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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 1142.PDF
542 FLIGHT. MAY I6, 1935. COMMERCIAL /AVIATION — AIRLINES ——- ——AIRPORTS- Back to Normal THE WEEK AT CROYDON Jubilee Night Flights : The Official Summer : The Guernsey Service : A Tarmac Pinnace BUSINESS has been brisk again on the air routes after the Jubilee lull. There was, of course, an inward rush just before the beginning of the celebrations, then a pause, followed by an outward rush, and now we are back to normal. Within the last ten days there have been lour thousand passengers through Croydon—which thus lives up to its title of the airport of London. Recently there has been nearly as much night as day flying. On every'night during Jubilee Week Imperial Airways had a "Heracles" over London, and, on two occasions at least, a " Scylla " as well. Olley Air Service has worked twenty-four hours a day with special charters by day to the races and Jubilee flights by night. One night last week Olleys had to charter two Provincial Airways' machines to cope with the rush. Inner Circle Air Lines has carried about five hundred Jubilee night sightseers, and on one evening alone Surrey Fly ing Services took about one hundred and fifty people over London. Judging from the congestion in London and the confusion of ground communications, the only comfortable and dignified way to see the illuminations has been from the air. According to the Air Ministry it is (officially) comfortably warm from May 1 onwards in the Croydon Airport offices. The steam heating was turned off on that date, and the pipes merely make gurgling noises which form an apt accompani ment to the coughs and sneezes of the inmates. To insist on treating a big civil airport like a Government office is non sense. In some cases work starts at 5.30 a.m. (not 10 a.m.) and does not finish at 5:30 p.m., but well after midnight. In consequence of this insane regulation tenants, who pay for adequate heating, have to provide their own by means of electric stoves. Civil servants may be able to keep warm in bitter weather by thinking of their pensions, but commercial people have no pensions to think about. Cobhcm Air Routes, Ltd., started operations here according to plan on Jubilee Day with two services each way between Croydon and Guernsey, via Portsmouth and Bournemouth-— Southampton being an optional stop. Two hours is allowed for the journey, and an Airspeed "Envoy" is used to and from Bournemouth and a Westland " Wessex" across the water. Departures from Croydon are at 9 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., and from Guernsey at 12 noon and 5 p.m. Bookings have been good since the service started, and the schedule has been maintained. There are numerous forward bookings also, up to July and August. A celebrated surgeon has already used the service when urgently summoned to perform an operation on the Bailiff of Guernsey, a most important local official. Sir Alan Cobham is confident of success for the new venture. On Wednesday, May 8, Sir Macpherson and Lady Robertson travelled by K.L.M. to Holland, where, it is understood, they are being entertained. It is noticed that on some of the latest Fokker types there are compartments in the wing on each side of the fuselage for luggage and freight. This necessitates the use of tall ladders and loading or unloading is less easy and not so quick as in the case of normal freight compartments. In Amsterdam, by the way, they use luggage trucks not unlike our tradesmen's cycle delivery outfits. This is a step in the right direction, though it is high time that Croydon was equipped with elec trically propelled trucks. When several big machines arrive at once nearly a hundred people's luggage must be dealt with at the same time. The Imperial Airways' gangway for passengers becomes daily more and more efficient. It is now fitted with wheels all round, and can be placed in position with a tractor. The next step will probably be to fit the gangway with its own power so that it can cruise about the tarmac like a pinnace. On board an aeroplane recently arriving from foreign parts the following names appeared: Capeina Arnoldi, Gobius Zan- thazomi, and Fundulus Bwattalus. They were not foreign delegates to a conference—merely tropical fish. A. VIATOK. REFUELLING : An impressive picture of the two largest types in European passenger service—the Handley-Page " Heracles and the Short " Scylla ''—on the tarmac at Croydon.
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