NIGHT FLYING TO PARIS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 25, 29 July 1922, Page 12

NIGHT FLYING TO PARIS

FIRST COMMEBCIAL TRIPS.

Following upon the night flight' to Paris in a R.A.F. Handley Page biplane of Major-General Brahcker, Director of Civil Aviation—during which the. illuminations of the airway were inspected— the first commercial passenger " air express ". journeys between the two capitals were completed in the early hours, of ,Bth June by M. Eene Labouchere, a well-known French pilot. Starting from Paris at 10.22 p.m. on Wednesday night, at the controls of a .twin-engined -Farman " Goliath " biplano operated by the Grand Express Aeriens Company, and carrying eight passengers in its elec-trically-lit saloon—including one woman journalist—the machine alighted at the Croydon air station at 1.12 a.m. All the airmen's harbour lights, night lighthouses, and special beacons were illuminated to facilitate the journey of the machine. , ' ' ■ „ On approaching Croydon aerodrome at a height of 8000 ft, M. Labouchere switched on two powerful searchlights under the hull of his machine,- and came gliding down with these illuminating a patch below him, and enabling,him to judge accurately-the precise moment of his contact with the ground. After alighting, M. Labouchere explained that the weather had been unfavourable on the first stage of the flight. There had been thunder and lightning between ,Le Bourget and \ Beaavais, also' occasional storms of rain, but the passengers in their armchairs, seated in the saloon, had experienced no discomfort. "With , the1 London-Paris airway illuminated ;as it is now, and with specially-equipped machines, flying by night has become as easy as by day," M.. Labouchere declared. He mentioned that our pilotage light at the Lynipne coastal station was visible to him before.he left the coast of France on the passage above the Channel, while the London air station lights were picked up while the "express "> was flying in the neighbourhood of Tonbridge. , The passengers in the machine, as they alighted, expressed their delight at having witnessed the wonderful spectacle of the night lights of London, as seen from their bird's-eye viewpoint' through the exceptional clearness of the night air. The French ■'" air express" chosen for the occasion is fitted with an automatic device which 'gives it an .inherent stability. The pilot can, in fact/ relinquish his controls while in the air, n and the machine will continue on in flight with i perfect, stability.. A relief pilot and wireless operator, seated be^id.e, M. Labouchere .during the flight, was! in "constant touch with Aground stations, re- j ceivirig weather and other reports from After, .'an impromptu supper' in the Trust House Hotel: at the London airstation, the night voyagers took their again in the ."express."', for the return flight to' Paris. Ascending at 2.50 a.m.,/this, second, night flight 'was accomplished with perfect regularity, and. the machine alighted at Le. Bourge'fc ati 6.5 a.m. M. Hayat, London manager of the Grand Express Aeriens Company, stated that -his.' company intends quite soon; to 'inaugurate a regular night passenger ■'." air express" seryioe between .London and Paris.