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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0007.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 4, 1934 THE DUTCH AIR MAIL RECORD : The K.L.M. Fokker F.MlVIII, Pelikaan, snapped during its brief halt at Almaza, Cairo, during its record flight from"TCnsTerdam'to Batavia. (FLIGHT Photo.) speed of the Pelikaan is at present slightly lower. The tanks, built, after the usual Fokker manner, into the wings, carry 2,010 litres of fuel. During its brief sojourn at Batavia between the two record flights the Pelikaan was fitted with an extra tank to give a radius on the return journey slightly greater than the normal 950 miles. Dead and useful weights of 4,350 and 3,200 kg. respectively give a total of 7,500 kg., or about 1\ tons. The Pelikaan's return flight from Batavia to Amsterdam . occupied 4 days 4 hr. 35 min., or a few minutes less than the record outward journey. It is no secret that the pilots had hoped to reduce the time considerably, but head winds, and finally fog, intervened to disappoint them. Neverthe- less, their achievement is one of which the K.L.M. and the Dutch nation in general may well be proud, as reports from Holland indicate is, indeed, the case. The news that the crew of the Pelikaan—Messrs. Smirnoff, Soer, Groszveld and Van Beukering—are to be decorated with the Order of Orange-Nassau has given great satisfaction, and it is understood that they will be the recipients of many private tokens of appreciation. A " Pelikaan " fund has been opened to commemorate the flight, and will be devoted to the furtherance of national aeronautical progress in Holland. The flight is indeed a magnificent New Year present to a very deserving country. THE BOMBAY-CALCUTTA SERVICE N our leading article of December 21, 1933, we gave some extracts from an address made by Capt. Tymms, Director of Civil Aviation in India, to the Railway Conference at Simla. In it allusion was made to a service between Calcutta and Bombay, for which it was expected that the firm of Tata would tender. We are now able to give details of the offer made by the Tata firm to the Government of India. Its salient points are as follows: — The service will be operated once daily in each direction throughout the year. The route will be direct between Bombay-Nagpur and Nagpur-Calcutta. The actual tim- ings will depend upon the ground organisation available, but in any case the departure from either terminus will be after midnight and the arrival at the other end will be scheduled before midday, so that letters posted the pre- vious evening will be delivered at destination in the early afternoon. The company asks no subsidy or financial aid from the Government, but desires payment at the rate of Ks. 3 (three rupees= 4s. 6d. at current rates) per lb. of letter mail carried on the service. In view of the considerable capital layout and organisation required, the minimum period for the contract should not be less than 15 years, with an option of renewal on terms to be agreed upon before the expiry of the first contract. The offer is made subject to the following conditions: (a) that all letter mail travelling between Bombay, Nagpur, and Calcutta, whether posted at or beyond any of these three cities for destinations on or beyond the route, shall be entrusted to the Tata air service for carriage. No letter, therefore, should travel between Bombay, Nagpur and Calcutta except by air. This is a fundamental condition, without which theterms offered would be impossible. (6) The company further stipulates that landing groundswhich can be used safely in any weather conditions all the year round by heavy aeroplanes shall be provided at Bom-bay, Nagpur, and Calcutta, and that two emergency land- ing grounds be made available between Nagpur and Cal-cutta. The route must also be equipped with two-way- wireless telephony and with directional wireless. Facili-ties for landing at night must be provided at Bombay and Calcutta. Tata Sons, Ltd., will be prepared to start this serviceone year after the Government's approval has been re- ceived, if suitable existing equipment is available, or within18 months if aeroplanes have to be specially constructed or modified for the purpose. That is the offer. We may recall that Capt. Tymmssaid that this route would be the heaviest traffic-bearing airway in India, as it would connect the two largest andmost important cities. He said that the route must be operated by a mail-carrier with a normal cruising speed of175 m.p.h., with a load of 1,000 lb. of mails, and a flight endurance of 1,250 miles. He estimated that five machineswould be needed to keep the service going. The flying length of the route is 1,050 miles. If the Tata offer is accepted, it will mark a very greatadvance in air mail practice in the British Empire, for it will establish the principle of sending all letter mail be-tween two first-class cities over 1,000 miles apart by air. When the United States started its air mail service betweenNew York and San Francisco it sent mail matter by air at its own discretion, without consulting the senders ormaking a special charge for the faster transport. But it did not follow that all letter mail was therefore sent byair. The principle that all first-class mail matter must be sent by air is one which has for long seemed an ideal,though an ideal not easily to be attained. The Tata firm are now making it the basis of their offer, a sine qua non.It is a proposition of the utmost interest and importance, and we shall eagerly await the reply of the Governmentof India to this offer. MUREAUX FLYING-BOAT FOR AIR-FRANCE A TWIN-ENGINED Mureaux flying-boat with Hispano- Suiza engines is at present being assembled. Test flights will soon be made. The machine has been built for the Mediterranean services of Air-France. A FRANCO-CZECHOSLOVAKIAN AGREEMENT ON the merging of C.I.D.N.A. Company into Air- France, a new agreement between France and Czecho- slovakia was necessary. The Czechoslovakian Government owned important interests in the C.I.D.N.A. Company. The text of a new arrangement was signed on Decem- ber 12. M. Pierre Cot signed for France. The Czecho- slovak Republic was represented by M. Czechoslovakian Minister in Paris, and M Czechoslovakian Director of Civil Aviation. A NEW CZECHOSLOVAKIAN LINE ? WE gather from an unconfirmed report that an air service between Prague, Geneva and Marseilles will be put into operation next year by Czechoslovakian interests. It is stated that the machines to be used will be Avia 51's. The 51 is a new five-passenger aircraft with a high cantilever wing and duralumin monocoque fuselage. Three 200-h.p. Avia R.12 engines are fitted and a top speed of 164 m.p.h. and a cruising speed of 144 m.p.h. is claimed for the machine. Osusky, Roubik, the the 11
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