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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 2284.PDF
AUGUST 20, 1936. FLIGHT. 205 The gold rush : One of the mine landing grounds with the dredge jn operation and most of the Guinea Airways' fleet deployed on the field. changes of altitude are very great in one short run of only forty miles. In this distance one takes off at sea-level, clears 10,500 ft. and then descends to land at an aerodrome 2,000 ft. above sea- level. For these arduous conditions oi steep climbs, heavy loads, many ilandings and rough aerodromes, all-metal machines are used, and Guinea Airways will no longer consider buying a wooden aero plane. The reasons given for this preference are: — 1. Longer life; 2. Lower main tenance costs; 3. No hangars needed; 4. Greater freedom from damage in minor accidents; and 5. The metal wing retains its original aerofoil shape in tropical conditions. The aircraft, perforce, spend most of their time outside, and their reaction to corrosion is rather interesting. At Lae they' are always in the salt- laden sea-breeze, and heavy rain is frequent. Yet no corrosion troubles are experienced. It seems that the heavy rain washes the metal and, going on this theory, the staff imitate Nature and hose the aeroplanes down, inside and out, during any dry weather. This treatment is quite successful. The machines now in use consist of four.Junkers G.31 ; three Junkers W.34 '• two tri-motor Fords; two Stinson Reliants; one D.H. Moth; and one Fox Moth. On order there are two Lockheeds (an Electra and a I2A, the smaller and faster version) and one B.F.W.Me.ro8 for light charter work. For their particular job, Guinea Airways favour the low-wing design—at least in the bigger sizes—and they have a majority of this type. They can load these machines by crane through the roof and lower the load right down on to the wing spar itself, so carrying it in the most direct way possible. Of course, all heavy freight cannot be carried on the wing spar itself, but in the case of shafts of large weight but small dimensions, it is neces sary to carry the load on a very robust part of the structure. _. The low-wing design is also favoured because the ''ground-effect" in'take-off and landing is very marked, they claim, and this is of great importance in a country of small aerodromes. The record of. all the air transport companies operating in New Guinea is certainly a proud one. In face of great natural difficulties they have made good, and transported many passengers and many thousands of tons of goods with almost complete freedom from loss of life and property. For this, the credit belongs to many people— to the pilots, chiefly Australian, who operate the aero planes, and to the designers and constructors who pro duced them. [The photographs illustrating this articls are reproduced by courtesy ot the Vacuum Oil Company and Pilot Koch.! Q ;^maP shows the area covered by air transport in New e a and the position of the more important centres. Expansion in India IT was shown some time ago that between 1933 and 1935 the loads of* mail carried by the Indian internal air services in creased from 10.5 tons to 43.4 tons, and that over one quarter of the letters which go from India to other countries in the British Empire are now sent by air. The number of passen gers conveyed to and from India by air has, in the past five years, increased sevenfold. Figures which are now available show that no less than 43.7 tons of air mail were carried from Karachi to Calcutta last year and 42.5 tons in the opposite direction. The figures represent an increase of 128.5 per cent, on the weight carried in the preceding year. .Increases were most marked towards the end ot the year, after the inauguration of the bi-weekly service each way and the extension of the imperial trunk air line from Calcutta to Australia. The passenger-ton mileage has similarly increased Passenger-ton miles in India in 1933 totalled 12,311, while in 1934 the figure was 78,375, and in '935 it rose to 117,180 This amounts almost to a multipli cation by ten in two years. The comparative statistics for the first half of the current year point to a continued increase in traffic. There can be no doubt whatever that the public are making more use ot air transport as its facilities are increased and become more familiar, and that when the new Empire trunk services, with low postal rates, flying eastward and westward across India, come into operation in the near future, the same tendency will become still more noticeable.
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