The Aviation World

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20596, 21 June 1930, Page 32 (Supplement)

The Aviation World

PRIVATE FRYING.

PROGRESS Ifcl ENGLAND.

! Privatb flying, as distinct from commercial aviation, ,is being carried out in Great Britain to-day to an extent .which is.unequalled anywhere else in tho world. That is tho amazing truth, borno out by official statistics, which'may well bo responsible for opening up a now era •in industry, and which finally destroys the legend that English' people are not airminded.

England to-day has tho largest aero club in tho world, the Hanworth Club, which, within six months of its foundation, has 1 more than 800 members. The demand for light aeroplanes has increased to such an extent that at : least one noted firm of.aircraft manufacturers has resorted to mass production to keep paco with its orders. Almost every town of any importance in Great Britain is now negotiating for its own aerodrome. # Many of them have aerodromes already in existence, and tho negotiations in sixty cases are nearly complete. A detailed survey of England is being conducted by National Flying Services, Ltd., with tho object of linking up the whole country in a network of emergency landing grounds, in addition to the aerodromes proper. Plans for the Future.

Emergency landing grounds are being discovered at tho rate of seven or eight a week, and it is intended that a pilot, wherever ho is flying in England, shall always be within' fifteen minutes' flight of a recognised landing ground. _ A further scheme to link up every important town in England by means of air-taxis with Croydon Aerodrome is now in embryo, and should bo fully completed this year. Tho Air Ministry official figures show that last year 611 "A" licences were taken out by amateur pilots, an increaso of nearly 200 on the figures for 1928. A further striking feature revealed is tho remarkable enthusiasm with which women are supporting flying. More than forty licences have been taken out by women pilots in tho last three years and the number of women who are undergoing instruction at tho different aero club.? in England runs into hundreds " England is at the beginning of _ a flying 4 boom ' which is almost unimaginable," said an official of National Flying Services, recently. "The membership of tho five aero clubs wo control, four of which have virtually only ju3t started, far. exceeds 1500, the majority of whom are flying members. At Hanworth wo have passed out sixty-four pilots for their 'A' licences during tho winter months, which I believe is a world's record for the timo of tho year. Almost all our " garages " for private aeroplanes are already booked, and will have to be increased enormously, aud at Hanworth we have two hundred people learning to fly at the present moment." Air Pageants.

" Men predominate at tho week-end, bnt there is no doubt that the women have been fired by tho call of the air and the exploits of other women pilots, such as Lady Bailey and Miss Winifred Spooner, he said. " Every week-day you can see at least a dozen women enthusiasts undergoing flying instruction, and we have nearly eighty women flying • members, at the Hanworth Club alone. ; " Eighteen air pageants, as distinct from any service one, have scheduled to take place in England this summer, ten of which wo are organising, while the remainder are being conducted by focal aeroplane clubs. This in itself testifies to the increasing popularity of flying, as almost all the entrants for the pageants aro amateur owners." ■ An official of the Royal Aero Club stated that tho membership of local aero clubs not connected with the National Flying Services amounted to nearly 3000, and was promising to double itself. " Every club in England reports that it can hardly keep paco with the demands for instruction and hire of machines." he said. " Private owners now uso their machines regularly for week-end trips and for their holidays, not in isolated instances, but in scores of cases."