FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0435.PDF
FLIGHT, MAY 8, 1931 May 1 saw the start in earnest of the full;s. From morning until late night is one ( h.ictlp • everv hour sees several machines in andTand even the night itself, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., «,' at leal" three machines in and out. There are atPresent about 36 services daily to and from Croydon, in Edition to private owners, joyriders, pupils, etc., and youvill get some idea of what it is like. ' On Monday a Fokker F9 arrived from Holland with aull load consisting of agents of Royal Dutch Air Lines, ivho had been to Holland as guests of the company. Thereis something very splendid looking about these machines, that seems to inspire confidence into the passengers. Wednesday saw the return of H.R.H. the Prince ofWales, and, although he did not actually land at Croydon, but proceeded to Windsor, it meant a great deal of workfor the Croydon authorities, who had to give special atten- tion to the progress of H.R.H.'s machine, and also give theusual attention to the normal traffic. Many were dis- appointed that Croydon was not chosen as the landingplace, and, although the Press had announced that Windsor was the chosen spot, numbers of people came to Croydonhoping that the machine would land there. One does not envy the Traffic Officer his job on these occasions. Theweather on Wednesday wras none too good, and he must have heaved a sigh of relief when he knew the machinehad landed at Windsor, and he was able to breathe a little more freely. A rather amusing incident occurred when it was decidedto obtain a weather report of the vicinity of Smith's Lawn. A telephone call was made to a certain household forinformation as to visibility. Unfortunately, the owner, who is well known in the aviation world, was absent. How-ever, the following conversation took place between Croy- don and the butler: — Croydon: " What is the visibility—how far can you see? '•'Butler: " Oh ! about four fields. Croydon : '' How far would you estimate the distance ? Butler: "Oh! about five minutes' walk!! "Another Lockheed Vega has arrived, and belongs to an American lady named Miss Durrant. This machine is stillat Croydon. A Bellanca monoplane registered in Italy also arrived during the week, and proceeded to BrooklandS.This is the same type as " Miss Columbia," that flew the Atlantic, and is to be used by Major Sydney Cotton on hisArctic rescue flight. Personal Flying Services have been very busy withspecial charters, and on Friday they had a very delicate job to carry out. A young business man had been givenonly a few days to live if he remained in England, and it was necessary to get him to Switzerland in haste in anendeavour to save his life. Personal Flying Services had their Junkers standing by ; the invalid was rushed dow-nfrom town, and the machine was away immediately. A nurse accompanied the patient. Mr. Styran was the pilot, The opening of the Cannes Aerodrome. In the foreground are M. Lemoigne (in flying kit) and M. Tarascon, one of the creators of the Aerodrome. During the afternoon M. Lemoigne gave a fine aerobatic display on the aircraft in front of which they are standing. and he was instructed that he must not go above 2,000feet during the trip, as it would prove fatal to the patient, who was suffering from lung trouble. Bellinzona was thedestination, and to go direct meant flying over the Alps. This was out of the question, so he had to go round themvia Lyon and Marseilles. He reached Bellinzona at 6 p.m. The " Sikorsky," belonging to this company, has beensold, and I understand it is being equipped at Brooklands for a flight to the Arctic regions. On Friday, the Marquis of Donegal travelled to Antwerpby Sabena line. Many will know him well by some of his brilliant newspaper articles. The long-awaited 40-seaterhas been expected every day for the past week, but so far has not appeared. One begins to wonder whether thesemachines really exist, or whether they are mythical. Several of Imperial Airways' pilots, however, have visitedRadlett this week to test them, so perhaps we really shall see one soon. The company badly need them, particularlyafter the unfortunate loss Of G.A.A.C.H. I omitted to mention early on in these notes, whenreferring to the week ending April 25, that a large gather- ing was held on the Saturday by the " Riley Motor Club."Hundreds of members had booked joyrides with Hender- son Aviation Bureau, but the weather was vile ; gales andrain stopped all pleasure flying, which meant a great loss of business to those concerned, and the members themselveswere walking about looking thoroughly dejected and miser- able. Can anyone imagine a worse place than an aerodromeon a cold, wet day? It is certainly no cure for the blues. The traffic figures for the past week were: —Passengers,929 ; freight, 62 tons. P. B. HESTON BOUT 12 machines are expected to take part inthe second Heston annual Spring Cruise, which is to start on Saturday, May 23, led by Mr. NigelNorman. After lunching at Douai, they will arrive at Rheims onthe first afternoon, where a visit has been arranged to the famous Heidsieck champagne cellars. On the followingday, they will lunch at Beaune, and dine at Lyons. The third and fourth evenings will be spent at Nimes, whencevt is hoped to arrange expeditions to Avignon, Hyeres, etc. The following evening, they will reach the beautiful oldtown of Carcassonne, and on the sixth day, after lunching at Biarritz, they will arrive at Bordeaux. Passing throughPoitiers, they will then make for Tours, when a personally- conducted aerial tour of the chateaux will be made. Onthe following day, the party will visit the Chateaux t.henonceaux and Ambroise by car, and, after lunching at Vouvray, will return to Tours, and fly to Orly. Thenext day, they will return to Heston by way of Le Touquet. The Selfridge Aviation Department have now taken ashow room at Heston. The Department is run by Mr. Christopher Clarkson. A party of 10 aeroplanes, piloted by members of theDusseldorf Light Aeroplane Club, will arrive at Heston Air Park next Saturday afternoon, May 9, and will leave againon Sunday. While in England they will be the guests of the Royal Aero Club and of the Heston Air Park authorities. Customs clearances outward from Heston on Saturday,May 2, were as follow:—(1) Brussels, Mr. Leslie Runci- man ; (2) Brussels, Mr. Brie, Autogiro ; (3) Italy, Mr.Robin Cazalet, M.P. ; (4) Berlin, Mr. Horace Noble ; (5) Amsterdam, Mr. Richard Ince (Secretary, Stock ExchangeFlying Club). School flying hours, 15 hrs. 30 mins. First soloists, Sir John Dashwood, Bart., and Mrs. Fairlie. tireless Masts and Aircraft of their immense height, the Slaithwaite masts are un- APART from the masts at the Tatsfield receiving station, illuminated, apparently because no aeroplane has ever been=e only other B.B.C. masts which carry beacon lights are ™»" ««»o»- +v. o r.u™ "R.I+ nn« ^;,,i,*- ;+ „„„„,. „„—:io« J.I—^*iose at Daventry and Brookmans Park" (writes the Broad- ~ a sting Correspondent in The Wireless WorlA). In spite seen near the place. But one night it seems possible that a 'plane will wander over those moors, and people in Wigan will grumble because the vaudeville is interrupted. 403
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
