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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0261.PDF
JANUARY 28, 1937. FLIGHT. 07 London is considered to present a special problem, and the Committee points out that it understands tbat the Corpora tion of the City of London will purchase the site at Ilford. Road access to this site is stated to be good, and the Commit tee is assured that new facilities now being provided in this district by the London Passenger Transport Board will give speedy means of tube travel to the City. It is of interest to record that the Report states that an aero drome site has recently been approved at Slough, and that there is also a proposal to construct a commercial aerodrome on the north-west of London. The Report points out that if the various London aero drome schemes mature there will be seven aerodromes serving London. Owing to the technical restrictions at present govern ing the siting of standard aerodromes and the necessity for fast surface communications, it appears to the Committee that the area to the north of London is the only one in which a further site could be located. Whatever the requirements of the future may be, it seems to the Committee prudent to ensure against the possibility of the Greater London area, with its population of ten million, being deprived of adequate facilities for air transport. The Committee recommends that steps should be taken forthwith to discover and secure a suit able site for a standard aerodrome to the north of London. Roof Aerodromes No single central aerodrome, the Report points out, can handle the whole of London's air traffic, while the dimensions of a standard aerodrome which are necessary for safety are such as to make the suggestion of roof aerodromes unattractive for types of aircraft at present in use. The Committee decided that there appears-to be no alternative but to develop the main aerodrome on suitable sites in a belt around London. The Committee has considered the proposal for unified owner ship for all aerodromes serving London, but the advantages of such a scheme are not apparent at the moment, and it is too early to make recommendation on this point. The Committee's recommendation under Clause N requires a certain amount of amplification. It is pointed out that the organisation of air services connecting with the present system of travelling post offices, which form the framework of the main postal services, is beset with certain practical difficulties. The Committee has consulted the Post Office authorities and has been provided with certain information concerning the direction in which the night flying facilities which would be provided on the junction aerodrome system could best be utilised to secure acceleration of postal traffic. The following table of times is of interest in this connection, as are also the figures for daily approximate weight of mails now being carried by surface transport. 1. London-Belfast 2. Beliast-Lcndon Depart. / 8.15 p.m. (.11.0 p.m. 11.45 p.m. 11.15 p.m. 11.45 p.m. Arrive. 11.0 p.m. 1 1.45 a.m./ 2.30 a.m. 2.0 a.m. 3.0 a.m. Daily Approximate Weight (lb.). 3,500 1,500 3,000 2.500 According to the Report it will be for future consideration whether further useful postal improvements could be effected by linking up Crewe at night and thus securing connection with the travelling post office system which radiates from that centre. It is not, however, thought that the provision of an aerodrome with the necessary facilities at Crewe could be justified on economic grounds. It is thought that if a start 's made experimentallv with the night mail services indicated the organisation operating the junction aerodrome service might suitably be entrusted with them. Thr recommendations of the Committee concerning pilots THE nine-and-a-bit vears in which the British Institute of A Technology and British Tutorial Institutes have been dis pensing knowledge through the medium of the Royal Mail have been punctuated by a series of dinners, the magnitude °f which has been progressive with the growth of the business. This year's function, the ninth, was attended and enjoyed b>' about three hundred guests, and, as usual, presented an ttcellent opportunity for learning of the progress made. ^r J- J. Cleaver revealed that over a million men and How the Maybury " central junction " scheme would simplify communication between Great Britain's principal centres. Note the difference between the route mileage and that of a point-to-point system (light dots) run on existing haphazard lines. include financial assistance for a limited period to enable suit able schools to give advanced training for air-line pilots at low rates and the suggestion is made that pilots of companies engaged in air transport should be subject to rigorous tests of skill and should be required to possess special licences. Clause Q: The subject of aircraft maintenance comes in for considerable attention by the Committee. After pointing out that airline operators are faced with the necessity of employing their aircraft for the largest .possible number of hours during the year, the Report states that one difficulty in connection with maintenance is occasioned by long periods of immobility to which an aircraft is annually subject at the time of its com plete overhaul preparatory to the renewal of its Certificate of Airworthiness. While not desiring to advocate any relaxation of safety, the Committee understands that, as a complete record is kept of all work done on any aircraft at any time, it may be possible from the record to certify that an aircraft has been properly maintained and was in a condition to justify the issue of the necessarv certificate. The advantage claimed for this method is that the work of reconditioning can be car ried out at periods to fit in most conveniently with the require ments of scheduled services. The Committee states that it is informed that this practice has been adopted with advantage on certain sections of the route flown by Imperial Airways and on the largest air lines in the United States. The Committee therefore recommends that consideration should be given to the desirability of modifying the present practice of inspec tion so as better to meet the requirements of the airline opera tors while at the same time securing the airworthiness of all aircraft transporting mail or paying passengers. women had sought their guidance on careers. More than 12,500 lessons, he said, were corrected daily. Responding to "Our Indian Branch," proposed by Mr. R. S. Nehra, Sir Abdul Quadir, a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India, said that his country presented vast scope for such educational bodies. In the regrettable absence of Professor A. M. Low, Mr. H. Hum proposed the toast of the chairman, Mr. Graham Maw. The subsequent revelry was worthy of the occasion. A TUTORIAL GATHERING
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