THE CANTERBURY AERO CLUB'S PAGEANT THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOTOR

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19853, 14 February 1930, Page 19

THE CANTERBURY AERO CLUB'S PAGEANT THE TRIUMPH OF THE MOTOR

SEVEN YEARS 0F PROGRESS. As3 vi,no»i> f.'ir beyond experiLl sta"<'. « ml :is "• | ' nK ' ru!ous l )r °- tai been mad" in conquering the B arc witnes.-n!g and par'''!oSl , - u,arkttble that, the motor has brought t All progressive countries and ills are striving their utmost to aviation as rapidly as possible " fef (1) reasons and (_) jffenee purposes. Thfrc is ■' universal reali-alion that « L country has a quicker method If transportation than another it has J wrresponding advantage in both loaunTce and war. plight has ever been uppermost n j[ the aspirations of man. The fidit of birds and the rise of gases iu a. air g av " ,() two (llst:inl ' t ■rhooLs of aeronautical thought 30 tars ago- Co "' r™ 111 '" to-day. AeroJuifg and airships are the practical reSofbird flight «nd "smoke" or "gas j£fct'' theories. The aircraft of toiK a wonderful tribute to man's fctrepidity, perseverance, genius and irieutific accomplishment. ■ tke first airship was flown in 1000 |r Count Zeppelin, and the first aeroJ,se in 1!>03 by Orvillc Wright, so we.are now in the thirtieth year «f directed human fliglit. The us.> of flw balloon, however, antedates directed light br a number of years.. During

period .air transportation lias in countries become an established ■AtOd-qf'moving men, mails, morioy, ted merchandise. Aviation made tremen- ««» progress during the years of the Wirt War, when unlimited amounts of were available." The importance wairtraft ua a military weapon steadily with" their efficiency. l 'i ar tho value of airhas been recognised . civilised countries, which have •"•Mused strong military air forces. jmm in military aviation has been the air arm is now in full F*rtWr*&jp with the Army and Navy, CTentnaUy «may become more imgWantiian.either of the older services. 11 now an additional battlefield, *•« of the, air, and nations now have which enables them to make upon the whole of the population of t(, u"try. Th<! attacking aeroSw . S rcu t heights througli rfj? #»a darkness gufded by wireless «a;. ra 4 lo " range beacons to -Sf»ii.r/ IVes ' am ' 'hen back to their "P*»wag bases. Awerift ean transport high explosive "MfSrifU ° £ gr * at ,ve 'g !lt > and all u. a 2ree that; aircraft will be HrfcL i e « OSt im P° rtailt weapons of *■"»« 10 the future. tJZT 1 ? a ,vomlorfu l growth &tat War tT-' e3peciall - v since the " now rec °g ns sed that . mcutls of extending the • *S 1 . nman aetivit . v 0{ a »y vehicle IJe'mrn *' lo eal 'th's surface. ♦ Worl(1 as mcasur ed by h ieinl- to '" av '' 1 fro <» I'laee to place **e'of L? P l y rcduci ' (l through the •inny t . Th and V' C or S anisation of ««4 twiwiJu . :u ' teJorat ion of travel »t J t^?7 ortatl ? n . means acceleration h It, tM} " Aviation is fast bringing ia keener world competition

for trade, and already the greater regular air services are building up aerial "highways of commerce." People of all nations will be able to visit each other more frequently, and so aid the day desire for real world fellowship—a result possible in spite of keener trado competition. A summary of merely a few records and accomplishments indicates the present stage of development of aviation. Among- the great aerial achievements a.i'6 the following:—

(1) Non-stop, non-refuelling flight—--6000 miles approx., Paris to Manchuria, (2) Non-stop, non ; refuelling flight—--420 hours.

(3) Average . commercial speed—l2s miles per hour. (4) Racing speed—3s7.7 ' miles per hour. . (5) Altitude record—4o,ooo feet approximately. (6) Thousands of military 2wd commercial aircraft in use daily. (7) Airship recently sailed round the world. (8) About 100,000. miles of established by various countries, and mails, passengers, and merchandise are being carried in rapidly increasing quantities. (9) Millions of acres of forest being protected. Large tracts of land being photographed for survey purposes, and extensive exploration work being undertaken with aircraft in different parts of the world. In European countries passenger carrying has developed the most quickly. •Government subsidies and monopolies granted have enabled air service companies to give rates about equal to first-class railway fares. There are "approximately 50,000 miles of organised airways in Europe, and other lines extend to Asia and Africa as well. Educational and research work is in progress everywhere, and . the development ia further stimulated by societies formed for the purpose. In Great Britain very little has been done respecting internal air : communication. Recent' reports indicate that routes between England, Scotland and Ireland will be . organised this year. A monopoly in transportation has been given to the Imperial Airways, Ltd., and in flying instruction to National Plying Services, Ltd., both under direct subsidy. The latter has established 32 training centres, which, are replacing the flying club system, and arq given

