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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0778.PDF
?8o FLIGHT. AUGUST 2, welcome it wholeheartedly. It carries on the tradition of Sir Rowland Hill. We note that, although no extra charge is to be made for sending a 2 oz. letter by air, it is still left to the sender to decide whether he wishes his letter to go by air or by rail and steamer. He must mark his letter as des- tined for air transport. It is not necessary to use the new blue label, though it is desirable to do so; if the sender marks his letter '' By air mail'' his instructions will be carried out, and in this way the necessit ' for buying special air mail stamps is avoided. Philatelists will grieve over this, but for ordinary letter-writers it would be nothing but a nuisance to have to keep by them a supply of special stamps. Life is sufficiently complicated already, and we do not wish to see addi- tional obligations imposed in ordsr to gratify the philatel- ists, excellent people though they may be. The reason for leaving it to the sender to decide by which medium his letter is to go must be that the rates are different for letters weighing over 2 oz. Whereas by train post a letter of, say, 2J0Z. costs 2d., by air that letter will cost 2|d. In the present case, if the Post Office is not going to make a loss by carrying 2 oz. letters by air for no additional cost, it hardly seems likely that it would los? by carrying heavier letters at the current rates. If such a chance of loss may be ruled out, then it would surely be preferable in all ways for the Post Office to relieve the public of the onus of deciding whether letters shall ga by air or by tram. We are glad to note that the first company to receive the patronage of the Post Office was Highland Airways, plying between Inverness and the Orkneys, because that is what is called a private company, in distinction to Railway Air Services, which to a certain degree is helped by the subsidy paid to Imperial Airways. We have no grudge against Railway Air Services; on the contrary, we hold that if they can give better organisation than private companies can give, then they deserve to reap the harvest. The efficiency of air mail transport is, above all, the interest which we have at heart. We do think, however, that it would be regrettable if the opinion ever were to become accepted that the Post Office was in any way bound to give preference to Railway Air Services on account of its semi-official position. So long as that firm is patronised only on account of superior merits ws shall applaud the wisdom of those who patronise it. The principle will doubtless be extended. WELL AWAY: H.M.S. Courageous seen over the tail of an aeroplane which has just taken off from the deck of the aircraft carrier. Note the escorting destroyer.
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