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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0054.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY GTH, 1947 CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. JOINT OWNERSHIP Suggestion to Facilitate Private Flying AS a firm believer in the wide possibilities of joint ownershipof private aircraft as a means of enabling many more people to fly, I think that the setting up of a simple organization tofacilitate this end is justified. I therefore invite anyone in any part of Britain who wouldconsider sharing the upkeep of any type of aircraft with others in his locality, now or in the near future, to write to me givingthe type(s) of aircraft in which he is specially interested, nearest principal town, and any other relevant details. Potential joint owners will thus be able to get in touch withothers in their district with similar interests. If a permanent register of potential joint owners can be kept, I think that auseful service will be rendered to private flying. Correspondents are asked to enclose a stamp with allenquiries! J.HENDERSON. 94, Bellevue Road,Edinburgh. " " NAMING CIVIL AIRCRAFT It All Began in 1920 OEVERAL of our friends in civil aviation have drawn my>J attention to the articles Flight published during November and December with regard to the naming of civil aircraft.They all think that reference might have been made to the fact that the first company to name aircraft in Great Britain wasthe Instone Air Line—as early as 1920. v I notice you have included in your list the Vickers-VimyCommercial, which you rightly describe as The City of London, but our D.H.4S also had names, and in 1922 the complete listof names of aircraft of the Instone Air Line was as follows: — City of London (Vickers-Vimy 10-seater, 700 h.p.).City of Glasgow (D.H.34 10-seater, 450 h.p.). City of New York (D.H.34 io-seater, 450 h.p.). City of Paris (D.H.34 10-seater, 450 h.p.).City of Neivcastle (D.H.34 10-seater, 450 h.p.). City of Chicago (D.H.34 10-seater, 450 h.p.).City of Antwerp (Vickers-Vulcan 8-seater, 350 h.p.). City of Brussels (D.H.18 8-seater, 450 h.p.).City of LiSge (D.H.18 8-seater, 450 h.p.). City of Ghent (D.H.18 8-seater, 450 h.p.).City of Liverpool (D.H.18 8-seater, 450 h.p.). I thought you would like to be reminded of these names asthey certainly made civil aviation history at the time. ALFRED INSTONE, Vice-Chairman,(S. Instone & Co., Ltd.). THE FLYING CITIZEN An " Unfortunate Error " Indeed I AGREE with Mr. J. S. Pole's remarks in Flight, December19th, relative to the daily Press treatment of aviation accidents, and am reminded of an incident illustrating thelack of thought in publishing reports of accidents or mishaps, the cumulative effect of which, though trivial when consideredindividually, does harm to what is still a new mode of transport. About twelve years ago Red and White Services, Ltd., ofChepstow, took over the booking agency for passengers for a cross-Channel air ferry service between • Bristol and Cardiffoperated by Western Airways, Ltd., and I, as advertising manager for Red and White, flew over from Cardiff to Bristoland back on the inauguration flight, and later sent a brief account, to most of the South Wales newspapers to publicizethe service. My writhe-up included mention of the comfort, the cheapness,and convenience of this new inter-city connection, but what I enlarged on most of all was the safety factor, pointing out thatWestern Airways had operated services involving a total of thousands of miles without even a mishap. My write-up waswell reported in all the papers to which it was sent, but one local daily, while devoting nearly half a column to it, printedin the adjacent column a report of a French air disaster, which completely negatived the insistence on the safety factorand accident-free record of Western Airways emphasized in my article. I protested to the publication concerned and received an apology and an explanation that it was an unfor-tunate error in make-up. Well, it did no harm either to Western Airways or to Redand White, but as Mr. Pole mentions in his letter, the impor- tant thing is not to draw disproportionate attention to theaccident factor. M. HUGHES, Advertising Manager, J. Brockhouse and Co., Ltd. Safety Record of AirshipsW ITH reference to J. S. Pole's letter in Flight, Dec-19th, the memory is stirred by the even greater raw given to the airship by the Press. ^.j In point of fact, the airship is the least offender of any formof transport with regard to accidents. To give a few facts, few people are aware that of the 17 rigid airships flown be-tween the years 1917 and 1930, only two, i.e., R.38 (lost through structural failure, August 24th, I92r) and the R.101(lost through excess weight, October 5th, 1930) were subject to disaster. In both of these cases their shortcomings wereknown long before they met with disaster, but owing to unfair prejudice holding up the necessary research work, nothingcould prevent their end. The aeroplane is fortunate in having every scientific assist-ance given her, but even so, brand new aircraft have met with a rapid end, to give a Short Shetland, and'a pressurizedairliner taking off, as examples. Throughout the entire world airship accidents (over a periodof 30 years of constructing all types) could be counted on the fingers of two hands. Of the three chief airship building nations, Great Britain,America and Germany, only seven airships met with di|aster in the years between 1921 and 1937. These accidents were : GreatBritain (R.38 and R.101), America (Shenandoah, Akron, Macon, and the semi-rigid Roma), Germany (Hindenburg). The Hindenburg was the only German commercial airshiplost since Count Zeppelin's earliest types; of these, 13 were lost out of 25—not a bad effort for a beginning! In this last war only one American blimp out of countlessnumbers used for Coast Guard work met with an accident. They still have the German LZ126 (Los Angeles), built in 1923,and the all-metal Z.M.C.2, of entirely American design, built in 1928. No wonder then, the airship has had a raw deal, and thepublic been bamboozled. In view of the American proposed airship operation in thenew year, still more success is foreshadowed. With a speed three times faster than the Queen Elizabeth, and with faresas cheap as £57 10s as against the Queen Elizabeth's cheapest fare of £41, there is plenty of future for the airship. J. H. R. ALLEN. "PROSPECTS AND PORTENTS" Appreciation from a Spuffing AdmirerA S one who had the signal honour of serving for a term ortwo with the admirable Dr. A. M. Sptimng during his period of research at the Montgolfier Institute, WormwoodScrubs, may I say how delighted I was to see due recognition of his valuable work given by "Indicator" in Flight,December 26th. The learned Doctor—or ."Scrubby" as he was affectionatelyknown to us small fry at the Institute—is a man of great per- sonal charm who has always shunned rather than courtei <<|fcSi^licity. So much so, that it was some time before the i*",..ui'C of his earlier activities became known to the appropriate depart-ment which eventually persuaded him to take up residence at the W'ormwood Scrubs establishment. Here he at first con-ducted a close study of cellular construction under the aegis of H.M. Government, later turning his attentions to the possi-bilities of the ornithopter as a handy means of getting over high walls. These experiments were, of course, carried out inthe utmost secrecy and were based on the Doctor's own cele- brated formula, W2 Unfortunately, like many another pioneer in aerodynamics,the Doctor has not yet seen his efforts crowned with the success they deserve, and he is still hard at work in his WormwoodScrubs laboratory. W. SYKES.
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