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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0198.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 1, 1934 CROYDON NOTABLE event during last week was the ^ Puss Moth," " Leopard Moth," " Dragon " and Comper announcement that Capt. L. A. Walters, one of " Swift." He was a " sailplane " pupil of Herr Kron- Imperial Airways' senior pilots, had been granted feldt, and his whole interest centres round flying. Stay- the first Master Air Pilot's Certificate issued in ing at the Airport Hotel in a room overlooking the aero- this country. The qualificationsinclude air navigator's licence and commercial pilot's licence, both ofwhich must have been in force for at least five years, with at least1,000 hours' flying of civil air- craft during the five years. Italso means having done at least 20 cross-country flights begun andcompleted at night. This is not so easy, nor quite so sensible, asit sounds, for commercial pilots, because most flights are scheduledto commence in daylight and finish after dark, or to begin be-fore dawn and finish just before breakfast time. Passengers, atany rate, would not thank a com- pany for embarking them a*11 p.m., for example, and dis- gorging them in Paris at 1 a.m.It is obvious that the qualifica- tion for Master Air Pilot shouldbe a certain number of hours flown in darkness and a certainnumber of departures and arrivals made by night. I understand that Mr. DudleyTravers, now in the East with Imperial Airways, Ltd., has alsoobtained this coveted certificate. Other names should appearshortly in the same connection. I am asked by Provincial Air-ways, Ltd., to correct an error of mine last week, when I describedthe company as a private one. It is, of course, a public company.It also appears that the large number of towns at which they seemed to be scheduled to call on their London-Plymouth-Hayle line are mostly to be called at only on request. This company will go a step further than is usual in pam-pering the air passenger, who will be picked up at his own front door and set down at the front door of his placeof destination. Nothing will remain to be done for pas- sengers shortly, except to call them in the morning witha free cup of tea and place their shoes, newly cleaned, out- side the door. Last week a pedigree fox terrier gave birth to a litterof puppies when on board an Air-France machine on the way to Paris. Mother and offspring are said to be doingwell. I recollect no previous affair of this nature, though eggs have been laid aboard commercial aeroplanes. Mr. Philip Bailey, a well-known " taxi " pilot at Croy-don, made an attempt to get through to Brussels one day- last week, but eventually had to land at Shoeburynessowing to thick fog. Within ten minutes he had telephoned Croydon Control Tower advising them he was safely onthe ground. On the other hand, a privately-owned machine which left Heston at 10.5 and returned to Hanworth at12.30 p.m. one day during the past week was still " miss- ing " so far as the Croydon Control Tower was concerneduntil about 6.15 p.m. I do not know where the fault lay ; possibly not with the owner at all, but one day there willsurely be heavy penalties for this sort of thing, which not only causes needless alarm and expense, but leads to un-pleasant newspaper publicity about " missing " aeroplanes. On Monday, February 19, Herr Alexander von Bismarckleft Croydon for Amsterdam on " Moth " G-AAGE. Herr Bismarck, a nephew of the famous Chancellor, learned tofly in 1913, but does not fly professionally. He holds com- mercial licences for all German aeroplanes, including theG.38 Junkers. He has also passed out on " Moth," MASTER PILOT NO. 1 : Capt. L A. Walters, of Imperial Airways, Ltd., who has just been granted the first of the new Master Pilots' Certificates. (FLIGHT Photo.) travelling grand stand overlookindrome, he found shaving a lengthy business each morning. His facewas more often at the window than at the mirror, he says. Rollason Aircraft Services,Croydon, announce their appoint- ment as sole agents for SouthernEngland for the " Hermes " engine. The company will shortlymove into the premises lately occupied by " Cirrus-Hermes " atCroydon, and several " Cirrus " engineers have joined RollasonAircraft Services. Thursday was a curious day atCroydon. Whereas the rest .of Europe was shrouded in fog, theAirport of London was clear for flying, and services were delayedbecause terminals the other side of the Channel were impossible froma flying point of view. Mr. Whitney Straight, Ameri-can racing motorist, passed through Croydon last Tuesday enroute for Milan. He said he would fly a special Westland-built Henderson-designed machine with " Gipsy 6 " engine in theKing's Cup race. The top speed of this machine he gave as about180 m.p.h. Mr. Gordon P. Olley, of Olley Air Services, Ltd., issaid to be taking a machine to Australia at the time of theMacRobertson Trophy race. He is not competing, and has severalvacant seats for people who want to see something of the race.The idea, in fact, is that of a and in these days a grand standshould travel—and travel fast. So far, this has been the very worst winter for fog andbad flying weather within the memory of the oldest in- habitant of Croydon. One of the most experienced air-linepilots on the routes told me that if the same weather had occurred five or six years ago, all commercial flying wouldhave come to a standstill for most of the winter. It speaks volumes for the progress of commercial aviationthat this winter there has been far less in the newspapers about fog interrupting air traffic than about its disorganis-ing effect on shipping. By the way, the time is surely more than ripe for someclear distinction between air route flying and other forms of flying. The other day I saw newspaper headings aboutflights abandoned owing to fog. They were private enter- prises of one sort and another, and on the day in questionlittle or no trouble was experienced on the air routes. Newspapers do not give the impression that shipping is indifficulties because the weather at Maidenhead is totally unsuited to punting. A. VIATOR. HESTOhf O1N Sunday, February 18, two " Dragons " were runon the daily air service to Jersey. The numberof bookings have been so encouraging that asuccessful summer for this undertaking may con- fidently be predicted. The Heston Traffic Hall is rapidly approaching comple-tion and will satisfy a need which is already felt in rush 198
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