COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17460, 22 May 1922, Page 5

COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT. THE LABGEST PASSENGER MACHINE. (from OTJB OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONIX)N, April 5Amusing stories which prove t a the public are beginning to regard ra veiling by air as a matter of cou s were told by Lord Gorell at a dinne given by the Handley Page CompanyOne passenger from London to he said, on alighting, handed 6d to 6 pilot, the publicity, of the action s owing that the passenger, probably a Scot had had such a comfortable passage that he thought he had been in a taxi. Another incident was that r lady who chartered an aeroplane convey her to Jdarrogate, and, on g ting out said, "Wait, please, old lady of 80 years, on her first air trip, settled down in the machine took up her knitting, which she tinued all the way to Paris. General Sir F. Sykes said he did not often take honeymoon trips, but n thought the air was the only way m which he could thoroughly enjoy a honeymoon trip, and tne Instone lino took his wife and himself to Scotland. . ... , Mr F. Handley Page said British machines had, during -the first yeai s operation of tne subsidised London-r aris service, carried over 12,000 more passengers than the French. X<atest 24-Seater. The three British London-Paris air companies—Handley Page Transpoit, the Daimler Airway, and the Instone Air Line —are competing for supremacy. In addition to the famous pity of London machine and their three Napier D.H. 18 : s, the last-named company now has two of the new - .H. 34 eleven-seaters almost ready. _ Further, .there are new freight carriers and passenger machines being built by Vickers, Ltd., at Wevbridge. These are fitted with the 300 h;p. Eolls-Hoyce "Eagle VIII." engines, and look very much like a flying egg, owing to the curious ovoid form of the fuselage. Meanwhile, Vickers, Ltd., are building for the Instone Air Line a big; 24seater with ' two Napier "Lion" engines. This machine will be a- big advance on all other air liners, being so very economical. In_ actual practice it is expected that it will carry considerably more than 24 passengers, and will have a speed of more thar, 100 m.p.h. This pace seems to be the standard rate over the London-Paris-Brussels air routes.

" Air Taxis " for Hire. Great preparations are being mado- at Croydon, by the Surrey Flyinjr Services towards getting their air'taxicab" organisation ready for the summer. The idea is that almost at a moment's notice any passenger will be able to be whisked at 100 miles an hour to any place in England, or on the Continent. For the Continental work_ tliey will use the famous D.H. 9 machine, Siddeleg Puma engineck The Avro is to fy> t-fli airtaxicab for "home" flights partly because it can land almost anytrhero in a small space, and without relying on finding an aerodrome, can come down close-io any town at which its passenger may want to call. The cost of travel in this way will be about Is a mile—that is about the equivalent of an ordinary London taxicab fare. A special "joyride" machine is to' be sent all round the country, to visit seaside places and important towns. It will take people up for short flights and thrilling spins arid other "stunts," if they want them.

Aerial Orient Express.

The dream . of, an "Ariel Orient Express" ascending from London and trav.el'ing, by stages, at 100 m.h.p., to the eastern boundary of Europe, is now to he realised. The time-table and fares for this Orient air express have been received in London, and the airway was opened on April Ist. The route followed is via Paris, Strasburg, Prague, Vienna, and Bucharest to Constantinbple. During the summer months a business man iii a hurry will be able to step on board an air express at . the London air station and arrive in Constantinople, after a flight of almost 2000 miles, forty fours later, as compared with the train time of four and a-half days. The actual flying time along this great transcontinental airway will be only 24 i hours, the remaining time being , spent for meals . and sleep. The through air fare from London is £37 16s, which is, roughly, 4Jd. per mile flown, a figure which compares favourably with the rail fare by Wagon Lit. Travellers by the Orient air express can book to any town along the route. Flying Doctor of the Desert. ■ To keep in touch with his patients among 1 tne wandering Bedouin j tribes, Dr. Martinet, a doctor in Syria, uses an aeroplane. From his headquarters in Palmyra he flies over the desert, alighting wherever he finds a tribe encamped. His fame as 0 physician has already spread far into the desert, and whenever his 'plane patients flock to consult him. Although his practioe covers a wide area and his nomad patients a r ® constantly on the move, his task is comparatively easy. The clear air of the desert makes it possible for him to see encampments at a great distance. Dr.. Martinet has already flown to and treated over 100 serious cases and many minor ones. Aeroplane Construction. "■ Captain Geoffrey de tho \designer of the .Ajrco and De H. aeroplanes, speaking on "Commercial Aeroplanes," at a meeting of tho Royal Aeronautical Society, favoured singleengined machines, whilst admitting that public opinion may favour the multi-engine type. The latter had generally been found in practice to cost more for construction than t.wo singieengined machines using similar engines, on account' of the necessity for larger sheds, the greater difficulty of handling during construction, and complication of engine controls. It, had similar disadvantages from the point _ o» view of economy in running a service, and he did not think provided any greater safeguard against accident. A two-engined machine, must lie nearly twice as liable to suffer from engine failure, and therefore more liable to forced landings. The monoplane had advantages over the biplane, owing to the smaller surface required and- general fewness of parts, making for robust construction, whue it had been found that the presenoe of the fuselage actually increased the amount of lire given by the wing! when measured I alone. It was now obvious that the" cantilever monoplane had very great promise,, and. it remained to work out the incidental difficulties (such as improvement in rudder and elevator couI'trol) to transfer this promise _ into actual performance. The stability of this type tended to be more marked than the biplane machine. On the question of design in construction, Captain d© Havilland pleaded for simplicity of construction in commercial aircraft, and doubted the advantage of metal over wood. Binding the Empire Together. \Mr F. Handley Page, speaking at a luncheon given by the Directors of Handley Page Transport Ltd., said that the results of commercial flying during the past year were in some respects disappointing. They were taking— a few passengers between .London and Paris when they ought to be carrying them

