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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1121.PDF
FLIGHT, OCTOBER 16, 1931 CWifwvt Hew* CROYDON ANOTHER week of summerlike weather has keptthings humming, and passenger traffic is keepingat a high standard for the time of year. A loadof 30 or so passengers on Imperial Airways' mid- day service is quite a daily occurrence, and all other com-panies are getting their share. On Monday, Sir Alfred Yarrow, the shipping magnate, chartered a special air-craft from Imperial Airways for a trip to Rotterdam. He is 90 years of age, and looks good enough for many moreyears yet. Before the departure he was commandeered by the talkie fiends and persuaded to say a few words for thepublic benefit. Mr. Olley was his pilot, as is usual for all special charter work. On the same day K.L.M. sent aspecial machine from Rotterdam to Southampton to pick up a load of gold from America. Holland must be stockedfull of this precious metal judging by the tons that have gone there by air alone recentfy. On Tuesday a Fokker F.7B. arrived from Zlin, inCzecho-Slovakia, with a party of seven or eight on board. This machine is the property of Mr. I. A. Bata, reputedto be the greatest boot and shoe manufacturer in the world. They came to visit the Boot and Shoe Fair inLondon. On Wednesday they wanted to proceed to Man- chester in the Fokker, but the pilot stated that the AirMinistry authorities had refused him permission to pro- ceed there owing to their airworthiness certificate beingout of date. They returned to Zlin on Saturday, accom- panied by a " Moth " piloted by Mr. Pike, of de Havil-land's. Mr. Bata anticipated the purchase of this machine. Night Flying at HestonTHE night flying display which was to have taken place at Heston last Saturday and Sunday was, unfortun-ately, cancelled on account of the fog. Weather permitting, however, there, will be flying next Saturday and Sunday, The whole week has been remarkable for the variouswell-known people who have travelled, included among them being Lord Amulree and Sir Malcolm Campbell.Mrs. Cleaver came over in her new " Puss Moth " on Friday, which is complete with spats. Aviation Tours,Ltd., have been doing brisk business here over the week- end with the old W.8B. G-EBBI, which, as is well known,this firm chartered some months ago from Imperial Air- ways, and have since been visiting various places all overthe country, doing great business. Their appearance at Croydon caused much indignation amongst the residentjoyriding concerns, and daggers were drawn throughout the week-end, each firm trying to outdo the other.Aviation Tours were charging 5s. per flight, like all others, but they were giving rides about double the duration theothers were giving. This proved an attraction, naturally, as human nature always likes a lot for its money. Several " A " pilots have again flown for their " B "ticket, including Roger Frogley, the famous speedway rider. The coming week sees the end of the Luft Hansanight service for the season, and Croydon will become quite a sedate place at night. This will no doubt pleasemany of the residents, who always like to find something to complain about. The only noise they will now be ableto complain of will be the cats courting on the tiles, so we shall be free from blame for a bit. The traffic figures for the week were:—Passengers,1,124 ; freight, 98 tons. P. B. October 17 and 18. On the Sunday evening at about8.30 p.m. Capt. Stewart will make a parachute descent. Both he and his parachute will be electrically illuminated,so that the event should be of a particularly spectacular nature. A SMAof tlgreel CHANGES AT THE FORUM CLUBSMALL dinner was held by the Aviation Group the Forum Club on Tuesday, October 13, tot their new Chairman, Mrs. Shelmerdine, thewife of Col. F. C. Shelmerdine, the Director of Civil Aviation. Owing to the regrettable illness of herfather, Mrs. Shelmerdine was unable to be present in person, and was represented by Col. Shelmerdine himself. MRS. CHALMERS was in the chair, and in a short humorousspeech introduced Col. Shelmerdine, and expressed the regrets of everyone present at the circumstances whichprevented Mrs. Shelmerdine being with them. She drew attention to the fact that the Hon. Mrs. Forbes Sempill,the previous Chairman, had had to resign owing to the loss of her voice, and then went on to describe thefortunate circumstances which led to the Group getting Mrs. Shelmerdine to replace her. Miss ALICE WILLIAMS, the Chairman of the ExecutiveCommittee of the Forum Club, then read the speech which Mrs. Shehnerdine was to have made. In this speech Mrs.Shelmerdine hinted at plans which she was hoping to bring to fruition to further the cause of women inaviation, a matter which she said she was taking very seriously indeed. COL. SHELMERDINE next made an extremely well chosenand interesting speech. He pointed out that the aviation circle was at present not very large ; in fact, he said, onesaw the same people day in and day out. It was here, "<* felt, that a Group such as that of the Forum Clubwould help matters considerably by enlarging this circle International Air RulesA MEETING is being held at the chateau of PrinceValentine Bibesco, President of the F.A.I., near Bucharest, Wlt!" the object of simplifying the formalities necessary whui an airman flies from one country to another. The president proposes to discuss a reduction in landing fees, and by suggesting improvements. He said that aviationwas bound to suffer under the present crisis, but there were still many ways in which people could help without in-curring great expense. Two ways which immediately sprung to his mind, he said, were the encouragement ofmore towns establishing landing grounds and also the more wide-spread marking of towns so that their namescould be read from the air. Col. Shelmerdine then went on with a brief summary of the Empire Air Routes as theyare to-day, and sketched the existing position of those to Africa and India. He showed his vast knowledge andcomplete grasp of the subject, and finished up by hoping that next year would see a 12-day service to the Cape anda 13-day service from the Cape to India. He intimated that the Air Ministry already had their eyes on a twin-engined aircraft with a cruising speed of 140 m.p.h., which would be particularly suitable for the journey to Australia,but which there was difficulty at present in getting the Government to pay for it. The party then adjourned, and a little later listened to ashort lecture from the Hon. Mrs. Victor Bruce, who is Vice-Chairman of the Group. Mrs. Bruce regretted thatshe was unable to attend the dinner, as she had been lecturing at Folkestone and had only just arrived back.She described her experiences in Angora during her world flight and the methods by which she succeeded in obtain-ing permission to fly over Turkey where other pilots have failed ; these are best summed up by saying that no mereman could have done it! <$> <?- with special rates for tourist aeroplanes, the creation of anaerial passport in place of the present documents, suppres- sion of annual medical examinations of pilots of touristmachines, the reduction of the number of forbidden zones, and some other points. At the conference are—Lord Amul-ree, General Balbo, M. Dumesnil and Herr von Hoppner. 1051
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