Aviation.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IX, Issue 80, 19 March 1919, Page 5

Aviation.

RAPID DEVELOPMENT. BRITISH SUPREMACY. London, March 13. Rt. Hon. J. E. Seely. (Air Minister), in the Commons, moved an Air Vote of forty-five millions on account of the total estimate of sixtysix millions which will possibly be reduced when peace is .signed. It would have been two hundred millions if the war had continued. • Britain started the war with six squadrons, and now had two hundred. She was building 4000 aeroplanes monthly when the armistice ■was signed. Three thousand eight 'hundred of ours were missing m the* war period. , , Three million sterling is earmark-! ed for experiment and research in' civil aviation. He believed that the < proportion of the air to the land; and sea forces would constantly 1 grow. Possibly a few years would 'make the present armies and fleets 'obsolete. The possibilities of carrying mails between Cairo and India were . ex- , 'tremely favourable. The Air Minis-’ try proposed to concentrate their ■ first’ efforts on this route. j Seely added that the whole of the; Air Forces’ resources would re-1 main at- the service of civilian avi-' ation. M e were further advanced . than I any other nation as regards civilian; aviation. j The next duty was to plan aenai t routes at home and abroad. We had! at last got the wireless telephone, i by which in the same operation we ■ could send and receive a message, also many other extraordinary in-1 Ventions of the war time, including ■ an apparatus for taking a series of i photographs at a great height, giv-; •trig a more accurate survey bf_ the i 'land below than months of ordinary.' survey. . j •The Germans were first in the > ‘field in the. direction of wireless but' 'we got the German code, and there-' 'by knew exactly where to attackj their flyers. We were able to direct ■machines from the ground with com-; plete success. j VERTICAL ASCENT AND j DESCENT. j . (Received 19, 9.5 a.m.) ■ London, March 14. ' Secret experiments are being car-' ried out with the helicopter type of. aeroplane, which is capable of ris-l ing and descending vertically and is j able to hover in the air.—(A. and! N.Z.) j