FUTURE AIRPORT

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 5, 4 December 1928, Page 2

FUTURE AIRPORT

PALMERSTON NORTH’S POSITION. ADDRESS AT LUNCHEON CLUB. The future of Palmerston North when it becomes the chief railway centre of New Zealand, and is a central airport, the hub of many air-liners conveying commerce and passengers to and .from all parte of the Dominion was envisaged b> Mr m. a. TTllkif at the Citizens’ Luncheon Club today, when ho addressed members on Palmerston North as an Airport, Air D. V. West was in the chair. . Tracing the development of a.r transport in other countries, Mr Eliott said That Croydon, the ' mam airport in Great Britain, was controlled by the British Government and most of the commerciall flyfng in that country had been subsidised by the Government, There were aerodromes at Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham, S Plymouth and several other cities which although not municipally owned were recognised and in some cases assisted by the cities as terminal acnodromes for their municipalities. Belfast however, hail a municipal airport, and Liverpool Cardiff and Leicester were making pieparations for this purpose. In addition to Government airports, in Germany e\eiy gieat city had provided its own aerodrome. FUTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

The New Zealand Government, at best, might establish ports at strategic locations in the country, but could scarcely be looked to for the establishment of commercial ports in all cities .or municipalities. Intermediate airports along regular air lines would be required in the future in order to insure safety, and possibly this would be undertaken by the local bodies ami financed through the tax on gasoline used by air machines in a manner similar to present highway financing. It seemed likely, therefore, that the larger towns would have to depend on privately controlled airports or else construct municipally owned ones. LOCATION OF FIELD.

Speed was of the essence of air transportation, continued the speaker, and it would be useless to savo an hour or two flying from city to city if the greater part of an hour were consumed travelling from the airport to the centre of the city of destination. The airport should bo on a good highway, and when possible should be convenient to steam or electric transportation, or both. It required telegraphic, telephone and radio service, and a convenient water supply. The site, therefore, should be chosen with care, and be not too far from a town.

It was fairly obvious that any conveyance that would carry men and commodities in comparative safety at the rate of 100 miles per hour must have a place in any civilised country. The main questions were: Would it carry sufficiently largo loads and would the goods be carried safely and oil schedule? “A large modern transport ’plane, weighing 5200 pounds, can carry a load of 4000 pounds. A smaller ’plane, weighing 1850 pounds, can carry a load of 1425 pounds. In Canada the total aircraft mileage has risen from 255, - 826 in 1925 to 829,010 in 1927; passengers carried from 4897 to 18,932; freight and express carried in 1927 \J’were 1,003,384 pounds and in the first six' l - months of air mail operations ending June 30th, 1928, over 90,000 pounds of mail were carried without loss or daniage. During the fiscal year 1926 the United States Government operated air mail flew 2,547,992 miles, over a million of which were flown at night with but two fatalities, and the percentage of ‘on time’ arrivals has crept up until at present it equals mail train records. The machines of the Imperial Airways, Ltd., of Great Britain since 1924 have flown over two and a half million miles and carried 68,000 passengers without a serious mishap, and the increase of passengers carried m the year ending March 31st, 1928, was 47 per cent, over the previous year, with freight traffic showing a similiar increase. It is now generally conceded that the aeroplane is a coming factor in commercial and passenger transportation. Cities desiring to utilise this method of rapid transit must provide facilities for aeroplanes, either through privately or municipally owned airports.” CAPITAL OUTLAY. Tho capital outii.y required depended largely on the area acquired and the price paid per acre. The buildings and equipment at first need not be elaborate. In regard to tho price of land, it should be considered Lliat in a growing city a wisely chosen piece of land was not likely to deteriorate in price and, even if the future development of the aeroplane rendered the large landing field unnecessary, the investment was not likely to result in a heavy loss as the land would bo saleable for other purposes. The Buffalo airport cost 416,088 dollars for the land and 405,284 dollars for improvements. In Chicago about 300,000 dollars had ben spent on the field to date and the proposed new field was expected to cost about 5,000,000 dollars. In Detroit about 200,000 dollars had ben spent on the field and equipment, to date. In Cincinnati tho land cost 250 dollars per acre and the bond issue of 500,000 dollars is expected to cover land and improvements. From information received as to revenue and operating costs of the municipal airports in existence, it would appear that, on a basis of the present development of air travel, the port would not likely pay operating charges let alone any interest on the capital invested. Operating costs were however, fairly low. In Cleveland this was 13.000 dollars per annum; San Francisco 30,000 dollars; Chicago 80,000 dollars; Buffalo 65,350 dollars. What the future would bring forth, however, no one could even guess.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS. Basic requirements for an airport as laid down by the Department of Commerce included a suitable field, well drained with at least two landing strips 100 feet or more Wlde j. an d an unobstructed land area in all directions of at least 2500 feet. Mr Gavin Hadden, a prominent civil engineer of New York, had said that in the next few years the city without an airport would be as much behind the times as the one without a railway station. Mr M. H. Oram, president of tho Manawatu Aero Club, said that the club had practically arranged for the use of a large field near Palmerston North that' had been pronounced by experts as ideal for the use of light planes, and would be available for the use of club members, that field would be available in the meantime, but that would not serve the needs of an airport, and in tho future it would be necessary for the municipality to provide the requisite facilities for an airport. Captain Taylor, an Australian visitor to the Luncheon Club, said that he was not aware of any developments so far as regards landing on tho noofs of buildings, but in London, in order to better provide for the defence of the city, experiments were being made to see if pianos could take off from largo buildings, such as Selfridge s Stores, thus enabling fighting craft to be kept in readiness in the heart of the city. In reply to a. question as to the cost ot the local airport, Mr Oram said that that would depend on the price paid for tho land and other factors. The type of plane they proposed buying would cost about £BOO.

On the motion of Mr W. A.. Waters, the Wiib’s thanks were tendered the speaker for his interesting address, which Mr Waters cnaracterisod as having struck a new note and given them all food for thought. *