EMPIRE FROM THE AIR

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 257, 27 September 1935, Page 4

EMPIRE FROM THE AIR

PHOTOGRAPHIC DISPLAY. ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA. Many thousands of New Zealanders are to be given the opportunity oi visualising, though the medium of t remarkable collection of photographic enlargements to be exhibited in the main centres by the Government, the practical realities of the air routes ol the Empire. They will see models ant large-scale pictures of the powerfu air liners of Imperial Airways, anc bv following the extensive exhibitior through its whole course, gain £ glimpse of the scenic wonders of the route from London to Sydney. The exhibition in Parliament Building aroused great interest amonj: legislators, many of whom returnee several times to more closely examine some of the leading features. The collection has been built up from various sources, and .through the courtesj of the Times, London, it includes not only many scores of highly interesting landscapes, but notable examples of a modern development, infra-ray photography. Among the latter examples is a view of the Himalayas across the plain of the United Provinces of India, the great peaks clearly depicted being two hundred miles from the camera, and the famous Ganges River a dark streak in- the middle distance. The longest and most important air route in the world, from England to Australia—not long hence to extend to New Zealand—passes over countries whose histories have become part of the tradition of our race. The air traveller crosses from Italy to Athens,

on to Egypt, and gains a wider view l of “the promised land than was vouchsafed even to Moses from t heights of Pisgah. Bible readers will be particularly interested m aerial views of Bethlehem, Jericho, Alt. Heimon, the Jordan from the Dead tsea to the Sea of Galilee, and other places familiar by name, but never before : so clearly illustrated, thanks to the aeroplane and perfect photography. ' The journey—and the pictures—is : down' the Persian Gulf, along the lonely coasts of Arabia, Persia, uml ! Baluchistan, to India, thence to the Dutch East Indies, and across the Timor Sea to Darwin, over the interior of the Australian Continent to Brisbane, and finally to Sydney, where “the bridge” inevitably appears in 1 several aerial views of the great city. 1 1 Several highly finished and ilium mI at-ed models of Imperial Airways ma- ' 1 chines are included in the display, but : the most impressive evidence of the power, size, and comfort of to-da\ s air-liner is provided in photographic enlargements over six feet wide, which in addition to what they portray are themselves the most wonderful examples of perfection in the photographer’s art. Some of these enlargements ' are almost stereoscopic in the effect • they convey of the mass and power of ! the great Heracles and Hannibal aero- ! planes, and- the Scipio flying-boats, all four-engined ’planes. The Heracles and Hannibal class carrying 38 passengers and crew of four are the largest ’planes in the world—and the photographic artist has succeeded in vividly conveying that impression. Some largescale interior views of the Imperial air-liners show passenger accommodation roomy and comfortable, bearing a strong resemblance to a first-class railway carriage, especially as there are luggage racks overhead, and ex-

tension card or luncheon tables, though a more novel feature in the photograph is -the large dial at the end of the compartment indicating the altitude of the ’plane at every moment of its flight. There is. a view of the navigation compartment, with the dual-control seats of the two officers, and a multitude of instruments, their name-plates clearly shown in the picture. Attractive coloured posters issued by the British Post Office illusj trate four instinctive eras in the oar- | riage of His Majesty’s mails, com(mencing with the King’s couriers mnkI ing their way through unroaded counI try on horse-back; the Falmouth packets which sailed with the mails from I the Channel port to the Mediterran--1 ean; the more modern phase of overj seas carriage of mails by great liners; and the still more modern development, !of the air-mail leaving Croydon, i whence nine services a week leave for I Empire destinations. Progress lias been so rapid tha't last year Imperial Airwavs showed a 70 per cent increase in business, and it has been necessary to duplicate nearly all services, the route distance operated being over twenty thousand miles. The exhibition gives some indication pictorially of the extensive organisation necessary to ensure safe flying over long routes, vast sums having been expended in the provision of landing grounds, hangars, workshops, fuelling depots, wireless and metorological stations, nightlighting. lighthouses, and even farts in the desert.

The exhibition has been placed in the charge of the Post Office, which proposes to display it in all the principal centres of the Dominion.