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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0597.PDF
MARCH II, 1937- FLIGHT. The Outlooks A Running Commentary on Air Topics Tomfoolery LiST Satnrdpy The Daily Telegraph published a message from its Washington correspondent which will be wel comed by all who take aviation seriously. It stated (hat there is a growing feeling in America that the pro posed New York-Paris contest scheduled for August should be changed into an overland race. " Doc ' Kimball, upon whose advice all successful Atlantic flights have been made, estimates that to provide sufficient information about weather conditions all the way across, to make the flight reasonably safe, would cost more than the total prize- money. The French have a reputation for logic. In this par ticular instance the logic is difficult to find. The French Air Minister, M. Pierre Cot, sponsored the scheme; an excuse had to be found. Let us see, what happened ten years ago? Oh, yes, Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. Very well, we'll have a race across, repeating his feat, on the days he made his flight, i.e., May 20-21. But then somebody remembered that possibly the racers might not have a fine day for their outing, so the date was changed to August and the period to any time during that month. So, instead of it being a race, it becomes a speed trial, thc- result of which cannot be known until the last competitor has got across or fallen in ; and the date does not com memorate anything in' particular. It is difficult not to believe that the real reason for planning this singularly silly affair was not that France- felt she was in danger of being left out of the picture so far as the North Atlantic was concerned, with America and Great Britain forging ahead with their plans for experimental services and Germany having made success ful ship-based catapult-launched experimental flights. France must be in the picture at all costs, and, voila! the New York-Paris " race ' was planned, Pierre financing not only the prizes but also several French competitors. There is a very excellent chance of more than one crew being lost, and the contest will prove nothing ; so if France must spend money on a race, why not make Indo-China or Madagascar the objective? Cost of Civil Flying \jj[/.HEN considering the vote for Civil Aviation in the V V Air Estimates, it is best to look at the gross estimate rather than the net figure, for the most interesting side of civil flying is the Empire scheme, and that has to w paid for by the citizens of the Empire. The gross •*™*te tQis year is £2,499,000, of which the taxpayers ot the Dominions and Colonies served will find £141,000. this sum of two and a half million pounds is a big jump irom the modest £908,000 of last year. At least we have every expectation of getting good value for our two and a nait millions, for the year is to see the gradual inaugura- on ot the Empire air mail scheme as well as of the internal sav f'i"e recommmded by the Maybury Committee, to Ca h 6 of the experimental long-range flights of imdih" fnd Caledonia> as well as of the Mayo composite, •nd f 1 ta t0 be accumulated by Cavalier on its trips to I JQQ tro between Bermuda and New York. Indeed, it is i surh6, wo"dfred " .any other nation could budget to get Th work done for so modest an outlay. ,e Air Estirnat, part of London's airport equipment, for provision is made to continue payments to the owners of Gravesend and Gat- wick " in order to secure that relief aerodromes to Croydon shall be available when required. ' Heston, however, is to be bought by the Air Ministry, provided that the House of Commons passes this section of the vote, for it is stated in the Memorandum that '' this aerodrome to-day provides essential facilities both for internal and for international purposes." Additional land is also to be bought so as to enlarge the aerodrome. The speculative builder must loathe the Air Ministry, but the community at large has good reason to thank it for coming to the rescue in such emergencies. Overseas 1~\RITISH AIRWAYS, of course, continue to get their /~5 subsidy for the route London-Amsterdam-Hamburg. Copenhagen-Malmo and for direct services by day and night to Stockholm in conjunction with the Swedish com pany. Whenever one thinks of this line one feels a satisfaction that the monopoly of European subsidised ser vices once conferred on Imperial Airways has not proved onerously monopolistic.- The history of that arrangement encourages us as a nation to pursue the course of averting dangerous competition b ^ granting monopolies without fear of them becoming dangerous in the long run. The Memorandum speaks openly of the plans now under discussion for extending the Empire service from Sydney on to New Zealand. This could not be considered in a concrete manner until Australia had agreed to the flying boat route from Darwin following the coast down to Sydney instead of cutting across the mainland to Brisbane. The recently published life of Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith tells a dramatic story of how unpleasant it can be to fly across the Tasman Sea when things go wrong; but the old Southern Cross with one of its three Whirlwind engines out of action was a very different proposition from an Empire class boat with four Pegasus engines. But perhaps by the time the Tasman service is introduced, it will not be negotiated by the present Empire class, but by the future Atlantic class which is to be designed after digesting the experience which Cambria and Caledonia are now busily acquiring. After all, the Tasman Sea crossing is only a few hundred miles shorter than the route over the Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland. All Home Comforts Graves &• eb saY notning about tne tnreat to cl Airport, but seem to regard it as an essential 50UNDPROOFJNG, controllable cabin heating, and specially studied ventilation schemes are no longer perquisites of the flying hotel and capitalist com muting ship, but feature in increasing prominence in military specifications. A certain degree of comfort makes for efficiency in any undertaking, be it bomb sighting or crocheting; some of our very best sniping in the last war was done from an armchair. Who can make the best of a job if airscrews, blowers, intakes, and exhausts howl unremittingly through thin metal sheeting while his limbs are numbed with cold and his senses with carbon monoxide? Will the names of Rumbold, Soundproofing, Ltd., and Moseley find a place with those of Browning, Oerlikon, Frazer-Nash, Armstrong Whitworth, and Wimperis? DIARY of FORTHCOMING EVENTS—PAGE 257
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