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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0254.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 3, 1933 /lip TgpgmsnnPC AIR SERVICES IN THE BRITISH ISLES F vOR some years past it has been the fashion, among those well versed in civil flying and its difficulties, to accept the dictum that internal airlines in Great Britain would never be of much account, firstly as the weather was generally " impossible " and secondly because the already well-established ground transport lines warranted investigation from an air transport point of view. In June, 1930, Imperial Airways started running from Liverpool, via Manchester and Birmingham, to Croydon. They didn't keep it up very long. They, for their part, did as much as anyone could have done ; they got through when the weather was really " impossible," but at the end '^flTlsr^^lPrii" ^MP*M$*s^ Avro " Avian " (" Hermes II ") two seater. were far too efficient to allow aircraft to compete with them. Undoubtedly there was, and still is, a very great deal to be said for those who hold these views, but where they are wrong, as is so often the case, is in making a sweeping generalisation covering the whole of our islands. Of course, no one in their senses will, under the present conditions, try to compete with the railways over a journey between, for example, London and Birmingham. It takes almost as long to get from London out to one of its aerodromes and from Birmingham to Castle Bromwich Aerodrome as it does to do the whole railway journey, and, generally speaking, the trains run to time regardless of the weather—though during the blizzard this year we were kept sitting in that train, without any heating, for 4J hours before we reached Euston, London! Aircraft are naturally far more dependent on the weather than trains and, as yet, there are no night-flying facilities. Where the " generalisators " ought to have looked before making their assertions was to the many points where water interferes with the direct rail transport or, in some cases, where the journey is a very " cross country " one. Had they done so they would long ago have found many places where the amount of traffic fully Avro " X " (3 " Lynx ") ten seater. D.H. " Moth " (" Gipsy I ") two seater. of the three months' trial, that being the period for which it was intended to try out the scheme, it was decided that the patronage did not warrant its continuance the follow ing year. However, their effort and the fact that more and more real business people are beginning to take an interest in flying has at last begun to have some tangible effect. Dur ing the last twelve months or thereabouts, quite a large number of air lines have been started, and for the most part they look like continuing to run. The majority are what might more aptly be called the ferry services, that is, they serve districts where, as we have already said, water necessitates a slow journey by boat or a long detour by train. Reference to our map and table will show where the ser vices are now functioning, and it will be seen that they already cover quite a considerable portion of the country. Typical examples of well-chosen routes are the Bristol- Cardiff, Portsmouth-Ryde, and Heston-Cowes. Generally speaking, it will be seen that they are placed where the existing traffic will welcome the new and speedier method Saro " Cutty Sark " (2 " Gipsy II ") four seater. Blackburn " bluebird " (" Hermes II "). Desoutte. <" Hermes II ") three seater. (FLIGHT Phot, ..O 774
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