SPREADING WINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 151, 23 December 1935, Page 9

SPREADING WINGS

OVER SOUTH AMERICA

PLANS FOR BIG EXPANSION

'FRANCE AND AIR MAIL

Since , private enterprises in the United States' girdled the continent ■with regular air lines and' European companies completed air-mail service .to the1 Old World, South Americans, have begun to display an interest in their own national services, says a writer in the "Christian Science Monitor." Both civil and military aviation have fceen tuned up to play their ■ part in ,th.c increasing network of » Pan-American aerial communications. Airmindedness was comparatively late in gripping the southern peoples, but now that the possibilities of the sky route-are appreciated, the Govern-' ments are more disposed to authorise the money, for expansion. The 1936 Budgets of four of the leading South 1 American nations reveal substantial increases in aviation appropriations, with' the money being nearly equally divided between, the civil and military air forces. .'..■, So far, it can be said safely that development of civil flying has beenplaced ahead of the armed services. Demands were more urgent in the commercial field. ; Young countries, with only a minimum of paved highways and railroads, snatched the op- , portunity of expediting connection with their remote trade centres by aeroplane. The money that was first available had to- be spent on 'speedier communication with • the coffee, sugar, and cotton estates, the nitrate fields, and- copper camps and the pampa farms, where the needs were' more ! urgent. Public and private funds ' were allied in this commercial enter- ; prise and; the armed services had.to wait awhile. , A study of the latest South American Budgets reveals that the time apparently has arrived for the de- ' velopment of military and naval avia- ' tiori. Higher commodity prices and • ' improved national finances will assist the placing of the substantial orders in American -and European aviation factories. There have been reports of barter transactions, of trading nitrate, copper, coffee, and even meat for 'fighting aeroplanes, but investigation has proved-that in the main they are impracticable. ARGENTINA'S PLANS. The Argentine Government has asked Congress to spend 22,000,000 pesos : (approximately £1,800,000 at par) on aeroplanes and aeronautical . material for the army. It is planned to reorganise the air service, making1 it a separate service, independent of tlie army and navy. The Government proposes to spend the 22,000,000 pesos on new machines, armaments, and air communications: 7 ' There have been complaints in Chile regarding the use of old material. This was especially true early in the v year and £100,000 was appropriated for the purchase of 20 Avro .training machines in England. It is, anticipated that :mbre orders will be given before the. end of the present year because President Alessandri, a keen student' of': aviation, has promised 'to intervene in behalf of the service's. TKe President recognises that the military and.naval arms, as well as the national civil lines, must be in a position to keep up with the many improvements . ( in.,.the aviation world. Finance Minister Ross has promised co-operation,, arid improved economic conditions will permit bigger aerial appropriations. As a ; result of Nye Committee disclosures reflecting on Chilean aviation officers, the Government decided to bah American tenders for service contracts, but it is obvious that this is not operating today. Three new purtisCoridor aeroplanes, which: recently flew from Chicago to •Santiago, have . been acquired for the national ah; lines, to' add- to. the fleet of Ford tri,/mOtors maintained on 1500-mile service.. » ."; .'.*:'-■ It seems, however, that for the present Chile prefers to buy the greater part of her military aviation material in Europe. Negotiations are reported under way with France for the purchase of ten more aeroplanes, while it is likely that a party of officers now in Germany may be named as a buying commission. The Government; however, is determined to: maintain close' contact with aviation progress in the United States, and it has gladly accepted the invitation to send a mission to the United States for "Aviation Week." Commander Horacio Olivares > will be the chief delegate. PERU'S SPECIALXt. Peru has specialised in business flying, featured by a concentration on communications with those parts of the country devoid of rail and sea connections. There has been practically noncompetition with the railroads. The Government, differing from others 'in the southern hemisphere, has taken the attitude that the aeroplane shall be devoted primarily to the* service' of regions untouched by railroads, excepting those routes linking international communication services. Oil operators, mining engineers, sugar and cotton men rely almost exclusively on the air lines that .radiate from, Lima. As was revealed recently, aeroplanes also carry much of the mining machinery to the high Andean plants formerly sent by mule-pack. .>■ :.'■ Mid-October saw. the formation of a new Peruvian commercial entity capitalised at £120,000, and known, as the Peruvian Condor Aviation Company. Important U.S.-Peruvian mining interests are behind the venture, and Mr. Hugh Wells is vice-president and general manager. Some of the aefo- . planes he brought down from New Orleans for Bolivia (then at war in the Chaco), and which were held up in Lima by order of the State Department are to be incorporated into the new line, More details regarding the company have yet to be announced, but lor the moment it seems as if the ideal solution of an awkward problem has been found—the utilisation of-embar-goed war aeroplanes for a commercial service, America's contribution to South American air development is represented by the Pan-American-Grace Air- , ways. Inc., better known by its abbreviation Tangra"—a word that will probably be found in the next SpanishAmerican dictionary. This company has played a big part in bringing all the republic into closer contact and indirectly contributing to the expansion of their national' air services. Europe's air connections with South America were first established by the Air France, Company, by aeroplane from Paris io Dakar, Africa, by fast packet steamer across the Atlantic to Natal, Brazil, and then by aeroplane down the east coast to Uruguay and Argentina, and across the Andes' to Santiago, Chile. This year saw the European aeroplanes flying to the Cape Verde Islands, transfering the mail to fast steamers there, while aeroplanes on the other side of the ocean met the boats at the islands of Fernando

