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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0998.PDF
APRIL 4, 1940 They would all be pointing to an Egg in a bowler hat and with the usual features and intelligent expression of an egg. That would be those departments of civil aviation which have failed to protect it according to their bounden duty. Humpty-Dumpty, in fact, who, it will be remem- bered, sat on the fence or wall and ultimately had a great fall. The Dodo would be present, of course, a bird wholly extinct so far as progress is concerned and practically incapable of flying. Need I add that the Dodo would represent the railways, and would keep screaming, "The Dodo has Wings," and would constantly preen a pair of rudimentary flippers? Before him on the tea-table would stand a huge gold pot of rich jam, cryptically labelled " Money for." The March Hare and the Brass Hatter would be busy stuffing the comatose Dormouse, i.e., civil aviation, into a large teapot with a screw-down lid which, like Joanna Southcott's box, is not to be opened for ico years. Then in the top right-hand corner of the picture, there would be the Cheshire Cat (N.A.C.) in a state of rapid fade-out, with the sort of inane grin on its face suitable to a short and entirely futile career. Alice, representing sanity, decency and a sense of fair play, would long ago have quit the party. I present this idea entirely gratis, and without obligation, to any brother of the crayon, for I am not ungenerous in such matters and do not even expect the courtesy of an acknowledgment. One day last week there was a startling story of an Imperial Airways' "Ensign" on the Paris route being turned back by the R.A.F. because there was a bit of sky bother in those parts. Normally there are ways of warn- ing commercial pilots to turn back on these occasions which do not necessitate R.A.F. fighters diving and swooping all round the commercial craft, and, anyway, what is the matter with the fighter signalling his ideas to the com- mercial pilot? It is useless for the fighter to make passes at the other plane, for the commercial captain cannot be expected to translate swoops and dives into plain English, and no neutral pilot can be expected to make head or tail of that sort of thing. Is the fighter pilot merely playing at being a seagull, does he want to borrow half a crown, or is he an old pal trying to explain that he will be in the bar of the " Bottlenosed Bombadier " around six p.m. the same evening? Nobody knows, but I would not go so far as to say nobody cares. One is always anxious to oblige a fighter pilot with a hair trigger under his finger. A. VIATOR. The South Africa Services VT HIS week the pre-war frequency of the flying-boat serviceto South Africa wa.s restoied. On the outbreak of war the Empire services to Africa were reduced to a once-weeklyreturn flight to Durban and a once-weekly return flight to Kisumu. It has now been decided to extend the Kisumuservice to Durban, thus restoring the flying-boat services to South Africa to their pre-war frequency. Swissair Services A FTER a suspension of more than six months, dating from•**• August 28, 1939, Swiss air transport was partly resumed on March 18, when a daily air service (except Sundays) wasstarted by Swissair with Douglas DC 2S between Locarno and Rome. The distance, 373 miies, is covered in z\ hours non-stop. It is expected that the Locarno-Barcelona route (559 miles) will also be started shortly with DC 3s running daily(except Sundays) and taking 3J hours non-stop. By means of these two lines, neither of which was run before the war, THE NEWSPAPER SERVICE. A Belgian aeroplaneloading up at an aerodrome " Somewhere in the South of England." Switzerland will again be linked up with the international airroutes from which she has been cut off. The railway distances between Locarno and the chief Swisstowns being comparatively small (Zurich-Locarno 140 miles, Basle-Locarno 199 miles, Berne-Locarno 200 miles), it will bean easy matter to complete the whole journey from these towns to Rome or Barcelona within a day.The opening of a third air service is contemplated in the near future, from Altenrhein (on Lake Constance) to Munich,but for mail and freight only. Germany has already given her consent to the operation of this route, which was a pre-warone. Pan-American to New Zealand :: PAN-AMERICAN AIRWAYS has been awarded a certificateby the Civil Aeronautics Authority to allow it to operate on the route from San Francisco and Los Angeles via Hawaii to New Zealand. Western Airways - ^ IT is reported that the Barnstaple Chamber of Commerce hasdecided to support the application of Western Airways for permission to operate an air service between Barnstaple,Swansea, Cardiff and Bristol. --• • • . ' - • Let There be Light r FLYING-BOATS starting from a South Coast port for Egypt,Africa, India and Australia need no longer have their windows obscured, the Air Ministry having given permissionfor the removal of the black-out. "A. Viator" has some- thing to say of the luxury of being able to look out of thewindows on the Amsterdam-Stockholm run. - ;, Trans-Canada Air LinesT HE response of the travelling public to the services offeredby Trans-Canada Air Lines considerably exceeded expec- tations in 1939, states the annual report. The load factor :for all schedules during the year was 56.1 per cent, and planes flew 3,125,393 miles in 19,499 hours. Less than 2 per cent.of scheduled mileage was cancelled on account of adverse weather. Mails carried totalled 452,899 pounds, and express-freight amounted to 45,819 pounds, in 10,897 shipments. The totai number of passengers carried was 2^569, the averagepassenger journey being 559 miles. At the end of the year personnel totalled 497. Flying equipment has been satisfac-tory, and the service h'fe of the engines may prove to be nearer 6,000 hours than the 4,000 hours originally anticipated. Trans-Canada Lines now have routes totalling 3,644 miles, covering 9,044 scheduled miles daily with eight round trips. The report forecasts increased services to take care of thegrowing traffic. Plans have been made for the establishment, in the next few weeks, of a second trans-continental trip- .During the summer, Toronto and Windsor, Ontario, will be linked by a double service, with a stop at London, Ont.,and a third trip between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto will be operated. The company's application for the right to flybetween Toronto and New York and Toronto and Buffalo is now being considered by the U.S.A. Civil AeronauticsAuthority at Washington. Canadian licences Ijave already been granted.
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