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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 2114.PDF
122 FLIGHT. JULY 29, 1937. Commercial Aviation France's Internal Air Mail AIR France have had a large share in the reorganisation of the internal air mail system of France, and the combine now holds an equal number of shares in the newly constructed Air Bleu Company with the shareholders of the old company —viz., 24 per cent. each. The remaining 52 per cent, is held by the French Government. Since July 7 Air Bleu have been carrying about 300 lb. of mails daily by air inside France, using three Caudron Simouns. Everything has worked satisfactorily. Three different routes are flown, each starting from Le Bourget. They are: (i) Le Bourget, Bordeaux, Mont de Marsan, Pau; (2) Le Bourget, Toulouse, Perpignan; (3) Le Bourget, Clermont-Ferrand, Lyons, Grenoble. Hands Across the North. Sea ANOTHER step to establish the new Tyne-Norway air ser vice, sponsored by Allied Airways (Gandar Dower), Ltd., was taken when the Mayor of Stavanager (Ordforer M. Michal- sen) and five members of the Stavanger Airport Committee flew over to spend two days on Tyneside. They were the guests of the Deputy Lord Mayor of New castle (Councillor R. J. Richardson) and the Sheriff (Councillor A. D. Russell) at dinner in the Mansion House, Newcastle, on Wednesday of last week, when Mr. E. L. Gandar Dower dis closed that his company intends, next year, to push a line even farther than Stavanger. Mr. Gandar Dower, after making his announcement of this proposal, said that with regard to the Tyne-Norway service they had set themselves one object—to finish the season with a complete record of safety. His company had operated an air line for several years and during that time none of the passengers carried by its- aircraft had been injured Before leaving on the return flight on Thursday, the Mayo; of Stavanger told Flight's contributor that he had been very much impressed with the comfortable crossing in the D.H.86B. "I have little doubt that this service will be a big success," he said. "We, in Norway, feel that it is a great pity that your Government are not permitting the service to carry the mails, as we are doing. Perhaps, however, that will come in the near future." • On the return flight, The Norsemen, piloted by Eric Star ling took advantage of a strong tail wind to arrive at Stavanger in 2 hours 35 minutes, which was 35 minutes inside schedule. High-speed Charter NEXT year may see the appearance of a charter company using a fleet of 200 m.p.h. machines for special work. Mr. F. C. Chamberlain, who has gained his experience with Imperial Airways, Bancos and North Eastern Airways, is at the back of the scheme, the headquarters for which are at 40, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W.i. Whilst his main idea is to provide for the needs of those who wish to get from place to place in the shortest possible time at a moment's notice, he may also operate summer holiday services, and will not attempt to cut into the fields of charter concerns already in existence. Where work is already being done by these concerns, his fast machines will be sub-con tracted to them when really fast transport is demanded by their clients. The need for such a charter company is there, and it remains to be seen whether business of this nature will be forthcoming in sufficient quantities to justify the fairly heavy outlav involved. AIR FRANCE'S FASTEST The Block 220 ; A Sixteen -passenger Monoplane Adopted as Standard Equipment THE first Bloch 220 high-speed twin-engined monoplane of a series ordered by Air France was put into regular service last week. Flown by Gaston Durmon, Air France's chief pilot, the machine made the Paris-Mar seilles-Paris round trip at an average speed of 179 m.p.h. which is 8 m.p.h. faster than its official cruising speed at 58 per cent, power. In the first instance all the 220s will be put on the Paris-Marseilles route (two services daily) replacing the high- wing Potez 62s. The wing of the 220 measures 73 ft. in span and has an area of 780 sq. ft. Built in three sections it has two spars and a stressed metal skin. Flaps and ailerons are electrically operated. A semi-monococque structure, the metal fuselage is sixty-one feet long and has straight sides. The forward portion seats six and the rear section ten. Dimensions are: length (two sec tions) 26 ft. 7in., width 5 ft. 6 in., height 9 ft. 6 in. The retractable undercarriage is operated by compressed air. Empty, the Bloch 220 weighs 12,980 lb.; the gross weight is 19.759 lb. With the two medium supercharged Gnome Rhone fourteen-cylinder 880 h.p. two-row radials at full throttle (they drive electrically operated Ratier airscrews) a speed of 219 m.p.h. is attained. The range and cruising speed are respectively i;200 miles and 171 m.p.h. Seeing Round ONE hundred and fifty members of the Coventry Engineering Society were recently entertained by the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co., Ltd., and conducted on a tour of the Leamington works. They inspected a special display of the firm's products which included aircraft remote controls, under carriages, and hydraulic operating gear of many different kinds. A Bristol "Shadow" Factory AT the annual meeting of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd., last week, Mr. W. G. Vernon Smith, C.B.E. (the chair man), said that the directors had brought up the general reserve to £1,000,000 and recommended the payment of a final dividend of 15 per cent., less income tax, making a total distribution for the year on the enlarged ordinary capital at the rate of 22^ per cent. It was stated that during the past year the company's manufacturing resources had been employed to their maximum capacity. Such accomplishments as the Bristol Hercules 14- cylinder sleeve-valve engine (the most powerful British aircraft engine so far type-tested) were mentioned, and the company looked forward to large sales of sleeve-valve units at home and abroad. Bristol engines were being manufactured under the Shadow Scheme by a group of five of the principal motor car manufacturers. At the request of the Air Ministry the Bristol Company itself had also joined the group and had undertaken the erection, equipment and management of a shadow factory entirely separate frcm the Company's ordinary aircraft business. The Blenheim was in active production at the Bristol works and a leading motor car company had been entrusted with the equipment of a shadow factory in which to build these machines. Another concern had also received a contract to produce Blenheims. Mention was made of the new company, Rotol Airscrews, Ltd.,—a joint Bristol-Rolls-Royce venture—and to the height records achieved by Sqn. Ldr. Swain and Fit. Lt. Adam, and the performance of the Bristol engines in the Empire flying boats, culminating in the recent two-way trans-Atlantic crossings.
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