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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0620.PDF
246 FLIGHT MARCH IITH. other United Nations, especially those of the United States of America, Russia and China. In spite of recent wailings and outpourings of certain sections of the American Press and politicians, it seems fairly clear that in general there is a tendencj' to regard complete freedom of the air as undesirable, even if it were practicable, but the view is quite widely held that right of innocent passage must be granted in all but exceptional cases. If, thus, a large measure of freedom to operate airlines is to be granted, it almost follows that monopolies are likely to be frowned upon. The net- work of air routes that would result from even a limited degree of freedom of the air would be such as to be beyond the practical capacity of any one concern, unless, indeed, that concern be the State itself. If we start with the assumption that the desire of all governments after the war will be to provide the best possible air communications between nations, there must be,' at any rate, limited competition. That would be provided by the operating companies, of two countries working the same routes. To get its share of the traffic, the less efficient would have to improve its services. The General Council of British Shipping is clearly not in favour of monopolies. In that we on Flight agree with the Council. We have always been opposed to them, and when Imperial Airways came into being we made ourselves unpopular in certain quarters by refer- ring to that concern as the '' Million Pound Monopoly Company.'' and Subsidies?O N the question of subsidies the report is almost as emphatic, although it does admit that on certain routes (trans-oceanic) on which long stages have to be flown non-stop it may be necessary to grant sub- sidies. These, it is emphasised, should be conceived solely for the promotion of international intercourse, and should only be large enough to cover the handicap im- posed by the long fuel stages. The suggestion is made that no subsidy should be granted otherwise than through the medium of a formula, which should be pub- lished and which should, the report adds somewhat naively "be incapable of equivocal interpretation." CONTENTS The Outlook ...... War in the Air - - - ' - Here and There - - Fighters and Fighter-Bombers Norway's Air Force - - Aircraft Characteristics - Behind the Lines - Sir Stafford Cripps at A.T.A. Luftwaffe Allsorts - - - - Relation of Height to Pressure Training the Aircraft Engineer - Air and Sea Transport Correspondence - Service Aviation - 245 247 250 252 255 256, a & b 257 25B 260 261 263 264 265 266 Apart from the difficulty of devising a formula which cannot be "cheated," there is always the question of deciding when a subsidy is not a subsidy. Harbours, air ports, fuelling arrangements, radio aids to navigation, and a score of other things do in fact subsidise operating concerns in that they are necessary adjuncts to the service and not, presumably, paid for directly by the operators. Once more, it is a case of international agreement. Let it not be forgotten that it was the subsidising of foreign airlines after the 1914-18 war which compelled this country to adopt a system which was disliked on all sides, but the need for which was obvious if British com- mercial aircraft were not to be forced out of the skies. It is, perhaps, not too much to hope that after this war all the nations, victors and vanquished alike, will realise that there, is nothing to be gained by such subsidy systems, and that agreement may be reached not to start another air race. On the' subject of Government control, the report expresses the view that to retain commercial aviation under the Air Ministry after the war will be anomalous, but no suggestion is offered as to which department should be given the task. We are glad the Council does not advocate the Board of Trade ASYMMETRICAL AMERICAN : A U.S. A.A.F. Fortress on its way home after a raid in North Africa. The huge gash in the fuselage and the almost complete removal of the port tailplane and elevator were caused by a German fighter which collided with the bomber after its pilot had been killed in an attack.
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