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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0841.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 19, 1932 AIR TRANSPORT THE AUSTRALIA-ENGLAND AIR SERVICE X Mp" HERE are indications that the all-British air \ J In service between England and Australia is now JL. really receiving serious consideration. It is reported that Imperial Airways have informed the Federal Government that they are prepared to extend their present Far East service to Singapore if arrangements are made for a connection there from Australia. The Departmental Committee recently appointed to con sider a proposal for a connection with the Imperial Air ways service at Karachi is now preparing to report upon the Singapore proposal. The Committee is negotiating with financial institutions, newspapers and leading busi ness men with a view to estimating the probable amount of mail matter which would be sent to Great Britain by the service. Its report is expected in three weeks. The following " Points for consideration " regarding this service are also published in Airways Bulletin, issued by West Australian Airways: —'' The steps taken by the Minister for Defence (Sen. Sir George Pearce) as a pre liminary to the establishment of the Australia-England air-mail service would indicate in unmistakable fashion the appreciation of the pressing need for such a service. Once this service becomes established a letter may be sent to England and its reply received in any Australian capital in just half the time it now takes by the slower methods of transport. '' A survey of the whole aviation position is to be made by a Committee appointed by the Government and consisting of representatives of the Postal, Defence, Railway and other interests, and it has been announced that the efficiency and utility of existing Australian air services will be closely investigated, together with the special requirements of the proposed new air service. Australia has been fortunate in the past, because the majority of flying operations under contract to the Civil Aviation Department have been carried out with commend able efficiency and at a most economical cost per mile. America and Europe, with keen competition in aviation, have provided interesting figures in economical running and efficiency, and these stand as a basis of comparison. " Under the proposed plan of Australian development, any inefficient services can be quickly determined and eliminated, so that the soundness of the new services is assured, while the cost can be readily computed. With the knowledge that the fuel used and the capital cost of the aircraft and engines is far greater in Australia than in most other countries, the payment of rates that bear comparison with those paid elsewhere will provide imme diate proof that the services are to be economically sound. Efficiency must go hand in hand with economy, for a cheese-paring policy would soon undermine efficiency, and it is essential in a service of this kind that a high safety- margin be set and maintained. A service once established must ensure the speedy transport of mails with unbroken continuity of service, and this is only possible where machines of a suitable type are used, and where both the experience of the operators and the mechanical capabilities of the equipment are proved beyond doubt. Payment, on the other hand must be consistent with the service given, the efficiency achieved and the safety provided. It must not be forgotten, too, that an investigating com mittee will also consider the safety-margin of finance of any concerns submitting schemes to it, for while the physical margin of safety is a matter of moment, so also is the ability of operators to maintain a service in the face of unexpected financial obligations that might arise. Aviation concerns which have maintained long airways in the past in an efficient manner will have undoubted claims to be the ones to be entrusted with the responsi bility of Australia's biggest aviation plan, and when a number of aviation companies, whose records of safe and satisfactory service are so well known, declare their willing ness to unite in such a project a stronger feeling of con fidence is generated than would otherwise be the case. " Doubtless there are many who are anxious to partici pate in such a scheme as that recently proposed, even to the extent of submitting prices which look inviting in comparison with those of established and efficient services in other parts of the world, but the final consideration rests upon more than mere price; and it is those matters of sane economy and high efficiency which any investi gating committee will weigh up against the specious allure ment of mere price alone, past performances of unsatis factory contractors having provided monuments of ridicule which cannot be obscured from the view of members of the Committee, and which will act as warning beacons to guide the Government into the safe course at reasonable cost for Australia's aviation future." The Isle of Wight Air Ferry WE have received some interesting notes regarding the progress of the air service between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, operated by Portsmouth, Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation, Ltd. The service was started on June 27, and between this date and August 11, 1,700 passengers had been carried between Portsmouth and Ryde, of which 440 were passengers making the single journey, and the remainder passengers who made the return journey. Over 50 passengers have so far made use of the combined road and air facilities which are available in conjunction with Solent Coaches, Ltd., to and from London. There are four services a day to and from the island, and this service, with many extras, has been maintained since the start except for a period of two days when it had to be suspended because of the state of the surface of the Company's Isle of Wight Air Port at Ryde after heavy rain, owing to the fact that it is not yet completely grassed over. The Company is also intro ducing " Round the Island " trips (due to start next week) in which the machine leaves Portsmouth, lands at Ryde and Shanklin to pick up passengers, and then flies round the island. The fare is 29s. 6d., which compares favourably with the starting fare of similar char-a-banc trips in operation, which is 20s. As regards the Com pany's fleet, the mainstay is the 9-seater Westland " Wessex," and this is very shortly to be supported by a Monospar—the third to be produced. A Kenya-Tanganyika Air Service IT is reported that a coastal air mail service linking Nairobi with Mombasa, Tanga, Zanzibar, and Dar-es- Salaam, and operated by Wilson Airways, Ltd., was due to start on August 18. The time-table has been arranged to give connections with the Imperial Airways Service. The new service will permit passengers from Nairobi to reach Dar-es-Salaam in a few hours as compared with the several days required at present. From Nairobi to Mombasa the fare will be £6, and from Nairobi to Dar-es-Salaam £14. A New Desert Air Service A NEW desert air service, designed to save travellers the discomfort of the two days' journey by desert car between Palestine and Iraq, will be opened by Imperial Airways on September 5 according to The Times. The aeroplane will make the westbound journey from Baghdad to Galilee in 5\ hours, and the eastbound flight from Ramleh to Baghdad in 7£ hours. The service has been arranged so as to make connection with the Lloyd Triestino steamships and negotiations are now in progress with a view to securing joint air and steamship services with through fares. The fare for the air service is £20 in either direction. This is very little more than the desert car fare, though there is a great disparity in speed and comfort between the two methods. The car journey over desert tracks involves two days of jolting in high tempera tures. The aeroplane journey will mean at the most eight hours of comfortable travel. -The service may readily appeal to persons who could not afford to make the whole journey from Baghdad to Europe by air. It will afford a com paratively cheap and very easy method of access to Cyprus for officials in Iraq, and it may enable the Iraq Administra tion to accelerate its mails to England. The service will be operated by an Avro Ten air liner. The eastbound journeys will be made on Mondays and the westbound on Wednesdays. The Clyde-Belfast Service THE amphibian service between the Clyde and Belfast was opened on August 13 when the new flying-boat Cloud of Iona made the first trip. The passengers included Lord and Lady Malcolm Douglas Hamilton. 785
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