AIR MINISTER'S TOUR.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18242, 28 November 1924, Page 11

AIR MINISTER'S TOUR.

VISIT TO IRAQ. FLIGHT OVER THE DESERT. (rzoit otra otti; coebesfondekt.V • LONDON, October 16.. Lord, Thomson, the Minister for Air in tho Labour Government, , arrived back from his aeroplane tour of the Middle East impressed with the comfort of travelling by air. "If wealthy peoplo knew how perfectly delightful it is to travel by air," he said, in the course of an interview, "I feel certain that there would be inuch more_ private flying." Tho Air. Minister as his primary object an investigation of the military situation in Iraq where the Turks have _. recently--had ■ to be ■kept iii order by'means ' o£ bombing aeroplanes. Lord Thomson left London on September 17th, and actually started his inspection on September 23rd. He first called at Amman, which is about 330 miles from Alexandria, where he dined with the Emir Abdullah of Transjordania. Forthe first partof tho journey he was carried in a Vickers Vernon machine. He expressed his admiration for the manner in which the nuie Vernon machines which escorted him were .handled. These aeroplanes landed in formation at Bagdad, and he described their manoeuvres in tho air as presenting one of the fiuest "spectacles he had ever seen. He paid that most of his flights were made at between 5000 and 6000 feet, and that at that altitude tho air was deliciously cool and fresh, while the country below was a marvellous sight. • The only unpleasant part was when it was time to land, and the machine glided down from the regions of pure, clear air and alighted on the aerodrome in the blazing heat of the sun, with dust and sand .being blown about, to the discomfiture of the traveller. A kind of furrow in the sand marks the desert routo and guides the pilot for about .500 miles. There are'2o or 30 landing grounds, and special means of refuelling-are provided. The petrol is contained in a tanlf concealed Ulider a concrete dome, which has a metal top. The top is unlocked by means of a special key, and then, as Lord Thomson put it, there issues in the midst of tho desert an astonishing spring of petrol.

The Only Mishap. The Air Minister emphasised the fact that, although many machines were engaged daily in escorting his own aeroplane, and although thousands of landings were made, there was only one slight accident in the whole eight days. This occurred to Lord Thomson s machine when a flying wire broke and the pilot decided to turn baclc. It would have been quite possible to continue the journey with the broken wire, and under ordinary circumstances the pilot would probably have adopted that course. In this particular instance, however, he turned back in order, as Lord Thomson explained, "not to risk the neck of a politician." The breakage of this flying wire was tho only mishap in the whole tour. An example of the pacifying cfiV-t of the presence of the E.A.F. in.lr;,-; was quoted in regard to the. town o; Suleimania, near the Persian frontiei which had been reduced to barely 70 inhabitants owing to the_ depredation of marauding tribes. Now it b»: 12,000 inhabitants, and Lord Thomson had private interviews with the Arab sheiks from the country around, with the notables of the. town, and finally with the merchant?. Each deputation was enabled to speak to the Air Minister in complete privacy, and Lord Thomson said that while he could not repeat thejr statements, the tenor of the three interviews was gratitude to the military forces of the Iraq Government,- while the merchants definitely emphasised that they' could noiv carry on business with freedom from robberv.

The All-Seeing Bye. •'•'There have been-a great many attacks upon the bombing by the. Eoyal Air Force," Lord Thomson• continued, "and I think it should be borne in mind that the bombing has been an absolute minimum, and that the number of casualties has been extraordinarily slight. There'■ is no desire--to bomb or to take any repressive action; the only object has been to maintain law and order, and surely action is amply justified which has resulted in 12,000 people, instead of 700, being able to • carry on their normal life instead of being refugees facing the hardships .of tho. desert or becoming a (Continued at foot of nart colupm.)