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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0194.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 26, 1932 AIRPORT NEWS CROYDON •* M—'HE advertised Capetown Air Mail arrived on Tues- V_J) II day, nine days late. The Handley Page 42 Hi " Helena " brought the mail from Paris, the identical machine to take the first outward mail, as far as Paris. So the uninitiated who witnessed both the departure and arrival of this machine really thought that " Helena " had flown to the Cape and back. Capt. O. P. Jones, who has been flying on the African route, came back as a passenger, with a beautifully cultivated beard. On Thursday a certain lady flew to Paris for the purpose of changing her religion in mid-air. The change from the Christian faith to the Moslem took place while flying over the Channel. She was accompanied by three or four Press photographers as well as other passengers. This ceremony had a beneficial effect on passenger bookings ; it certainly was a good advertisement for Imperial Airways. Passenger traffic seems exceptionally good for the time of year, and augurs well for the coming summer season. It is to be hoped that sufficient machines will be available this season to meet the demand, and that services will run to schedule, with spare machines standing by for cases of emergency. If the airline companies see to it that spare machines are in readiness, it would be possible to avoid keeping passengers waiting while some repair is being effected. I should like to draw the attention of Air I'nion to a few points regarding the loading and unloading of their machines. It would seem to be a habit of the company to have the propellers running while the men are working. Surely a serious accident to a mechanic or porter should not be necessary to get this dangerous habit stopped. There is always a possibility of a slip off the steps, or, fully occupied with a task, of walking into one of the propellers. Accidents of this nature have occurred, and it is to be hoped that the revving of propellers during the loading and unloading of machines will be regarded at no distant date as a breach of regulations. The best of men have moments of forgetfulness ! The British Air Transport School of Flying has now 23 pupils, of which 19 are being trained for commercial licences. The company has had extraordinary success since inaugurating its new system of training, which is based on the principle that a pilot's " job " is not the sole object of a knowledge of flying. The company have realised that civil aviation in its administrative branches offers a career to young men which is unequalled in any other profession of the day. We hear that the demand for the services of the British Air Transport Company is increasing to such an extent that they are making arrange ments to open a branch of their Flying School on the South Coast. The traffic figures for the week were:—Passengers, 521 ; freight, 31 tons. P. B. HESTON AIR PARK F -AJOO, the "Moth" of the B.P. (France) Petrol Co., which was sent to Heston for her C. of A. overhaul, was returned to Paris on February 16. On Wednesday, February 17, the coming generation were assisted to become interested in aircraft by Mr. Nigel Norman, who showed round a party of some 40 Dulwich College boys. Many of these were taken up by Fit. Lt. Russell on a Redwing, Capt. Baker on a " Moth," and Mr. Stace on an " Avian." On Friday, February 19, Mr. Nigel Norman also gave a lecture to the boys at their college. On Thursday, February 18, there occurred an incident which may, it is hoped, establish a precedent. The Imperial Airways H.P. 42 (G-AAXE), due to arrive at Croydon somewhere about 10.30 a.m., found both that aerodrome and also that of Penshurst were in fog. He was therefore ordered by wireless to land at Heston ; this he did successfully. Within ten min. of landing all the passengers had cleared Customs and were on their way to London by an Airwork car. The advantage of this method over the old one of using the landing ground at Pens hurst is very obvious. At Penshurst there are no Customs facilities, and an officer has to be fetched from Tonbridge. A car to convey the passengers has also to be sent from Croydon, the total delay in such cases being anything up to three hours or more, whereas by landing at Heston it is quite possible that the passengers were in London even sooner than they would have been if they had landed at Croydon. Maj. Clarke, of Personal Flying Services, recently estab lished what must be a record for the trip to Abbeville and back, on his firm's Hendy 302 (Hermes). He flew there, picked up a press representative who had been photo graphing " a lady changing her faith in the air," during the passage of an Imperial Airways machine to Paris, and returned to Heston in exactly three hours from the time he left. Let us hope that the change of faith was coupled with an increase of faith in air transport, and that thus out of this much advertised stunt we may gain yet another disciple. On February 19 Mr. M. A. G. Scally arrived somewhat late from Dublin, and due to the fog and dusk was unable to make the aerodrome. He pulled off a successful forced landing, however, in a field near Slough, and came on to Heston the following morning. His machine, a Comper Swift (Pobjoy), is the first aircraft with Irish Free State registration letters which has cleared Customs at Heston on its wav to the Continent. .*;.::m.^<„>>t+-^: MAROONED IN THE SAHARA : The three French pilots (left to right) Touge, Reginensi and Lenier and their Farman monoplane just before they started out from Le Bourget on a flight to Madagascar. As previously reported they were forced down in the Sahara and were " lost " for several days. Photo—Andre Courtesy Shell-Mex &• B.P., Ltd.) 178
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