the subsidies formerly given to the flying clubs. At the Imperial Conferences of 1023 and 102G the development of aviation for the benefit of the Empire was one of the most important matters discussed, and one in which considerable progress has since been made. Sea, land, and air communications are vital' to the far-flung Empire, and great possibilities exist for the closer binding together of the Empire with the aeroplane and airship routes. The airship routes as planned will link up most of the more important Dominions. Respecting aeroplane routes a good start has been made with the line from London to Karachi. This will extend in time to Burma, Australia and New Zea-

land. The Cape to Cairo line is under organisation. Important developments are expected also from the proposed line from London via Faroe Isles, Iceland, Greenland, Baffin's Land, and then southward to the settled parts of Canada. A further advance in British aviation, and one which seems to be destined to play an important part in its future development, is the recent formation of a rich and powerful corporation in England to finance aerial enterprises and generally expand British aviation. This corporation intends to aim at the nationalisation and non-competitive development of the Empire's aviation industry along lines similar to those which have proved so successful in America. Germany. Until recently Germany led the world in commercial aviation, and she still leads Europe with 18,000 miles of organised air routes. All her principal cities and towns are linked by air. In co-operation with Russia, she has established an important airway from Berlin to Teheran, via Moscow and Baku. From Teheran there are lines to Tabriz, Bushire, in the Persian Gulf, and Meshed, on the way to Kabul. These developments in the Middle East are politically important. German aeroplanes fly 45,000 miles daily 011 her air routes. Germany has standardised manufacture to a greater extent than most countries. Her latest aeroplane has 12 engines and carries TG7 people. Trance. The French air force is the largest in the world, and is consequently used as a standard by other Powers. In 1928 she operated 12,500 miles of. airways, including lines to London, Warsaw, Constantinople, North African Colonies, and to French Equatorial Africa. Her greatest air enterprise is

I lie scheme to establish a route to Buenos Ayres. The line is from Paris to Dakar, thence across the ocean to Port Natal, in Brazil, thence down the coast to Buenos Ayres. Italy. Italy operated 0000 miles of airways in 102S, the services being linked up with the European system. Italy has also established an air service to her African Colonies, and to-day is one of the leaders in aviation. United States. In the United States a rapid and systematic development of aviation is taking place, and already America leads the world iy air transportation. The Department of Commerce lias licensed (5245 aircraft, and there are 100 manufacturing firms. It is estimated that 10,000 aeroplanes v. mo built and sold in 1020. .Aeroplanes iiy 00,000 miles daily within the country, carrying mails <o 50,000,000 people. A progressive policy which entails the establishment of 50,000 miles of airways lias been drawn up'for this year. To day the United States has .'>7,500 miles of airways (12,500 outside of America), and with over 10,000 miles lighted for night flying. Aviation ranks as the fifth industry in the country, and consolidation and mergers have been a feature of the past .18 months. Large groups are striving to dominate the industry by combining control of ~oth operation and manufacture. Air-rail passenger routes east and west and also north and south are being organised—passengers sleep and travel in trains by night, and journey by aeroplanes in the daytime. In this way it is possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in 48 hours, approximately 2500 miles. By the end of 102!) it was estimated that there were 1100 airports established—most of them municipally owned. Air traffic of all descriptions is increasing at a remarkable rate, as is shown by the fact that in 1.029 United States aeroplanes flew 101,000,000 miles, carried .'5,500,000 passengers and 100,000,000 pounds of mail, freight and express. FUEL STATIONS. DENMARK LEADS EIROI'E. j Denmark holds rirsl place in Europe II itli regard to the number of fuel stations in relutio'i to registered motor ! vehicles. It ! );1s .j 7(K) stations and 10(5,000 vehicles, making 18.4 vehicles to each station. Thru follows France with 22.1 vehicles to every fuel station, Switzerland with 22.9, and Germany with 23.3. i Holland has 23.7 anil England 27.fj registered vehicles to every .station. In all (Jeriiiany. there are 40,000 fuel refilling stations, and 933,312 motor vehicles. Franee 50,000 and 1.107,000. England 70.000 and 1.860.312 automotive vehicles. The Government of Czecho-Slovakia has opened a new air line between Prague and Bucharest. The recently. purchased Ford all-metal three-engined monoplane is being used on this service. Observations of the weather have been kept continuously for 77 years at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, near St. Albans.