AIR TRANSPORT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 287, 1 November 1934, Page 7

AIR TRANSPORT

DEVELOPMENT IN EMPIRE. GOVERNMENT AND COMPANY. UNDER-SECRETARY’S IMPRESSIONS. (British Official Wireless.) Received November 1, 11.40 a.m. RUGBY, Oct. 31. A scheme for the further development of British commercial air transport, upon plans for which the Air Ministry, in conjunction with the Post Office and Imperial Airways, has been actively engaged for several months past, will, it is hoped, be revealed within the next month or two. This announcement was made by Sir Philip Sassoon, Under-Secretary for Air, who has just returned from a 19,000-mile flight over fourteen countries. Sir Philip’s journey was made in seven different types of aircraft, civil and military, and he is convinced that civil air transport must in the not far distant future tend increasingly to supplement the older forms of transport. '

During the long tour there were no forced landings; all the flights were made strictly to schedule. The Undersecretary was particularly interested in the development and progress in aerodromes and landing grounds on the India-Singapore section of the route, which, he is satisfied, are proceeding on the right lines. The chief difficulty over this part of the route is the dampness of the aerodromes during the monsoon period, but this latter subject is receiving attention of aerodrome experts. Fortunately, the prevailing winds do not vary substantially in direction, and it is therefore possible to overcome the difficulty by putting down landing strips on the aerodromes. This method has already been adopted at Bangkok with marked success. Sir Philip Sassoon said the civil aerodrome at Singapore was a very fine one. The buildings had been extremely well designed and laid out. The people of Malaya were enthusiastic over flying and realised their responsibilities and the fact that the peninsula must be a link of ever-increasing importance in the Empire air mail route.

Sir Philip expressed satisfaction that the speed race in the great Australian contest had been won by a British machine with British engines, and paid a tribute to the excellent performance of the Douglas machine flown by the very able Dutch pilots; but he did not think they would claim the time had yet arrived when it was possible to contemplate a speed of 200 miles an hour on a regular schedule, flown in all weathers and at all times of the year. The lessons of the race are apparent, but he did not wish it to be thought that any special action on the part of the Air Ministry was attendant on the results of such an event. Referring to the.work on the plans for ordered development, which was proceeding at the Air Ministry, Sir Philip said they had reached the conclusion that the present times between London and other Empire capitals must be progressively and drastically curtailed and that measures must be taken for the further development of air mail traffic in particular. Obviously a great deal of preparatory work must be done and the closest and fullest consultation with the Dominions and Colonies was a necessary preliminary to the final formation of a definite scheme. They had no intention of making their plans public prematurely.

ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN ROUTE,

LINER LEAVES ENGLAND.

Received November 1, 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Oct. 31. An Imperial Airways air liner has left Croydon for Australia for the Duke of Gloucester’s opening of the England-Australian air mail. The machine averaged 160 miles an hour on the journey to Paris. It is piloted by Captain Prendergast.