CIVIL AVIATION

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 103, 4 May 1933, Page 6

CIVIL AVIATION

BRITISH BEQUEST

DISARMAMENT -QUESTION

LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, March 14. Ou the eve of the departure of Mr. Ramsay. Mac Donald for Geneva ;a letter was sent/to him signed:by representatives; of the entire flying moveiriciit in Great Britain, asking for certainassur- ;- ances 'because of the anxiety with which tho signatories view the efforts which, under the guise of attaining disarmament in .the air,'are 'being mad'o to' place strictures on civil aviation. Su_ch strictures are likely to react unfavourably on' the'enviable position secured by tUis country in thY sphere of air transport and private flying. The letter was signed by forty-nino organisations; it was the first document of the kind for which signatures were secured by the use of aeroplanes.' One pilot was Flight-Lieut. C. S. Staniland; the other was Lieut. S. H. G. Trower, both of whom are on the staff of the Fairey Aviation Company. Time pressed, for three days represented the limit for.-tho coi"t)letion of the. job. Urgent letters warning clubs 'of the arrival of the flyers were dispatched, and arrangements made for warning every aerodrome in advance by telephone Flight-Lieut. Staniland, in a Puss Moth monoplane, toot over tho northern, or longer, route. Lieut. Trower, in a Gipsy Moth, was allotted the southern area. At the. conclusion of the journeys the first pilot back was detailed to call at.aerodromes in the'Tion* don area. Meanwhile steps' were taken to secure signatures that wero available in London itself. Tho aeroplanes started. on. ; Tuesday morning; by Wednesday evening signing was complete; and the letter was delivered to 10 Downing Street in less thaii thirty-sis hours after the pilots had set out. Very bad weather was encountered. The northern pilot covered 900 miles in just, over ]"n& hours actual flying, with fifteen halts. The southern pilot covered \ 450 miles in eight hours' flying time, with ten halts." The leading signatures ate those of Mr. C. B. Fairey (president of the Royal Aeronautical Society), Colonel Mervyn o'Gorman (vice-chairman of tho Eoyal Aero Club), Sir J. Siddeley (chairman of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors), Mr; W. Lindsay Bverard (on behalf of the Air League of the British Empire), and Major :J. B. L. H. Cordes- (Warden of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators of the British .Empire). POINTS FROM THE LETTER. "Though we have every 'confidence

in tho ability of the British delegates to the. : Disarmament' "Cohfetenec j^to. maintain a steadfast "front towards any; suggestions that might have repercussions on-tho safety.; of the Empire and the peaceful progress of British air transport, we believe," stated tho signatories, "that there is some ground for fear that well-intentioned efforts to arrive at a measure of political agree-• ment may be permitted to override tho British case so admirably and clearly stated to the Air Committee of tho Conference by the Secretary of State for Air, and ably supported by the Under-Sccretary. In confirmation o£ the assertion that our position in aviation is the:admiration tit/the world, wo ] would cite;the;le«td in. the export trado in aircraft'rn^terial, wlrich this country, has inaintauied/ against the fiercest opposition for the pasir'four years. T.hat lead, representing a direct contribution to the credit side of the British' balance of trade, and employment for thousaivds of-.skilled workers, depends onja" maintenance of the system which has produced it and on unfettered oppori tunity (for further expansion. "May.we'resjpectfully ask, therefore, for your personal assurances on the £ol« lowing points:— '' 1. That in no circumstances will th« British delegates to the Disarmament Conference be empowered to reach agreements ivnictdo < not eamply- with the conditions ' laid down by tho Marquis of Londonderry in his speech at Geneva on February 20! ; "2. That his Majesty's Government will bear incessantly in mind tho unique •;position: of 'the British j Empire in aviation - while"l considering- any proposals for the imposition .of yet mors control oh the activities pf British commercial and private flyers? "3, That ,no: proposals; lpliich. ;would restrict' the normal progress 'of civil aviation, either by interference with the liberty of the designer or by hampering the free progress■oye'r all .'parts of the world of the. flying:.vehicjey,will receive the slightest Measure of snpport from: hisvMajesty *s .; "4.. Finally that in ao circumstances will -confused: chinking on.-: fhe subject of military ; aud naval aviation and the : influence of- powerful vested interests be permitted;., to. -react disadvantageous-. ly on the rpgit-yfiate-,-. expansion and freedom of', any branch of British Civil aviation 'I "Wa hope and trust that these and many other points of great importance to the future of British air communicar tions may already hare received the closest consideration from yourself and from the members -of^yditr'.'. fJov'ern-. ment. In the belief-tfiat jro.BlWtrald appreciate some . expression p( opinion on a subject- which vis? 01-: Vital import' to/ths whole 'flying1 xoininnmV °t this country we have Ventured- "lo! address this letter-to'you:" >■"■::'.;'.