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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1218.PDF
382 APRIL 23, 1940 red carnations, Anthony Eden hats, umbrellas and hang- over cordials in the Savoy bar. Civil aviation is not, and should not ape, the Civil Service, and there should be no one in the shop who is too proud to get behind the counter and sell a man a super seat in a super tram with wings, or to quote some possibly illiterate tradesman for cargo space to accommodate half a ton of pig's bristles. Aviation people, like leather curriers or curriers of prawns in tins, are simply tradesmen, but in our business you must be a bit of a showman, too, and not ashamed to do a spot of window dressing. There's a yarn of one of these pink carnation lads trying to sell cargo space round Covent Garden, Smithfield or Billingsgate way; a boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth which had somehow lodged athwart his tonsils and affected his accent. The only reply he got from the ruddy- faced, and I must confess, ruddy-minded fruit or fish merchant, was " Lah de—blue pencil dah—Yah! " which is not good for business. Another thing which happened last week to cheer up those who predict the complete decline and fall of all civil aviation, was the appearance in this country of a DC3 belonging to the Irish company Aer Lingus Teorana. It came from Holland, and had been purchased by ths Irish company for work on the lines to the North of England, I believe. I am told that at least one more will shortly be delivered, and that machines of this capacity are needed for the Liverpool traffic, which is quite brisk these days. Don't ask me why the Irish company did not buy Brit- ish, because I don't know, and I'm not guessing, but any- way the machine with Irish registration, and painted the usual neutral "orange" colour, did not stop long at our airport but left for Dublin with its Irish crew. Orange may not be just the exact colour that the Irish company would have chosen, but there is no doubt that it's a fine colour for neutral aircraft, so far as visibility is concerned. A slightly sadder departure from our airport concerned another orange-painted plane, now no longer a neutral though. On Saturday the big four-engined Focke-Wulf Condor, belonging to the Danish company, was taken over by a British pilot and crew, probably the first prize crew ever put aboard an aeroplane for a flight. The Danish Captain and engineer went along too, to the unknown des- tination, and I heard rumours that the very peaceful British pilot who undertook the job was armed with a huge revolver at which he is said to have looked askance until he was reassured by the news that nobody had so much as dreamed of remembering the ammunition. Don't blame me if this is an official secret—all I know is that the bar was ringing with the yarn all morning, so quite possibly it is not true. Maybe the whole thing was properly arranged, with horse pistol, bullet, wad, ram-rod and powder flask. But I feel somehow that Fred Emney should have come into the picture—with a cutlass. A. VIATOR. DUTCH LINE TO LISBON HPHE Amsterdam-Lisbon air route was inaugurated byJ- K.L.M. on April 2, and the first through plane, a Douglas DC3, painted the deep orange colour of the neutrals, arrivedat Sintra (Lisbon) airport a few minutes before scheduled time. It had left Amsterdam at 8.00 hours, and had flownnon-step to Espinho (west coast of Portugal) in 7 hr. 15 min. There the plane refuelled, leaving for Sintra at 17.50 hoursand arriving at 18.55 hours. Owing to the present inter- national situation the aircraft had to skirt round the northof France, cross the Bay of Biscay, make a detour round Northern Spain, all this involving a tremendous amount offlying over the sea (presumably all outside the 3-mile limit). His Excellency the Minister for the Netherlands, Col.Steensma (K.L.M. official), Mr. Vasco d'Orey (head of the local firm which represents K.L.M. in Portugal), the presidentof the Lisbon Municipal Council, Col. Sintra (secretary of the Portuguese National Air Council, Deputy for the Nation,and commandant of the Sintra Air Base), and a large crowd of Netherlanders residing in Portugal welcomed the first Dutchplane to link the two capitals. A rousing reception was given to the popular Dutch hero, Parmentier (of MacRobertson racefame), and his crew, Van Bolkom (relief pilot), Bellm (radio officer) and Smit (mechanic). No passengers were on board this time. However, ten bagsof mail were carried, also some boxes of Dutch flowers, gathered that morning in an Amsterdam garden, and sent by the directorof K.L.M. and the Honorary Consul for Portugal in Holland, Mijnheer Voeterlink, to be presented to the wife of HisExcellency the President of the Portuguese Republic. The Minister for the Netherlands made an excellent speech,referring to the airline as marking the beginning of a new era in Dutch-Portuguese relations. He also announced thatHer Majesty Queen Wilhelmina had been pleased to confer upon two Portuguese subjects the Order of Orange andNassau, Col. Sintra (Commander) and Mr. Vasco d'Orey (Chevalier). The Dutch and Portuguese national anthems wereplayed, and the only discordant note was some person standing at the salute in the approved Nazi fashion. Col. Steensma followed with a well-chosen speech, informinghis hearers that the Amsterdam-Espinho-Lisbon line was only a preliminary to a longer route, Amsterdam-Lisbon-Cape VerdeIslands-Paramaribo, which would come in due time, and for which K.L.M. were having built a fleet of 4-engined aircraftfor the trans-Atlantic section of the trip. While everybody was waiting for the arrival of Parmentier's plane, anotherDouglas DC3 took up a party of Netherlanders for a joy ride. This was followed by a free trip for the Press, and on this tripthe first Amsterdam-Lisbon plane was escorted in. This new airline will mean that Germans can send their mailsand parcels to and from the U.S.A.—for the Dutch plane links up with the Pan-American Clippers service—without fear ofinterference by the contraband control, which is very nice for the Germans if awkward for the Allies. It may present somepretty problems later. SCOTTISH AIR SERVICES CCOTTISH AIRWAYS, LTD., announce that a new servicevJ between Glasgow, North Uist and Stornoway is to be started on April 29. It will operate in each direction onMondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and it should be noted that passengers will require permits to enter the area. The service between Glasgow, Tiree, Barra, Benbecula, andNorth Uist, suspended since the outbreak of war, was resumed on April 16, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Permitsare also required for this area. As from April 15 the schedules are revised for the three other services, Inverness-Wick-Kirkwall-Shetland, Kirkwall-North Isles, and Glasgow-Camp- beltown-Islay. Permits are required to travel on all services except theGlasgow, Campbeltown and lslay route. Cameras may not be carried. The extensions of these air services will be greatlywelcomed by holiday-makers, who taxed the company to its capacity last year on all routes. The new time-table issued byScottish Airways, owing to war restrictions,, does not reveal the times of departure of aircraft. These announcements are heartening at a time when British civil aviation is barely managing to keep its head in the air. Generally, the story is one of shut-down services, and inEngland no fewer than nine operators have been forced to cease their services since March 1. The only services now operatingin England are those linking Liverpool with the Isle of Man and Belfast; Penzance and the Scilly Isles; and Shoreham andthe Channel Isles. In contrast to this serious position in England, Scottish air routes remain relatively unchanged.The pre-war mileage of 2,428 compares very favourably with to-day's total of 2,334. It is a remarkable fact that while England has sufferedbadly, Scotland resumes her air transport activity on a scale practically unchanged from that which existed before the war.Of the operating companies in England which have been obliged, as a result of the Government's decision, to ceaseoperations, only one flew into Scotland, and that was by the east coast route from London to Perth. Of the pre-war airservices which were operated by Scottish companies only the Glasgow-Inverness line has been closed. So Scotland is notdoing so badly, all things considered.
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