FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0343.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 10, 1931 t)i other hand, the establishment of important connectionsvth foreign air lines brings about a considerable growth in international traffic.^hus, for instance, the Hamburg-Stuttgart line is extended to Ziirich ; the Vienna-Munich line to Geneva ; and theF,sen-Mannheim line to Amsterdam and Basle. Amongst oriiers, the Vienna-Budapest, Munich-Essen, and Mannheim-Munich lines, all of which are much frequented, are put into operation once again. ' Of special interest is the intensification of German andItalian co-operation in air traffic. A short while ago Ger- many, Austria, and Italy entered into certain agreementsdesigned to bring about a considerable extension of the joint collaboration on the routes to Italy- These arrangements\urre due to come into operation on April 1, when the Munich- Milan routes—both the express traffic route and the route viaJnnsbruck, Bozen and Trent were to be reopened and (a new feature) extended, in co-operation with the Italian AvioLinee Co., as far as Rome and Berlin. German aeroplanes thus fly for the first time as far as Rome, whilst, on theGerman side, the Italians will have a half share in the service between Munich and Berlin. The Berlin-Rome line, which will include a stop at Munichduring the spring, but which in the summer will be a non-stop run from Rome to Berlin (taking about 13 hours), shouldvery shortly become of the greatest importance to inter- national traffic ; for it will mean a great cutting down of timein the through traffic, especially in mail traffic. Taking it as a whole, the spring programme, which repre-sents the transition stage between the winter service and the extensive summer schedule, should meet the traffic require-ments of the moment. There still exists, it is true, a certain amount of discontinuity, the limited means at the LuftHansa company's disposal having made it so far impossible to have the importantiJBerlin-Stuttgart-Zurich line, andthe bus r Breslau-Prague-Munich line in operation by April, and these routes will not be able to be worked untilMay. Simultaneously with the alteration in the flying programmethe Deutsche Luft Hansa is introducing further fare-reduc- tions all round. The company is lowering its tariffs in con-formity with the changes in the economic situation, in the hope that it will thereby gain for the aeroplane new circlesof adherents. A few examples will here be cited to illustrate the extent of the price-reductions. From March 1 onwardsthe fare from Berlin to Cologne will be 65 RM. (as against 75 RM. in the spring of 1930), from Berlin to Paris 140 RM.(155 RM.), from Berlin to London 170 RM. (190 RM.), from Halle/Leipzig to Cologne 43 RM. (56 RM.), from Breslauto Cologne 78 RM. (100 RM.), from Frankfurt to Zurich 48 RM. (60 RM.), from Stuttgart to Zurich 25 RM (35 RM.)and from Konigsberg to Berlin 70 RM. (80 RM.). In all cases the fares approach closely the second-class fare on therailway, with the added advantage that the duration of the flight is in many cases considerably less than half that of therailway journey. Another feature being introduced by Luft Hansa consists ofan " air omnibus " service to be started at the beginning of May between Cologne and Frankfurt. The aeroplanes willleave both towns at intervals of an hour, The journey will also last an hour, as compared with the 41 hours requiredby the Rheing.dd express, the fastest train connecting the two towns. The single fare is to be about 23s. In January, 1931, the Deutsche Luft Hansa was able torecord a very gratifying increase in the traffic over that of the previous year. It is to be hoped that the traffic-improve-ments and tariff-reductions introduced on March 1 will convert the incipient improvement into a permanent one. <•> NEWS CROYDON WEEKLY NOTES "N spite of the inclement weather, there has been greatactivity for the whole week. On Monday we had a visit from the Ford Tri-motormonoplane, the machine recently acquired by Prince Bibesco, for use in connection with his work as President ofthe Federation Aeronautica Internationale. Later in the week the same machine left for Paris. On the same day the Clark Cheetah landed. This is thefirst time this aircraft has visited Croydon, and when approaching the aerodrome was taken for a Widgeon. On Wednesday, Capt. C. D. Barnard commenced his tourof the country with his circus, comprised of the famous old Spider, an Autogiro, and a. Spartan three-seater. It lookeda very curious combination taking off. It is understood that our old friend Mr. Eskell has had quite a lot to do with theorganisation. A new type of machine, owned by the K.L.M. Companyof Holland, arrived during the afternoon. I understand it is a type created and built by this company. It is known asthe Jumbo. She is a biplane, fitted with a Bristol Jupiter engine, and reminds one very much of the old VickersVulcan, having a very large oval-shaped fuselage and a stub nose ; she has been built as a freight-carrier, but is by nomeans slow. Her speed compares favourably with the more conventional types. Thursday saw the commencement of the Easter rush, butthe day ended tragically, and cast a. gloom over the whole aerodrome. Mr. E. Smith, well known as a pilot of SurreyFlying Services, was killed instantaneously •when he and his companion, Mr. C. M. Brown, who was the owner of themachine, crashed in the centre of some cross-roads in Wal- lington. The machine was an Avro Avian, G-EBZD, whichoriginally belonged to Airways Publications, Ltd., but was sold to Mr. Brown some time ago. It had not been in theair tor a month or two, and was out on its first flight again whi.-n the crash occurred. " Smithy," as he was popularlykuo.vn, had been flying with Surrey Flying Services for many years, and everyone deplores his tragic end. I doubt" any other pilot has carried more passengers on joy-rides than he. On a normal week-end in summer he would beup and down as fast as he could get his passengers in and out, from about 10 a.m. until dusk. Maj. Cooper, Air MinistryInspector of Accidents, was called to the scene of the crash, and after making a preliminary inspection on the spot, the crashed aircraft was removed to a special hangar, wherehe continued his investigations until nearly 3 a.m. The Easter services have broken all records ; machineshave been leaving practically every hour, full to capacity. Extraordinarily fine shows were put up on Friday. Theweather was about as bad as it could possibly be, but all the usual and extra services were run without a hitch. Itis very creditable to pilots and all concerned that such a fine show should have been made in such adverse conditions.These performances do not get placed before the public, but had things been the reverse there would, more thanlikely, have been an outcry. Why cannot this sort of thing be given publicity as well as the other side ? When the weather improved on Saturday, private ownersturned out in their dozens, and all day long were making treks for the Continent. Sunday and Easter Monday were againbad, and rather marred what should have been great days at Croydon. On a fine Bank Holiday Croydon is a very greatattraction, and the public enclosure is usually a seething mass of picnic-makers. The first Australian air mail left on Saturday amid scenesof great enthusiasm. Mr. Robinson, the pilot, was in a cheery mood. It is rumoured that he took this pioneer tripby sheer influence. There will be two experimental services each way before any definite decision regarding a regularservice is made. What a wonderful flight of Lieut.-Commander Glen Kidston,R.N. He certainly has achieved his object of showing how quickly to get to the Cape, but how much mail could he havecarried to the Cape—especially on that hop from Cairo to Malakal ? However, it was a great flight, and we at Croydonheartily congratulate him ; Civil Aviation needs all the assistance she can get from such men RS Glen Kidston. The Deutsche Luft Hansa Co.'s night air n^ail servicecommenced again on April 2. The Rollason Aviation Co. appear to be making a realbusiness of joy-riding. They have just acquired two new Avro 504's.Henderson Aviation Bureau, Ltd., have been busy with special charter trips to Brussels, Paris, etc. This companyhave just acquired a new Puss Moth. The traffic figures for the week are : passengers, 755 ; freight, 56ltons. # P. B. 319
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
