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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 2204.PDF
NOVEMBER 8TH, FUG HI North Pacific Economics World Key Route Awaitin OTHER things being equal, the threef essential eleimof economic, long-distance air transport £re :the route distance between termini short as practicable. Secondly, the intermedlate^tages must be of such a length as to permit maximmn^ircraft stowage capacity to be used but, at the sante time, of sufficient length to allow reasonable economy of aircraft performance. Thirdly, there must be populations and production areas at each terminal and along the route. These only can produce and demand the necessary paying load in sufficient quantity. S " In this light let us consider the North Pacific ocean area, in which there has been little development of civil air trans- port except by the Americans. ' The main air link between Asia and the Americas has always, in the past, been via the key islands of the Pacific under American auspices. Guam, Wake, Midway and the Friendly Islands have been natural rafts in a vast expanse of water. Detailed investigation of the matter suggests, however, that this urge for hopping from island to island across the Pacific is enjoyed only by those who have not seriousiyconsidered the practical economy of air transport in that. area. Alternatively, their governments may have neglected to practise the art of diplomacy so that other routes are politically barred. The trans-Pacific island route fulfils none of the require- ments set out in the first paragraph, and an additional reason for its popularity may well be the common use of maps based on the standard Mercator projection. Up to the present, of course, war conditions have prevented the use of any alternative. Even before the war, if consideration were given to a means of flying from, say, China to the U.S.A., pictures of attractive, tropical atolls immediate^ set themselves before the eyes of any promoter so that he became blinded to the cold vision of great-circle routes. Mercator's Deception On a standard Mercator map it appears only too obvious, to those not fully cognisant of the vagaries of projections, that the shortest distance between the Eastern and Western bulwarks of British influence in the Pacific, the Malay States and Canada, is via that convenient string of islands which stretch out across the ocean Eastwards from Asia and terminate in Hawaii. (This discussion, incidentally, is 495 Qreat*Circle Course ouver confined to.that area of the Pacific north of the Equator and consequently Australasia does not come within its scope.) The enormous distortion caused by Mercator's projection is all too easily overlooked because the map, with its parallel lines of longitude, has a deceptive appear- ance of straightforwardness and reliability. Similarly, it appears that the available stopping places are fairly evenly spaced and even reasonably close together, when compared with alternatives in latitudes farther north. It is not easy to assimilate that the stage between Hawaii and America is 2,400 statute miles in length and is one of the longest stages to be regularly flown anywhere in the world. The fallibility of the old Mercator map may be conveni- ently illustrated by making use of a new oblique Mercator projection, produced in 1942 by the late Mr^, A. R. Hinks, of the Royal Geographical Society. Chaffl shows a map of the North Pacific area according to the standard Mercator system. Chart II shows the same area produced by means of the oblique method, having as its central axis a great circle whose pole is 35J deg. N., 2 deg. E. It will be seen at a glance that the great-circle course between Singapore and Vancouver runs along the coast of Eastern Asia, over the Northern shoulder of the globe a little south of the Aleutians and almost along the West Coast of the American continent. The island route via Hawaii is at once put into its correct perspective and is seen in its reality as a strag- gling curve lying far off the direct line. The comparison may be conveniently set out as follows, taking an actual route along the coasts of Asia and North America as near tp-ttte great circle as possible. Continental Singapore Saigon Hong Kong Shanghai Vladivostok Okhotsk Markovo Fairbanks Vancouver Total Route Statute Miles , , . .. 685 .. 935 .. 760 .. 1,005 .. 1,245 .. 915 .. 1,230 .. 1,370 = 8,145 Island Route Singapore Manila Guam Wake 1 Midway 1. Honolulu San Francisco .. Vancouver Total Statute Miles ".'.. 1,505 ... 1,595 ... 1,510 ... 1,190 ... 1,305 ... 2,400 ... 800 = 10,305
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