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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 1345.PDF
DECEMBER 20, 1934. FLIGHT. TRANSATLANTIC SINCE the earliest days of flying theword '' Atlantic'' has held apeculiar fascination for the pilot: first, as a mere gap that had still to be bridged by the more intrepid, and then as an area over which the aero- plane might compete, very satisfac- torily in the matter of speed, with sur- face transport. The first direct crossing, with the Vickers "Vimy," from Newfoundland, was pure adventure ; the R.36 showed the way to possible commercial action, and Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight reminded people that the two capital cities of the world might be linked by air in a matter of forty hours or less. But only the airship proved itself capable of carrying any load other than fuel and crew. To-day the airship is still the> only craft that has shown its ability to make regular non-stop trips with a paying load. Every year the Graf Zeppelin, which was com- pleted as long ago as 1928, makes her scheduled flights during the summer from Friedrichshafen to South America carrying mails and passengers at three-weekly intervals. Before the end of 1932 this famous ship had carried 10,000 passengers over 329,000 miles. This year ten flights to Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro were originally scheduled at fortnightly intervals from May 26 to October 27, and an additional winter service added for December 8. The ship has carried 65 per cent, more passengers than last year on a trip occupying some four and a half days each way. It would appear that an airship may be the first to make regular journeys across the North Atlantic, for, when the new L.Z.129 is complete, experimental flights will be made to Lakehurst or to Miami. Every year, however, the heavier-than-air machine ex- tends its "payload range," and to-day the Sikovsky S.42, for instance, has a permissible payload of 1,500 lb. when tanked for 3,000 miles and cruising at 145 m.p.h. Nevertheless, even this is not really commercial, and A Brief Survey of Present-day Atlantic Air Routes, and of some Likely Develop- ments : The Sea- drome Project it seems probable that for a number of years a thousand miles will be the maximum economic range of an aero- plane. The S.42 carries a payload of 7,060 lb. over 1,200 miles in still air— and much more if the machine is used simply for the carriage of express freight and mail. As far as the North Atlantic is con- cerned, a route could be planned over which the longest " hop " would not be more than 1,200 miles. General Balbo's twenty-three Savoia-Marchettis, for instance, crossed via Ireland, Iceland, and Labrador, and returned from New York by way of Shediac (New Brunswick) (650 miles). Shoal Harbour (Newfoundland) (500 miles), Azores (1,200 miles), and Lisbon (780 miles). Even so, six trawlers with D/F equipment lay about at various points, and the route is definitely not a permissible one for all-the-year-round operation. Alternatively, of course, Bermuda, which has been in the limelight recently, as far as the tentative arrangement between Pan-American and Imperials is concerned, might be used. There are already rumours that Pan-American Airways are planning a direct mail service between New York, Bermuda, the Azores, Lisbon, and Paris. Meanwhile, the Mayo Composite Aeroplane, briefly de- scribed in Flight of December 6, may provide our own particular solution to the problems of take-off, speed, and range for a long-distance service. Weather conditions are rather less troublesome in the South Atlantic, and there are two mail services in opera- tion, by Air France and Deutsche Luft Hansa, only one of which, however, is at present an "all-air" route. Started by Aeropostale in 1927, and operated since October, 1933, by Air France, the product of an amalga- mation of all the original French lines, the mail service from France to South America takes a week, fast despatch boats being used for the actual sea crossing. Although such a service can hardly be included among regular
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