still farther, between this country and the Colonies. What he would urge upon the authorities was that the lines abroad, the little places we Bad got to reach eventually, should be thrown open to British enterprise and developed under commercial auspices rather than as part of a military unit. If tho little lines like that between Bagdad and Cairo could be developed in this 'way, the inauguration of the great Imperial air highway would be much nearer than if it were left, entirely to military work. For this purpose an educational campaign was necessary, and the best education was to have an interior air line in this contry. If they could make the air lines prosperous _ they would bring in the train of the aircraft industry increased trade between, the different parts of the Empire. He hoped that out of the first year's successful demonstration of flying between London and Paris even those who still sat in darkness would see aerial light, realise that it was the most potent means of binding together the different parts of the Empire,, and show their appreciation by subsidising air lines throughout the Empire, throwing open to commercial undertakings the development or the different links,that would ultimately form part of our great air highway.

Civil Air Chief Resigns. On the ground that the. economy cuts have left "no hspe for a position 'ike mine," Major-Goneral Sir Frederick Svkcs, Controller-General ol Civil Aviatfon since February,. 1919, has resigned his appointment on the expiration or the term for which he was originally engaged. In a-letter to Captain J). Guest (Secretary of State for Air), Sir Frederick says: "I have now come dennitelv to the conclusion that owing to tne very small scale to which you have found it necessary to reduce the Department of Civil Aviation there is no scope for such a position as' mine, and that i would not be justified in continuing even for a year to receuve a salary lor work which circumstances make it impossible for me to perform. I desire, therefore, that my, appointment snould terminate on April Ist, the date originally fixed, but if you think that I can be of assistance in connexion with the reorganisation 1 which you contemplate, I shall gladlv place my services at your disposal in a valuntary capacity. lhe resignation has been accepted.

Great Flying Festival. Next year tho London Air Station, Croydon, is to bo the scene of tllc 6 est flying festival held since the conquest of the air. Conferences are now taking place between the Air Mmistry, the Society of British Aircraft Constructors, the Royal Aero Club, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Air League, to launch a combined week of air events, which shall focus attention on .flying in a way that has been impossible hitherto. The mam feature, staged by the Society of Aircraft Constructors in the great sheds afad factory which fringe the aerodrome, will be an exhibition <Jf every type of modern flying machine —including, it 13 hoped, helicopters. Visitors will be able to step out from the exhibition halls on to the flying ground, and soar aloft in any machine that takes their fancy. While the exhibition is in progress, and .concurrently an international congress on air problems is being he a, the Royal Aero Club is to be asked to organise on the flying ground a series of aeroplane races in which, the world _s speed champions will take part. _ It is probable, also, that there will. be special events, such as an attempt to remain days aloft in a heavier-than-air machine, and break the world s records for duration. As a crowning attraction, an endeavour is being made to arrange than the annual R.A.F. pafieant shall bo hold at Croydon during the exhibition and congross. It is not probable that this great air gala, can take place this year, owing t 0 the immenst9 organisation work, but it is anticipated that it will be possible to fix a date early in the air season of 1923r

j Payment for " What was Left Out." I At a sitting of the Royal "Commisj sion on Awards to Inventors, the hearing was considered 01 the claims of Handley Page, Limited. The Solici-tor-General (Sir Leslie Scott, K.C.) cross-examined Mr F. Handley Page, and suggested that the claim was based on points of detail in design, and not on one great new idea which revolutionised aeroplanes. _ Mr_ Handley Page, in contesting this, said the designing of aeroplanes was something like what Phil May said of his sketches: "You are entitled to be paid for what you leave out." (Laughter.) The Solicitor-General: Tou are entitled to an extra pound for that. That j is a very happy remark. | Mr Handley Page said it was difficult now to realise the atmosphere of ! secrecy that prevailed at the time be-: ' tween the Admiralty and contractors, j His company submitted designs which ! were checked by the Admiralty ex- ; ports. "For one Shakospeare who wrote a play there have been thousands of critics since," he remarked. • The Solicitor-General: What I am suggesting is, not that we also were Shakespeares, but that neither you nor we were Shakespeares. (Laughter.) The Commission decided that evidence regarding a seaplane designed by the Admiralty, and alleged to embody the same principles of design as tho Handley Page machine was irrevelant, as it was not common knowledge. at the time.

overseas settlement ®ould be carried out. ; In the King's Speech, a Bill was promised to give effect to the policy agreed upon at the Imperial Conference. It will, no doubt, be the function of the Imperial Government to co-ordinate the measures suggested by the Australian representatives, and by the Canadian Government, which also has a committee dealing with the same subject. Further, financial provisions will be necessary to enable Britishers to settle down in other parts of the Empire. ' • '