de Noronha. These improvements shortened the water journey by 750 miles. '■■-.:■■.- ...';■■• WEEKLY SERVICES. The Brazilian Islands,. at one time thought impracticable for land aeroplanes, have had concrete runways constructed, and fast Fokkers now* fly out from the mainland to land there and pick up the mails. The service is a weekly one, and lately the company has been running an all-air service on alternate weeks, including the 2000-mile flight across the South. Atlantic. , This reduces the old minimum of seven to four days for mail from Paris tp f Santiago. 'The French, company aims to eliminate the packet steamer connection entirely. By this enterprise the French have had the cream of the mail-carrying business between Europe and South America, the greater part emanating ftom Great Britain. British trade interests have tried to persuade their Government to, step into competition, but London apparently is more concerned with developing aerial communications with" the Dominions and colonies. The \Germans, on the other hand, have, not missed their * opportunity, . though it was not till late in the present year that they their competition with, the French. In the first place they relied exclusively on the Graf Zeppelin route to Rio de .Janeiro, passengers as well as mail being carried. The time between Friedrichshafen and Brazil is three days. Another i German air linkTwas estab; lished in October by the Condor Syndicate with Junker tri-motored flying ships accommodating "fourteen passengers. The route is .an all-air one, including the Atlantic stretch.' All this development has demanded more and bigger Latin-American airports. It has also emphasised the importance of adopting the Pan-American regulation for transit recommended to the various Government \in Buenos Aires at the Commercial Conference. The .leading capital cities and ports already have spacious port facilities for aeroplanes engaged in national and international services. Airport construction is being, pushed in other countries, notably Bolivia and Paraguay, as they become linked up with the continental systems.. : HUGE AIRPORT PLANNED. An airport company was formed in Peru. 'It recently acquired one million square metres of land near Lima for the construction of a commercial station. "Pangra" aeroplanes hitherto have used the Las Palmas military port, thirty minutes by motor from Lima. The Faucett Aviation Company has its own hangar near the Country Club. When the new airport is ready it is expected >that it will become the civil flying junction. The Argentine legislature is engaged iff studying plans for a comprehensive airport in Buenos Aires, the terminus of four international and numerous domestic lines. The new airport is to be close to Buenos Aires, and on the river bank, with the latest improvements for the convenience of every kind of airship.

Chile has well-organised civil and military airports. The principal international station is at Los Cerrilloss, ten minutes by motor-car from Santiago. Nearby is the Curtiss-Wright aeroplane factory, erected in 1930, but which has been shut down for some years. The Minister of National Defence is considering its purchase.