Inquiry - and After The great Comet Inquiry is now over. It would be inappropriate to discuss those matters upon which the Court is to pronounce. We would not attempt to try to assess the extent or accuracy of the information which members of the public in this and other countries may have gathered. While some "popular" newspapers have tried conscientiously but hopelessly to interpret the daily official transcript in 250-500 words, others have shamelessly picked this or that isolated remark out of context and endeavoured to build it up into a sensation. If the newspaper stories for the public are all the "benefit" that results from holding such an inquiry in public, it would have been better not to have done so. Aviation has gained little and suffered much.
Spoon-feeding A wave of "flying saucer" stories has lately been sweeping the Iron Curtain countries; they have been so numerous that last week Budapest Radio brought an "expert" to the microphone to explain to the populace that "all flying saucer reports originate in bourgeois countries, where they are invented by capitalist warmongers, with a view to drawing the peoples' attention away from their economic difficulties."
Ambulance, Officer? While a police constable was taking details of a road accident near Tilmanstone, Kent, last week, a U.S.A.F. helicopter came down low enough for the pilot to ask whether any help was needed. Assured that everything was under control, the plot waved and flew off.
Big Lift by Eagle On November 30th, Eagle Aviation will begin a series of 15 flights carrying 540 German soccer enthusiasts from Brussels to Southend. The Germans, who will travel in 36-seat Vikings, will attend the following day's England-Germany match at Wembley. The cost per passenger, including the return flight and hotel accommodation in London, is reported to be only £6 10s.
A French Imposition The French Government has decreed that passenger charges will be levied at State-controlled airports from December 1st. Each passenger will have to make a cash payment before departing on any international journey.
Source: Flight International
