PILOTS OF THE TWILIGHT.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19413, 12 September 1928, Page 7

PILOTS OF THE TWILIGHT.

I Trend Of Aviation, . i. • •- . ■ ——/ . ■ , AN AGE OF ACHIEVEMENTS, To New Zealanders in their little corner of Umpire that is passed over, in the main, by "the major events of the world -~be they catastrophes, visitations, or Peace Pacts—there have ; come reports of the marvellous development of civil aviation, and * while this Dominion has a fleet of its own 'planes, concentrated mainly in Christchurch, they are by no means "the lust word" in aerial development. But even so the familiar B.H.9 J 8 and the > Wigrain Avros are still things of wonder to many people, and while the globe-trotting Englishman and the American tourist look at an aeroplane only if they think it is going to crash, we . in New even we in erase our necks in the street or open the office window when the hornets , drone by. The fact is we are not yet familiar enough witii 'toem 1 to have acquired that blase de»eanour\ that marks ifce cosmopolitan, Gradually, however, we are developing in "air seme/' to make use of a recently-coined phrase, iad already there are > private owners of aeroplanes in this iuig outpost of Ip' J/ pire," This interest in aviation has no doubt beea stimulated hy. the formation inihe various centres of ifor© Clubs aad,-eye&if these dubs are at present as wingless as our the time should not be far away when they wiU become 4ft the eagle ' and soar blithely oVe?: mountain tops—or at any rate, over the Canterbury Plaias for a start. m , Aaofiber factor, however thjat has b«fe» iwtrujn#ht4l in bringing the advantages aid of action before the public and which, indeed, was the stimulus that brought' Aero into existence^,was the number of, record-breakfog aftd:

COURAGEOUS tfMOHTS; We have, for instance, the spectacular achievement of Lind* bergh, who flew from JTew York to Park, and the wonderful lone hand Might from England to Auttraliain his. tiny Moth—a flight wWch was over almost before people knew that Hinkler was Snaking tke journey, Thig achievemefat was really the duseicia test of the light aeroplase.There hay« beea veryman# other plueky some by womeaj aa 4 aoi all o< them have boen crowned with success, but space does not permit 'of a review of these, An 4 are Smiti , and his companions in their giant monoplane, the 99^hi; * part wireless will play in dvil aviation, This flight will be Jfew Zealand's first glimpse at firfl hand of aviation-;<w'it»: largest, • and most elaborate scale, and it wity no doubt,, inspire confidence in the hearts pfmany who Have regarded aeroplanes witi a tjmidity and who hav hitherto shown a marked prefeience for what Mrs Malaprop would have called, terra cotta. This flight fc iu marked contrast to fha Previous il|»fated atisiffljpt made last yfar by lieutenant Moncrieff dnd Captain Hood to fly over u stretch of sea that has long been looked at -Skance by aviators, Just as Stinkier demonstratedthe practical valu* of the Ugiht craft, so has Kingsford Smith ihowftttat tho cotonerciai . aeroplane of the largest type is a practical It is tiw ■ consurtPJattos of Tennysoa's dream expressed in the wonderful cadences of''toeksley Hall." For 1 dipt into the Future, far as human eye could see, \ Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be ■■ i • i 1 • i"' Saw thVheavens fiU witb argosies of magicsails, Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly ■ . bales. THI WAR STIMULUS, • > v \ Tennyson also saw a ghastlier phase of aerial, development, but civilisation is making an earnest endeavour, let us hope, .to " prevent a recurrence of the grim struggles of other years--which would, with aviation at its present Of aer ; . veloproent, bring our world shattering about our ears, And yet it was the last war that is really responsible for, the advanced stage that aviation has reached to-tey. When the battle flags were unfurled it became clear that ,the struggle would be one of the whole resources df one nation against those of the ; other, and &e greatest scientists, tho greatest inventors, and the cleverest mechanics concentrated all their efforts on produc. ing a means of warfare more effective than those employed by the enemy. Here the possibilities of aviation became apparent, and from the crude machines somewhat resembling "daddy long , legs" that were used by Bleriot and Wilbur Wright; were evolved, tho Bristol Fighter, the Avro, and the De Haviland types, and o the German Taube and tJie. Fokker, and countless others that> "rained a ghastly dew" upon cities and Army bases, , , * IMPETUS TO GIVIWSATIOK Since then the aeroplane has skimmed over the impenetrable ice barriers of the North Pole; the Atlantic has been crossed and it has soared over the Sahara Desert where only the > camel dared venture; it has'#roasedAfrica from Cape t» Cairo, over the country that Livingstone and took wearisome •; months to penetrate, Andnow .tiiere- & ordinary routine 1 Of transportation service O® fijeed schedules over airways that ' strealrthe skies of Europe andAmerica.l#tb«reanyepoch in • history that has been so sudden in growth frem birth tq wtfversaJ ■ achievement? Just asthe past gencration was born to steam, accepting railway transoortation as aii accomplished faci "and just as the present generation has accepted the motorcar, so Will the rising generation lift up it* eyes to the skits. It is certain that the aeroplane will give even a greater impetus to. civilisation thantlid -IfiiMiaw reliefis needed such as in Ce*u>riulieWle. of tH s J ck. it is the aeroplane.that wiU surely be called upon to do.the greater worfc 4