FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1931
1931 - 1329.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 18, 1931 The Westland "Wessex" Limousine used by Mr. Harold Peake for canal survey work in the East Midlands. outstanding, and that is that one is able to reduce theoverall time of the survey to the lowest possible, while being able to concentrate attention on particular pointswithout undue haste ; for, paradoxical though it may seem, although the speed of the machine may be as high as118 miles an hour, as it was in this case, the actual rate of passing over a particular point seems to be slow,because one has such a wide range from which observation can be taken, and it is only after covering definite distancesthat one realises the amount of ground covered in a very short time. Anyone with flying experience will need no descriptionof the ease with which canals, rivers, etc., could be picked out and followed up, while even those who have neverflown, but who have seen wartime photographs of trench systems, etc., can imagine for themselves the unique advan-tages of a bird's-eye view. For instance, when passing over Trent Falls, the new training walls, which are beingbuilt in the River to improve the channel for navigation at the junction of the Trent and Ouse, showed up clearly, so that one could not help admiring the lines on whichthey had been laid out. While, in the Humber, not only the various channels and sandbanks were clearly defined,but the silt in suspension, moving with the current in some places and nearly stationary in others, could be seenquite plainly. In no other way but from the air could these observa-tions possibly be made. It is surprising that more use has not already been made in this country of air surveywork. One cannot help thinking that it would be well worth while for engineers and others engaged in planninglarge schemes of construction work to charter an aero- plane for a general survey of the ground beforehand ;while during construction an occasional flight would follow up the progress of the work from time to time. Having seen the advantages of this in connection withwaterways, one can readily imagine the great use for large schemes of road construction, and particularly for newmain arterial roads. In the selection of factory building sites, also, the time might be well spent. A British Aircraft RegisterTHE British Corporation Register of Shipping and Air- craft are shortly issuing a register of British aircraft incard-index form. The first issue will contain more than 1,070 aircraft, and these indexes are being issued at aprice of £2 2s. each. The purchaser will, without further payment, receive fortnightly amendments issued in theform of cards, which can easily be inserted in their proper places. Classification will be according to the identificationletters on the machines, but it will be an easy matter for purchasers to rearrange this according to their own require-ments. The information on the cards will be considerable, and will include not only the owners' name, but the type,engine and home station of the aircraft, as well as full information about its certificate of airworthiness, the date thereon and when it was last surveyed, etc. The BritishCorporation Register also undertakes quarterly inspection of aircraft and has reciprocal arrangements with foreignauthorities which ensure that the aircraft owner when travelling abroad can obtain competent technical assistancein case of need. The foreign organisation with whom such arrangements have been made are : —The American Bureauof Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, Imperial Japanese Marine Corporation, Det Norske Veritas andRegistro Italiano. London Chamber of Commerce (Aviation Section) Chairman AT the annual meeting of the Civil Aviation Sectionof the London Chamber of Commerce on December 9, Capt. P. D. Acland was appointed Chairman of the Sectionto succeed Col. the Master of Sempill on completion of his year of office in that capacity. Mr. Alan S. Butler andSir Robert McLean were re-elected Deputy Chairmen. Transport in Miniature AT the forthcoming Models Exhibition, which is beingheld in Dorland Hall, Regent Street, S.W.I, from January 6 to 23, transport in all its forms will be represented byan extensive collection of models. The aviation section will be a comprehensive one, and will include the follow-ing. A model of the Schneider Trophy Winner is being displayed by Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd., whose subsidiarycompany built, at the Supermarine Works, Woolston, the seaplanes which have won this international race in 1927,1929 and the present year, and so secured the trophy for Great Britain permanently. The Blackburn Aeroplane &Motor Company, of Brough, are showing a 3-ft. model of the " Nile " triple-engined monoplane flying-boat ; andA. V. Roe & Co., of Newton Heath, the results of their work in aircraft construction over more than two decades.The Cierva Autogiro Co., Ltd., are exhibiting models of the latest aeroplanes developed on the novel lines inventedby the well-known Spanish engineer, Senor Don Juan de la Cierva. Among the providers of regular air transportservices, both Imperial Airways, Ltd., and the French Air Union are represented. Imperial Airways propose reviewingin model form their machines on various routes of such widely separated types as the tropical sections of theirIndian and African services, the European heavy-traffic lines, and the connecting links across the Mediterranean.A Hannibal-type liner will also be shown in section. Modern ground organisation will be represented by Sir AlanJ. Cobham's diagrams for airports at Liverpool and Don- caster. Parliament and Imperial Airways QUESTION in the House of Commons on December 11elicited from the Under-Secretary of State for Air the following details about Imperial Airways, Ltd. The termson which the agreement for the Indian service was nego- tiated included the free transfer to the company of two" Calcutta " flying-boats. Further, when it was arranged that the sea mileage on the Indian route should be ex-tended, it was decided to make a capital grant to the company of £20,000 towards the cost of the first new flying-boat of the increased fleet. In respect of subsidies for the England-Egypt service, the following table was pub-lished : — , • — Subsidy earnedSubsidy paid Unearned balance held . . 1928-29 iNil NilNil 1929-30 88,75080,000 Nil 1930-31 i95,565 98,750Nil 1251
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
