The Air.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20274, 27 June 1931, Page 16

The Air.

A display such as tlio Royal Air Pageant, which is being held at Heftdon to-day, is intended to demonstrate the efficiency of the British air forces, and at the same time to foster air-minded : Bess among the Britislj. people, A great

deal lias been made at various times of the fact that authorities rank Britain's strength in the air as fifth among the Great Powers, but numbers alone do not determine the strength and usefulness of a warlike arm. An indication of the esteem in which British aircraft are held by the other nations of Europe is to be found in the recent action of the Belgian Government in placing an order for £.300,000 worth of British fighting machines after they had proved their superiority in competition with entries from all over Europe, and in a similar purchase of British flying-boats by the French Government. But while such facts as these —together with the triumph of British design and workmanship in the Schneider Cup contests, and the success of the many long-distance flights in British light aeroplanes—are in themselves encouraging, they are not necessary to prove that Britain, instead of lagging behind in the development of aircraft, and in making use of that development, is in reality .in the first rank of the march of progress. The extent to which the British public are becoming air-minded, and the way in vhich they demand information on the subject of flying, is to be judged from the publication of a recent book by Captain Norman Macmillan (An Hour of Aviation: Duckworth), which, besides explaining the technical problems concerned in the operation of aircraft, briefly reviews the whole field of modern aviation, with special reference to conditions affecting Britain. Captain Macmillan shows that communication by air for other than warlike purposes began just before the Armistice, and proved of special use in the negotiations that followed. From these beginnings arose air-transporta-tion services for passengers and mails, equipped with military aeroplanes rudely converted for commercial purposes, with Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Holland first in the field, but with America making more rapid progress in the early years because of her freedom from the military restrictions still in force in Europe. To-day there are thirty-three air traffic companies in Europe, concerned with L.ternational and internal routes, and with Britain, owing to her geographical position, the terminal for feeder-lines. British activity at present is' largely directed toward the development of Empire communication by air, for in dealing with widely separated territories the special advantages of the aeroplane and the in point of speed and freedom of movement canncl be too highly valued. So far, one of the main difficulties met has been the dependence of aircraft on goo 1 veather conditions for successful operation. But all forms of transport—ground, sea, and air—can be held up by bad weather. Shipping may be delayed by storms, road and railway services may be interrupted by slips and wash-outs, and aircraft may be weather-bound. Each of these forms of transport has its special utility and its limitations; it cannot exclude the others, and must ultimately be complementary to them. Enthusiasts have planned a world in which everybody will fly. Their dreams have not yet been realised, but the state of aviation at present shows that tLey arc not altogether without foundation.