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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0569.PDF
244 FLIGHT. MARCH 5, 1930. and the occasional business man in a hurry) are apt to resent any unpleasantness of that sort. When one comes to consider the craft which definitely want to attract passengers, namely, the flying-boats using natural bases for refuelling, and the airships, it is only fair to take into consideration also the latest surface liners, the Normandie and the Queen Mary. So we get three different compromises between speed and com fort. The Short flying-boats offer a degree of comfort never before contemplated in an aeroplane, and they will cruise at about 155 m.p.h. That is a very attractive proposition for a passenger. The Hindenburg will cruise at only 78 m.p.h., but, naturally, with the large space available it can offer comforts and luxuries on a scale which it would be idle to pretend that flying-boats can at present attempt to rival. Finally, there are the big liners, which can cross the Atlantic in about 100 hours, and can offer comfort and luxury far ahead of the air ship. Passengers will have to choose which they prefer. One thing may be taken as certain: the taste for air travel is on the increase; the mere fact of flying, of being up aloft, will incline more and more passengers, as the years go on to prefer aircraft to seacraft. Also, we may prophesy that flying-boats will grow larger and still more comfortable, as well as faster. The airship has already found her ideal streamline shape, and can hardly increase her speed materially except bj' using more powerful engines. Still, airships may also grow larger, and so be able to add to their luxuries. The competition will be interesting to follow, but it should be borne in mind that even if the airship is ousted from the passenger business, its place as a naval scout still needs careful consideration. A turther Increase FOR the third time within the last two years the Government has announced an increase of the Royal Air Force, this time in conjunction with increases of the Navy,, the regular Army and the Territorial Army. Details of the air increase are given on page 266. The last programme contemplated 123 squadrons in this country with about 1,500 aircraft. The new plan aims at a total of 1,750 first-line aircraft in this country, exclusive of the Fleet Air Arm. That means twenty or twenty-one new squadrons, according to the proportion of single-engined squadrons (with twelve machines) and multi-engined squadrons (with ten machines) in the programme. In addition, there are to be twelve new squadrons for overseas—or, as the White Paper puts it, the equivalent of twelve squadrons. These thirty-two or thirty-three squadrons are indepen dent of the Fleet Air Arm, which is to be raised to '' substantially higher figures'' of first-line aircraft in the next few years. The time limit of this programme is not given. The Home increase is not all for air defence. Six of the new squadrons (two Regular and four Auxiliary) are for work with the Regular and Territorial Armies, and this increase has certainly not come too soon. But, as the White Paper says: "The prime function of the Royal Air Force is to provide an effective deterrent to any attack upon the vital interests of this country, whether situated at home or overseas." That sentence lays down decisively, and for the first time, the place of the Air Force in our defence scheme. ; : Part of the hotel-like lounge of the new Zeppelin, Hindenburg. Even the crew's 9"*^ passengers in the Graf Zeppelin. The airship (some remarkable Flight drawings ot LUXURY ABOVE THE ATLANTIC are more luxurious than those of the appear on pages 246-250) is due to make her first test flights in a few days' time.
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