FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1933
1933 - 1139.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 7, 1933 The Airports Conference The Rt. Hon. Sir Philip Sassoon, Under Secretary of State for Air, sends us the following message':— JT was formerly the fashion to say that there was no future for internal flying in Great 1 Britain, because of the shortness of distances and the excellence of road and rail communications. Certain far-sighted people were not content with this view and the event is proving them right. It is now seen that there is plenty of room, even in these small islands, for air travel, and progress would be far speedier if only facilities for flying were greater. We are suffering from a serious lack of aerodromes, and in particular of civil aero- ' dromes conveniently situated to our great cities and large towns. Meanwhile, the rapid spread of building development on the outskirts of the very cities and towns which need air communications most is making the choice of suitable sites for municipal aerodromes yearly more and more difficult. The situation calls for immediate action ; not necessarily the immediate provision of fully equipped aerodromes, but the taking of the initial steps which will secure convenient sites for aerodromes before they are overrun by new houses. Everyone, therefore, who has at heart the future of flying in this country, and the growth of the aircraft industry, must welcome the greater interest which is being taken to-day in the vital question of municipal aerodromes. I hope that The Airports Con ference will meet with the success that it deserves. I hope further that it will result in a well-thought-out programme for the provision of internal air ports, to which the municipal authorities will do their very best to give speedy practical effect. In this matter, it is essential that we should look well ahead and try to visualise, and to provide for while there is yet time, the great increase in public and private internal flying which is already on its way. JLJu^.. J a. ou4-^-o-e^\ HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES has always shown a keen appreciation of the need for fostering a widely-spread and soundly-built Empire Air System. His own use of air travel has been extensive, and for l hat alone we should be grateful to him. That debt of gratitude will be even larger when, on December 8, he °pens, at the Mansion House, the Airports Conference, which has been convened by the London Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Aeronautical Society. At this conference all sides of the municipal airport question will be discussed, and papers will be read which will be full °t information for the many municipal authorities attend-ln g- Among those who are speaking are Lord London derry, Secretary of State for Air, and Sir Hilton Young, Minister of Health. We imagine that the theme of all speakers will be the weed for action. We must have municipal aerodromes '^vailable for use at all important towns and cities laid down now. The matter cannot wait. All towns and 1 cities are growing, and unless action is taken in the near future it will become impossible to find an area of adequate size, sufficient] ' near the centre of those towns, to be of any use. The whole matter is a vicious circle. We, in this country, have got the, fastest ground transport in the world. Therefore, if it is to be of any use, air transport must also be the fastest. But that speed is of no use at all if the terminal aerodromes are so far from the towns that the passenger has to spend time in travelling on the ground after he has left the aeroplane. Therefore, to make proper use of air transport, it is necessary not only to have large landing areas which can be used by fast aeroplanes, but those landing grounds must be close to the towns. In far too many cases, the matter has been left so late that already there is great difficulty in finding suitable sites. We have only sixteen Municipal Airports as yet, and another five towns have purchased sites. These are absurdly small figures, taken in comparison with the number of towns in the British Isles having large 211 n
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
