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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0594.PDF
206 FLIGHT. MARCH 3, 1938, COMMERCIAL AVIATION FOR THE PARIS RUN: Thecontrol cabin of the new Marcel Bloch 220 which is shortly to beintroduced on the London-Paris- Marseilles service by Air France.The radio receiver on the right, matching the blind-flying panelon the left, is an interesting feature and it will be noticed thatthe windscreen layout is very similar to that of the Wibaultwhich will be replaced. THE WEEK AT CROYDON Clerks Confer : Overcrowd- ing : Dealing with the Deportee : Another Scoop for " Famous British Pilot" WEDNESDAY and Thursday last week there wasa booking conference at the Hague, where prac-tically every European country was represented. Sixteen senior booking clerks representing twelve airlines of as many countries were present, and the con- ference was held under the able chairmanship of Mr. de Vries, K.L.M. foreign manager. The great thing about this particular meeting was that there was no array of big noises, and that the Chief Booking Clerks of Europe, who do the practical work in the most complicated branch of the air travel business, got right down to brass tacks. The points they disposed of during the working day were not so important, perhaps, but the personal contact which was established between these gentlemen of a dozen different nationalities was worth its weight in gold to air'traffic. Many may disagree with me. I don't give a hoot if they do. One day last week Capt. O. E. Armstrong, Irish Sea Airways, observed the black ball up on the mast of the Kish lightship, gunfire and the waving of a shirt or other distress signal. He radioed Dublin accordingly. I don't know what the trouble was, if any, but it just shows how useful the airlines are to snipping folk. Stop'gap The authorities, I hear, propose to build a new tem- porary hangar here, to be followed later by a permanent one. The temporary hangar will be the finest monument in the history of civil aviation to these great gods, Shilly, Shally, Shallus and Shantus. Even though the authorities could not foresee for them- selves the future expansion of civil aviation, they had warning after warning from the companies, which, of course, they answered, metaphorically, with the word "Pish! " Now the Pishites are panicky, and Croydon is shortly to start what almost every other European airport is just about finishing. That is not all, for years ago the authorities were warned that office accommodation was vitally necessary, but little was done except patchwork devices. The situation is now acute, for not only are existing companies expanding and new British firms coming along all the time, but foreign national companies which have never flown to London before are expected. I hear that Czechoslovakian Air Lines will be flying through to Croy- don this coming summer, and there are rumours of Italian and Polish lines. Just what happens if these people apply for offices? One suggestion I have to make is that as the Air Ministry is responsible for this ridiculous and unnecessary shortage, those Ministry officials who occupy so many of the best rooms facing the tarmac should turn out. A few of them are, no doubt, necessary, but the rest might be accommodated in Army tents in the public en- closure and according to their immemorial right (men- tioned, I understand, in Magna Carta), hot tea could be laid on from the hotel in pipes. Here's another scheme. Every building must, of course, have its obstruction light on top, but we have an obstruc- tion light on top of a pylon which was really erected, so far as can be ascertained, solely to carry the light. Why not, then, combine business with pleasure (for pylon-build- ing is a pleasurable hobby) by building a tower round the pylon and housing Government servants therein? A top-floor flat might be reserved for whoever ii is who maintains that the thing is no menace to airliners. Turning them Round A White Paper shows that Croydon had 36,016 foreign arrivals and 35,356 departures in 1937, and this, of course, takes no account of internal passengers. One also learns that, altogether, 1,677 aliens were refused entry to this country at ports of disembarkation and sent back, eighty-four of them being barred at Croydon. In such cases the shipping companies have an easy job, albeit such aliens have to be carried back, whether they pay for the return journey or not. If boat deportees can't or won't pay, the company has some caboose, lazarette or glory-hole in which the alien may be placed, but in the case of an airliner there is nothing, alas! except first- class accommodation. Only the other day, one such traveller flew off the handle, gnashed his teeth, waved bis arms and went bu-bu-boo-boo at the pilot, who, very naturally, refused to carry him, which decision was very heartily endorsed by the company's representative, <s> account of the other passengers. What was the position then? Why, the air traffic company found that it was liable to provide and pay *or a police escort to Dover, Folkestone or Harwich as the case might be, and buy the infuriated alien a boat ticket to boot! The man himself flatly refused to pay for any- thing, for which I don't blame him, and the authorities said, quite rightly, no doubt, "The company which in*; ports undesirable aliens must undertake to export th'M-
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