FLYING IN 1930.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 3, 5 January 1931, Page 5

FLYING IN 1930.

'"YEAR OF AWAKENING."

NEW ZEALAND'S PROGRESS.

SUCCESS OF AERO CLUBS

NOTABLE FLIGHTS ABROAD,

(By H. L. CHISHOLM.)

Reviewed from the standpoint of ; '£Tiation, the year 1930 has been one of and so far as New Zealand is (toncerned, might be described as "a year (t-f. awakening." Along with the scientific and technical which has been made has been :en increase in the safety of flying. The ■public have come to a greater realisation ,of the growing importance of flight, both in -peace and war. More abundant use has been made of the air routes for commercial and postal purposes, and here, in New Zealand, we have had our first experience of the benefits of the air mail. Opening with civil aviation in a very : rudimentary stage, the year closed with . a chain of aero clubs in operation from ,©ne end of the Dominion to the other, ■the inauguration of three regular passenger services and the promise of additions in this direction. The large number of clubs formed in the smaller centres have been brought together under the wing of the larger clubs, as was done at Ashburton, or Ibanded into a group, in such a ws.y •that operations can be effectively carried -out. Palmerston North, Wanganui, Hawera and New Plymouth are now the constituent branches of the Western Federated Flying Club, so that at the present time there are nine clubs working in New Zealand. These have a membership of over 2QOO, and 118 licenses have been issued to pupils of •.the clubs'during the past twelve months.

Few Accidents. Three fatal accidents occurred during ■the year, 'the death-roll being four. Fatality figures should always be considered in relation to the number of mile 3 flown during (the period under review, and when one considers the amount ,of flying which has been done in New Zealand recently, the rate cannot be regarded aB high. Not one of these accidents took L 'ace in the course of a '"joy ride,", or a commercial flight, and the small number of lives lost furnishes an outstanding proof of the .degree of eafety to which the flying machine has been brought. The revival of gliding as a sport in the Northern Hemisphere has had its echo in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island, where gliding clubs have bjwn formed in Auckland, Hamilton, Hawke's Bay and Palmerston North. Aero club conferences which have been held in-Blenheim and Wellington have resulted in the clubs forming a New Zea : land body exercising similar powers to those of the Royal Aero Club, to which it" is hoped to affiliate. Auckland is the .only active club not yet a member of that body, and it is hoped that it will not. be long,before it joins with the others in putting all- .civil flying under a control* ling body' which ''operates ' for mutual benefit. Private owners have become more numerous during the year. Private builders have not shown the necessary qualifications for the construction and .operation of their craft, and there is not .a single privately-built machine flying at it he present .and none has yet reached the stage of registration.

Sixty-five Civil Aircraft. To the -preeeni time, 65 civil aircraft hava been registered, and of these 57" are either at work, in agents' hands, or in process of assembly. Every one of ■this number is of British manufacture, .and 28 of them ar& used bf aero clubs, 13 are for commercial purposes, nine ; are private machines, and the remaining .seven are in the hands of the agents for the various makes of machine. A census of the various types of machine in New Zealand shows that ■there are 38 Moths, 7 Spartans', 4 Avians, 4 De Soutters, 2- Puss Moths, 1 •Bluebird, 1 Windhover, t flying boat and 1 Autogiro. * . , Military aviation in the Dominion has •had an eventful year. Through the efforts of the Director ,of Air Services, Wing-Commander S. • Grant-Dalton, great improvements have been made. The Royal Air Force system of rank-titles has been adopted, the picturesque titles being pleasingly distinct the former army titles. Then in September- the Territorial Air Force was created a wing of four squadrons, replacing the formless body which had previously existed. • , The drastic cut in the amount allotted to the Air Force in the Estimates came as a crippling blow, and it was followed by the announcement that the refresher courses had been, at least, "postponed. The year closes, however, with a Ministerial promise that the Government will accord "every encouragement to the Air Force of the Dominion, and .aviators are hoping that this is a sign that the Government has awakened to the value of air defence. "< Two New Zealand aviators have exchanged the jov-stick for the pen, and Messrs. John Hamilton bave '•Night Raiders of the Air, by Mr. A. R. Kingsford, of Nelson, a former pilot of No. 100 Squadron, and Solo .o Sydney," a very interesting account oi Mr. F. C. Chichester's England-Australia 111 Proof of the wakening interest m aeronautical affairs ill the Dominion is that four New Zealanders have focused the eves of the world upon them as they flew," stage by ' stage, down ; the long trail from England to Australia. .. n* came Chichester, then Fiper and . > and lastly. Garden. Mr. O. P..Pai .vuson, of Auckland, made two-attempts, but both were ended by crashes in France. • . . /" I

Greatest Flights of Year. The Atlantic and England-Australia, those favourite Routes for long-distance livers, have been well patronised, Hinkler's time on the latter route having proved a great attraction. The greatest flights of the year have been Kingsford Smith's 10A-day trip to Australia, Costes and Bellonte's non-stop flight from Paris to New York, the Ixon. Mrs. Brucc's journey from London to Tokio, and finally Amy Johnson's Australian flight.' •'■ ■■' Kingsford Smith's great effort, which clipped five days from Hinkler's : tands above any other flight of 1900, demonstrating again, as it did, what;a > great pilot lie is, and the capabilities oi 4 the modern light aeroplane. After that comes Costes' effort, the first non-stop flight from Europe to the Continent of America, a flight which .cost Nungesser - r«id C'oli their lives three years ago. . I'.'?. Unices effort was. greater, than

that of Amy Johnston, because it was longer, was over a more difficult route, and because of her lack of experience. This list ia indicative of the place which Britain holds in the aviation world, and proves that the excellence of British aircraft, which are exported to 24 other countries, is equalled by the quality of. men—and women—who - fly them.

Empire in the Air. The progress of Imperial Airways during the year has been one of organisation, • which has reduced their previous running time to India by a day, and their service now runs from London to Delhi weekly. Since July, New Zealand business men have been able to use their service for their mail, and further extensions to this air line will increase its benefit to New Zealand. 'India has been the stumbling block,imped" ing the extension of the service to Australia, the Indian Government having been unwilling to allow Imperial Airways to operate across India, preferring to run the Karachi-Singapore stages itself. Negotiations are now nearly completed, .however, and it is anticipated that the machines will be flying to Rangoon by October and little difficulty is anticipated over the remainder of the route to Australia. Imperial Airways have made provision in their estimates for 1931 for the extension of the service towards Australia. The past, year has also seen the completion of the plans for the service to Capetown, the route for which was surveyed by Sir Alan Cobham in 1925, and the machines should be traversing the whole distance within the next three months. .i _ The RlOl disaster has put the question of airship services on the shelf, and the policy which ia to be followed in this .direction will not be known until after the commission has made its report. If, however, we are to have airship services, the halt in the airship programme will prove profitable to the cause of aviation if the result is a greater safety for the services when they do operate. ■ Every advance of the red finger which points the trails of Imperial Airways on the maps increases the value of the services to New Zealand, and 1930 has seen a full year's progress towards the time when the Dominion will be in complete aerial communication with Great Britain. » ' ' -