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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0952.PDF
FLIGHT, SEPTEMBER 23. 1932 was worse than folly. Mr. Hutchinson, it is stated, was a very experienced pilot, and the same was said of his wife. Apparently their two little children had been up with them and had spent quite a number of hours in the air. This could not excuse the parents for taking the two children with them on an attempt at an Atlantic flight. The folly of the act may have been mitigated by the choice of an amphibian, which had the power to descend on either water or land, but the storms of the North Atlantic have forced more than one machine down, and a flying boat cannot live for long in a heavy sea. Help must reach it soon if the crew are to survive. Signor Locatelli in a Dornier " Wal " lived for about three days and nights afloat off the coast of Greenland, after being forced down by bad visibility in 1924, but his boat was crippled by the waves, and he would have been lost had not an American cruiser gone out to look for him. In this case the crew of the Sikorsky got ashore, but the machine was wrecked. Then came the search. Several steamers left their proper work of sealing or whaling or fishing and devoted all their time to the hunt for the Hutchinson family and their companions. The loss in time and money must have been very considerable, as we have before emphasised, and the question arises whether anyone has the right to undertake a flight which may well cause such a dislocation of business. The frame of mind which says " I will take the risk, and if I get into trouble someone is sure to throw up his own proper business and spend his time in helping me" is not admirable. A truly scientific expedition of discovery may justify taking such risks, but the desire for notoriety cannot do so. Worse was to follow. All available aircraft in that part of the world joined in the search. Among them was a machine flown by the famous German pilot, Herr Udet. He was not heard of for several days, and it was feared that he had sacrificed his life for the sake of the Hutchinson family. Yet even his loss, if he really had met with the worst, would have struck less horror to the mind than the thought of the death by drowning or by cold and starvation of the two little children, which was so narrowly averted. This altogether deplorable incident has, we are glad to learn, at last awakened a feeling of indignation in the United States. It has been decided that no public reception shall be given to the crew of the Sikorsky on their return to the States. This is, perhaps, the worst punishment which could be in flicted on people whom we can only regard as publicity-mongers. We may hope, too, that it will have some lasting effect in discouraging others of like kidney from undertaking Atlantic nights. Refuse publicity to the " stunt merchant," and Othello's occupation's gone. It is no easy matter in Great Britain to make the public and the sensational press distinguish between a flight which is really worth while and a flight which is a mere publicity stunt. Flying is the aspect of life with which FLIGHT is concerned, and we con ceive it our duty (if we may apply to ourselves the comment of a great English poet about a great Greek poet) to " see life steadily and see it whole." The news editor of a popular daily paper, on the other hand, always sees life like the flicker of a bad film. Daily he is hypnotised by the news story of the day, 888 and is constitutionally incapable of distinguishing between the useful and the useless, provided only that there is a " thrill." The public is largely in the hands of the said news editor. In the States, we imagine, this state of affairs is even more pronounced. We have received a letter from a correspondent in America, written before the anxious and costly search for the Sikorsky and the loss of the " Flying Nurse " occurred, which suggests that Great Britain should establish an air port for the Atlantic traffic in Co. Galway. Our correspondent suggests that this might well be looked on in Ireland as a friendly gesture which would tend to bring about a better understanding between Great Britain and Ireland. Presumably he thinks that such a gift, bringing great revenues in landing fees to the Exchequer of the Irish Free State, might be some compensation for all the alleged tyrannies practised on the Irish people by the people of Great Britain, and might cause Mr. de Valera to melt into forgive ness. Perhaps also such an airport might facilitate the emigration of Irish people to the United States ; but whether such a result would be gratifying to the compatriots of our correspondent we have no means of guessing. Then he goes on to suggest that a cup should be offered for the development of flying boats on the Ireland-Newfoundland route, and that a com petition or race should be held each year, starting from Ireland one year and from Newfoundland the next. We can imagine the joy with which such an event would be hailed by the fleets of sealers and fishing boats in the North Atlantic. If, however, the Atlantic part of this proposal be omitted, there is something attractive in the idea of a competition for large flying boats. There are plenty of parts of the world where a course could be laid out along which boats could fly with no serious risk of disaster to themselves or of dislocating the shipping of the area. The flying-boat squadrons of our own Royal Air Force are constantly carrying out flights in formation from one part of the Empire to another, as well as to foreign waters, and they have shown themselves very well able to take care of themselves. These flights are still regarded as being of the nature of tests, and no attempt at speed records has been made. The object has always been to show that flying boats can get from place to place with reli ability. They have flown to schedule, but that schedule has never demanded any great hurry. Perhaps the time is now ripe for a great international flying-boat competition, with marks for various good qualities, of which speed would be one. Endurance, however, should be regarded as of more importance, and so should that rather elusive quality, sea worthiness. Prince Bibesco, President of the F.A.I., has just offered a Cup for an air race round the world. The conditions make it open only to landplanes and amphibians. Flying boats are less developed than are landplanes, and a competition to stimulate their development at this juncture would probably be a very useful institution. The course might run from the Baltic through the Mediterranean to Australia, or down the Great Lakes of Africa, or by many another route along adequate inland waters. The Continents of North and South America would offer numerous interesting routes. But across the Atlantic—No.
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