CIVIL AVIATION

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 131, 7 June 1927, Page 12

CIVIL AVIATION

LAST YEAR A RECORD

PASSENGER INCREASE

CHEAPER TWO-SEATERS LIKELY

Ample evidence is forthcoming in the report of the Air Ministry on the "Progress of Civil Aviation" for 1926 to show that flying, both as a means of quick and safe transit and as a sport has made rapid strides in England during the past twelve months, states the "Daily Telegraph." In fact, 1926 stands out as a recor' year in many respects. Take, for instance, the purely statistical side of aviation. It is shown that in 1926 Imperial Airways Ltd. carried no fewer than 16,775 passengers and 679 tons of goods, as against 11,193 passengers and 550 tons of goods in 1925, and if the mileage flown (732,980 machine miles) was somewhat less, this was solely in consequence of the replacement of singleengined machines of greater carrying capacity. ' .jo "Joy-riding" was greater in amount than in any previous year, with 215 000 miles flown and 81,909 passengers carried. Records show that since 1919 the number of passengers in this branch of civil flying has totalled 390,116, but many others have not been reported. A table dealing with the cross-Channel traffic reveals the gratifying fact that the British share of the traffic, which had declined to ol per cent, in 1925, when the British fleet was inadequate^ is now rising again to its former level, and ,;tands at 61 per cent, for 1926. The total numbe of passengers carried by British and foreign air lines to and from the Continent now amounts to 109,634 in five yearr and four months. In regard to the carriage of goods, while imports dropped slightly in. value I from £1,183,175 ia 1925 tq £958,237 in 1926, the value of exports more than doubled in the same period from £403 - | 761 to and the total amount was again, higher than in any previous | year. "The carriage of bullion and gold and silver coin by air," says the | report, "appears to be well established." In 1925 the value carried was £10,040,399, and in 1926, £8,283,498. For the second consecutive year British air transport has the proud record of no accidents resulting in death or injury. Since 1919 a total distance of 5,271,000 miles has been flown, with only four accidents causing the death of passengers, this being equivalent to one such accident in a distance flown corresponding to 52 times round the world at the Equator. There is one fatality in "joy-ride" flying for 1926 to record, the first for flvr years, and of this accident thereport says: "During the course of a flight, which included certain acrobatic manoeuvres a passenger was killed by falling out of the aeroplane. Although each seat of the aeroplane was equipped .with a safetybelt, the passenger was not strapped in before the commencement of the flight." A table relating to officially-assisted light aeroplano clubs shows that these clubs now possess a membership of 1000, and that during last year 10,652 flights were undertaken. SOME ACHIEVEMENTS OF 1926. The report contains special references to such notable events in 1920 as the groat flight of Sir Alan Cobham to Australia and back; the flight to India by the Secretary of State for Air, and Lady Maud Hoarc, to inaugurate the Imperial Airways route from Egypt to India; Colonel Miuchin's flight from London to Cairo in 504 hours; and the remarkable journey to the East which Mr. Stack and Mr. Leeto engaged in in two Moths, :in achievement which easily constitutes a record for light aeroplanes. Of the 208 aeroplanes and seaplanes registered on Rlst December last SIC machines, totalling 50,355 normal horsepower were in civil employment, and the remainder were cxporiment.il machines of military types in the hands of constructors.

On the technical side of aviation the year has been marked by the introduction of aircraft built in nccordanco with the revised policy of increasing tho reserve of engine .power available uas a measure for procuring grcator safety. The modern thrce-engincd aircraft has the advantage, says the report, "Hint with one engine out of commission it has sufficient power to maintain flight, and with only one engine running its glide is gontle, tending to reduce in a great measure the danger of a forced landing." The devclopinout of metal construction and of methods of protecting motal against corrosion are steadily proceeding, and the improvement of control is rcccivine constant attention, "but the problem " it is stated, "is so complex that delinito progress is necessarily slow." The possibilities of tho autogyro and the tailless aircraft are being investigated as control at low forward speeds is ono of tho fundamental claims of those types of aircraft. New types under construction include: Threo-encined boat seaplanes <all metal) with accommodation for fifteen passengers; a twinengincd boat seaplane for the Channel Islands-Southampton service; and a freight-carrying land 'plane. A nc\v specification, it appears, Is being discussed which covers all available knowJedge on commercial passenger types and m which it is hoped to eliminate a great deal of the noise in the passenger cabin. In regard to engines it is stated that, a heavy oil engine „s i l lE ; compressed ignition is now on the test I bench. Owing to the steady increase in air traffic in Europe the use of radiotelepuony on civil aircraft has been limited to aircraft capable of carryinofive to nine persons; and those capable of carrying ten or move persons now use wireless telegraphy, and a special opI orator is carried. The problem of finding a suitable beacon to aid night flying will, it is expected, be solved as the | result ot preliminary experiments with a Neon tube sunk in the ground now being carried out at Croydon aerodrome and it is stated that the outcome of these experiments may have a considerable bearing on the lighting of the Lgypt-India air route. Passengers to and from Croydon will, by tho wav be interested to learn that proposals are under consideration for the lection of under consideration for the erection of an hotel on the northern side of the administration block. AEEIAL SURVEY. Unsuspected uses for aeroplanes arc hinted at in the report. For instance, air photographs," it is stated, "have hecn supplied to determine such questions as the adequacy of I niblie houses in a district." Of a mapping expedition undertaken by the Ai? Survey Company, Ltd., for the Sarawak Government, the report says: "One of the immediate results of. the survey w-is the discovery that many of tho native cultivators had taken much larger areas than the areas leased to them—a dis-covery-which will have its effect on the revenue returns of the Government." Evidence is not lacking that air survey will have no difficulty in standing on its own feet without extraneous aid. At .this moment an expedition sent out by 'the Aircraft Operating Co., Ltd., is engaged in the photography "of 2o'--000 square miles of territory in Northern Rhodesia, for Minerals Separation, Ltd., mid this is believed to be the largest commercial air survey contract which has yet been attempted. At the other end of the scale fifteen square miles of industrial country were photographed for the Rural District Council of Doneaster, and the district surveyor reported that, ia. transferring the re-

suits to the ordnance survey maps, the accuracy obtained was greater than that secured by 'piano tabling, and that there had been a great saving of time and expense. The report recalls tho fact that tho resources of civil aviation wero drawn upon to assist in maintaining communications during the General Strike. The regular cross-Channel air services furnished a link with the Continent, when other regular services had stopped, and the remaining civil aircraft, includj ing "Moths," belonging to light aero- ■ plane clubs, were organised for the distribution of newspapers and mails, etc. In all thirty-seven civil aircraft wer employed in such operations, with forty-five pilots. When not engaged in organising skywriting "stunts" this summer —and Uiese displays are likely to be much in vogue—Major Savage will be perfecting a |;w method of spraying crops with insecticide from the air. Not only is the progress of aviation in Great Britain during 1926 fully reviewed in the report, which is-issued to the public, but aeronautical achievements in the Dominions and in foreign countries during tho same period are also dealt with an a comprehensive manner.