Ministry Notice to Airmen states that a three- engined Fokker F.VII aircraft, operated by S.A.B.E.N.A.on the London-Brussels night air service, lias been fitted for experimental purposes with flashing side lights. Accordingly,the red and green lights of this aircraft will each exhibit 60 flashes per minute. The time-table of the service referredto, which does not operate on Saturday and Sunday nights, is as follows :—Brussels, dep., 23.30 ; Croydon, arr., 02.00.Croydon, dep., 02.30 ; Brussels, arr., 05.00. Night Flying on German Air Routes PLANK are in hand by the German Ministry of Trafficfor the ground lighting of further air routes for night flying. The lighting on the Berlin-Halle-Leipzig-Nuremberg route will be continued to Munich, the starting point for theinternational lines to Vienna, Milan, Zurich, Geneva, and Barcelona. The ground lighting on the Berlin-Hanover-Cologne route will be carried on to the German border. Sir Van Ryneveld's New Post COL. SIR A. VAN RYNEVELD, it is reported, has resignedhis position as Director of the South African Air Force to take up work with Imperial Airways.Imperial Airways Dividend IN our list of aircraft companies' stocks and share>,published in FLIGHT for February 27, the last annual dividendof Imperial Airways, Ltd., was given as 1\ per cent. Imperial Airways, Ltd., inform us that this is not correct, and shouldbe 5 per cent. INTERNATIONAL AERONAUTICAL CONFERENCE -R. F. MONTAGUK, M.P., Under-Secretary of Statefor Air, welcomed the members of the Thirty-second International Aeronautical Conference, which ismeeting in London, at a plenary session at the Foreign Office on March 5. Mr. Montague said :—" I am ex-tremely happy to have the honour on behalf of His Majesty's Government of welcoming to London the representatives ofthe air administrations of the States associated attending the Thirty-second International Aeronautical Conference. " You are discussing many important questions of apractical administrative character concerning the operation of air services, ground organisation, and other ancillaryservices. I notice that one of the questions is that of the further extension of the conferences to include other States,and I feel that this is a matter of very great importance in view of the international character of civil aviation. It isbecause the air has no physical boundaries that co-operation between nations of the world is not only important in itself,but is a practical harbinger of understanding and friendship transcending the limitations even of aviation itself. " One of the important works that you have achieved inthe past has been the settlement of the regulations of the conduct of the aeronautical wireless service, and the prin-ciples laid down in these regulations are, I observe, about to be adopted by the International Commission for Air Naviga-tion with a view to more general application. There are also, I notice, included in your agenda for the present meeting,a number of questions which are important from considera- tions of safety, such as the lighting of aircraft, measures tobe taken for the assistance of aircraft forced to alight on the sea, and the night lighting of air routes. Meteorology isalso a subject to be considered in a number of practical directions. " I also note that on this occasion a special committee of Customs experts has assembled for the purpose of con-sidering questions of mutual interest to the customs and air administrations. I am happy to note that their efforts aredirected to devising means of facilitating air traffic and enabling the full benefit to be derived from this new andrapid form of international transport. " I am, personally, very interested in the question of airsafety, as I feel that public confidence and the development of that psychological condition we have come to call ' air-mindedness ' depend so much upon convincing the ' man in the street'—to use an English idiom—that flying is notonly an exhilarating, efficient and time-saving experience, but far from being a dangerous adventure. Britain isanxious to co-operate with the rest of the world in everything that can be done to popularise aviation, and the Governmentfor which I speak is convinced that progress, both material and moral, in goodwill and economic security depends uponwhat the nations of the world can do together. Conferences such as the one which you have come to our capital to attendrepresent—amongst the many post-war developments in the cause of world-wide understanding— something of greatimportance and value. " The last time you met in London your deliberationswere presided over by the late Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker. You are aware of the great interest he took inaeronautical questions from an international point of view and the fine services he rendered to world co-operation inair matters, ahd I am sure that you all, who knew him so well, share with us a sense of irreparable loss. He died inthe service of aviation, and his memory will long be revered by people of all nations who came in contact with him in hiswork and appreciated the magic of his personality. " May I conclude by wishing you every success in yourdeliberations," 230
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