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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1532.PDF
58o FLIGHT. JUNE IO, 1937. COMMERCIAL /[V/AT/ON — Al RLINE S —_—_= Al RPORTS - W. N. Cumming, F. A. Hine and J. Howard. p ,.:H«J THE WEEK AT CROYDON Overweather Again : Transposition : More Stewardesses : Air Freight—Cut and Uncut : Vulnerability • I WAS interested in Swissair's letter in last week's Flight replying to my earlier remarks about "overweather flying." It was not my intention to indicate that flying above the clouds was a new thing in Europe—far from it—nor did I say so. I merely wondered, and I still wonder, that publicity people in Europe had not grasped the opportunity to set forth the advantages of this method of flying, which they could scarcely do, by the way, unless it was an accepted and regularly practised form of flying. As soon as multi-engined machines and proper naviga tional aids existed all the big companies began to practise this form of flying, and unless I am much mistaken Capt. Wilcockson, of Imperial Airways, was an early enthusiast with the Argosy at a time when Swissair, whose efficiency we all admire, was not yet flying on the London line and when, one guesses, very little overweather flying was being done in America. Modern machines with an efficient operating height of 12,000ft. or more almost compel over weather flying anyway. It is not that we have not the art, but, as usual, that we have not the art of selling the art to the public. Whilst on the subject of progressiveness, I congratulate the Wallington and Beddington Public Library for circu larising Croydon firms, British and foreign, for current time-tables for their reference section and for asking that these should be kept up to date. On the other hand, one of our daily papers records the existence of a K.L.M. fleet of fourteen four-motored Douglas D.C.3 machines with seating for twelve passengers. There's just the little point about the extra engines and—drat that printer's devil the number z\ has been reversed into 12. Otherwise the story is just splendid. There seem to be lots more stewardesses about these days. Those of K.L.M., by the way, have increased con siderably in numbers and now wear an extremely neat and attractive "forage" cap, similar, but, I think, smarter than that supplied to our luckless (sartorially, anyway) R.A.F. There have also been some Czechoslovakian pupil stewardesses" at Croydon from the C.L.S. Com pany travelling to and fro under the guidance of their K.L.M. colleagues. They tend to be petite, blonde and birdlike, in case it interests anybody. Anyhow, it seems that the stewardess has come to stay in Europe. ' I am not sure of the technical term, but how about " A splendour of stewardesses '' to describe anything over half-a-dozen brace of them? The "all-freight" service of International Air Freight, Ltd., of which Capt. Hope is a leading organiser, has a couple of big Curtiss Condors in the hangars here painted a vivid red. They are stripped of all useless internal fittings as absolutely no passengers will be booked. Many experts say freight is a useful stopgap but will never pay its way alone—which remains to be seen. Rumours that current freight rates, universally agreed to by existing com panies, may be drastically cut are not altogether con firmed, but are causing some flutter in old-established dove cotes. One is reminded of Edgar Allan Poe with his lines: " Hither and thither (thev) fly, Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro Flapping from out their condor wings Invisible woe." Like all prophecies, this may seem a trifle obscure, but the mere puppets are obviously the pilots, and the vast
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