IMPERIAL AIRWAYS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 145, 16 December 1939, Page 15

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS

OUTSTANDING FILM*

All the intimate interest of a visit -to the dispatching aerodrome of a great Imperial Airways flying base, seen in a way that is only possible through the linked sequences of the minutest details of daily routine, that could be visualised only when produced in a special film, is to be enjoyed in the theatrette attached to the Government Court. Viewed as a whole the picture is absorbing. First the exhaustive repair and overhaul routine is shown.. A crank-shaft that is perhaps a thousandth of an inch out of the true in detected and replaced. Every engine is allowed only so many aburs of flight before being overhauled and cleaned. Spare engines and parts seen being fitted, while the stringent overhaul of wings and framework, struts and wires, shows that not the smallest detail is left to chance. The office system is tremendously extensive, and each officer has his special ;ask. When a passenger seeks to book i trip to any part of the 13,000-mile run, where the mails for the last stop are delivered in ten days, it is by no means taking out a steamer ticket. It may not be for many hours that the officer can say whether a late booked passage can be given or not, according to the load of mails. Each mail sack is weighed, but that is not all. Everything that goes aboard the big flyingboat is weighed and checked. If a little girl is to go to Australia by herself, she is weighed. It may be only -JOlb, but not only has this to be added1 jo " the -total weight carried, but her supply of bottled milk. The amount i>f telephoning and checking up before {he total load is verified to avert the oossibility of the few excess pounds that might spell trouble is amazing. All this before the passage can be guaranteed. There is no fuss, because there is no multiplicity of tasks; the fact ihat the responsibility for each link in the chain is specifically allotted is what makes for safety. There is a cross check on even the simplest tasks md results. The captain's is ultimately the full responsibility. In this respect the airship is very much like {he ocean liner, a similarity which is ■arried out in the roomy accommodation and the excellent service. A small out interesting package is the emergency box which contains, in addition to brandy and medical equipment, fishing lines and hooks. Who knows where the ship may be forced to land? This is only one of the interesting and informative films that are being shown to this comfortable theatrette.