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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1403.PDF
MAY 9, J94° 437 COMMERCIAL AVIATION ~: ''~""A. Viator" on the Importance of the Atlantic Route : To Hollywood in " 3| Days : May Day and Casting a Clout : Hunting the Clipper THE powers that guide the destinies of civil aviationin this country seem to delight in dealing it blowafter knock-out blow. There are to be no British sen ices across the Atlantic this year because there are no flying boats to spare, these having been collared for mili- tary service. Now that is all very well, but in a well- organised war the troops have their own lorries, and it is not found necessary to deprive the public of buses along vitally important routes. [What about Green Line coaches?—ED.] What route could be more important than the Trans- atlantic hop, and what could be more depressing for Air- ways Corporation, whose whole organisation, pilots, crews, ground staff and so on, is ready and waiting? Commer- cially, too, it is a disaster to leave the whole thing to the progressive and enterprising Americans, and in my humble view it is all extremely unnecessary. Everybody, except the Directorate of Civil Aviation seemingly, has been aware for a considerable number of years that there was pretty sure to be a war, and there should now be no shortage of boats for essential routes, for these should have been earmarked long ago by a Directorate of Civil Aviation, strong enough and deter- mined enough to say to the Brass Hats: " Hands off civil aviation, which is economically important to the nation." I am fairly certain they would have had the support of those Ministries concerned with spreading propaganda (if any) and with Economic Warfare. A Qood Beginning There seems to be no definite Airways Corporation move from Heston to Gatwick yet, though I understand an advance landing party consisting of the Catering Dept. of A.C. was seen there some short while back, presumably testing the specific gravity of the local beer, a question quite definitely and specifically of great gravity. When I last passed Gatwick in the train a couple of crows were gravely examining the landing surface and there was no other sign of life. They were pecking at the place in a dissatisfied manner, very like Government Inspectors and just as pompous. I hear that the A.C. London-Lisbon service will not start until the company is installed at Gatwick. That is a pity, for May 4 was, I believe, announced fairly firmly for the opening of this service. K.L.M. is now carrying passengers to and from Lisbon regularly, and I hear that passenger bookings are good. Some ingenious guy has arrived at the conclusion that if you happen to need a Hollywood film star over here in England, for one thing or another, it is easy by the com- bined Dutch and American lines concerned. Going the other way, in case Mahomet will not come to the mountain, you can leave London at 4.30 p.m. by K.L.M., sleep in Amsterdam, leave next morning and arrive in Lisbon around tea-time ; embark 8 a.m. next day by Pan-American Clipper, arrive New York noon next day, spend five hours there, then away by T.W.A. Skysleeper for Los Angeles, three-and-a-half days in all. Once in Hollywood you take a cab and call on Miss Garbo, who sends out a message that she wants to be al-o-one and the butler heaves you on to the sidewalk, but it does show what modern science is capable of, does not 't i The first through-passenger (not a film star by thew ay) arrived in England from New York by this -line on May 6. Despite the ancient adage about not casting a clout (Anglo-Saxon; heavynge a halfe brykke) until May is out,w e British have an unconquerable conviction that topical weather starts on May 1 with the advent of the first snow bunting and the earliest icepecker. Government departments cut off the hot pipes with gusto and a spanner, for example, even though the scene may be one of Arctic desolation, and when we were their tenants, serfs, or villeins at Croydon, all you got from the steam heating system on or after May Day was a sinister hiss and a, couple of mocking gurgles, and much the same answer was obtained on the 'phone when ringing Dept. Dir. Hot Air and Letting Off Steam. One bitter spring I visited this elegant functionary in his resplendent office in Whitehall to complain, but he was able to demonstrate that his own hot pipes were turned off. He then commenced to outline the views of His Majesty's Government on the matter, but most of his remarks were drowned by an office messenger with half a hundred- weight of coals, which he poured on to an immense fire, the bars of which were already white hot and the chimney on fire. Officially it was nice and warm at Croydon that year, but icicles hung from all our ears and a snowdrift impeded our passage to the bar. In that drift an eminent member of the community (now an enemy alien) became serni-per- manently upended, exhibiting only the soles of his feet garnished with rubber heels bearing the legend " Rum- ramph's (foreign made) rubbers make you walk on air," which was exactly what the guy seemed to be doing, his feet going feebly through the motion of a short country stroll of an inverted nature. Then one who knew him well said he was semaphoring for a double, and the Scottish mixture was administered through a tube regularly until the thaw. • Then again there is that business of turning out on May 1 in snow-white cap covers which all air transport people do in order to avoid being bowled over by the sunstroke epidemic which attacks black homburg hats from May Day onwards. Foreign air line people argue that the function of the white cap cover is to protect the head from heat, and not to form a basis for miniature snowdrifts as one walks about the tarmac in " Joly, joly springe." Playing the Qame It might be a good thing, nevertheless, if certain Civil Servants were issued with panamas or boaters on May 1, for they certainly seem to go queer at this time of year, possibly due to ultra-violent rays piercing their black hats. They are addicted to all manner of May games r' this time, such as Blind Man's Bluff (I don't see the point of yours of the umpteenth ult.). Odd Man Out (or back Thursday fortnight), Hunt the Clipper (or what of our Transatlantic services?), and Kick in the Chin (or what the Internal Air Line operators got). But, after all, they are jolly decent chaps, and we must never forget that some of them have forsaken modest salaries to join up (in what have been called the non-com- petent branches) as Major-Generals and Admirals. We all go a trifle haywire in spring, and here's my con- tribution : — Deputy Director Glue Wore a hat of blackest hue And under it a Piltdown skull No wonder he was deadly dull. Now he's Air Vice-Marshal Glue Superior to me and you His hat's a thing of echoing brass With underneath—the same old Ass. Dodging a well-deserved fusillade of missiles, I hurriedly change the subject, to record the inauguration on May 1 of an extra Sabena service to Brussels, which has necessitated a change of timetable. Departures from Shoreham are 8.45
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