EMPIRE AIR SERVICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20190, 30 August 1927, Page 10

EMPIRE AIR SERVICE

LINKING UP THE DOMINIONS. BRITISH MINISTRY’S MISSION. INQUIRIES IN NEW ZEALAND. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAT T D, August 29. Mauy details of the proposed Empire airship service were given tils morning by members of the special mission from the British Air Ministry which arrived by the Aorangi from Sydney after having investigated flying conditions in Australia and inspecting sites for the erection of mooring masts. The icrrbcrs of the mission are Group-captain P. I" 1 . K. Fellowes (Director of Airship Development and Commanding Officer of the Royal Airship Works at Cardington), Flight-lieu-tenant S. Nion, of the British A> Ministry and an expert in the selection of airship bases, and-Mr A. Giblett, superintendent of the British Meteorological Office. They are not visiting Australia and New Zealand as advocates of the Empire airship scheme, but are here at the invitation of the New Zealand Government to investigate suitable places for the establishment of airship bases and to advise the Government accordingly. "he visitors went to Australia as expert advisersl in the project, in which the Prime Minister (Mr S. M. Bruce) has displayed a lively and sympathetic interest. Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, and Launceston were visited. Suitable bases had been found at Perth, Adelaide, and. Melbourne, while bases could be established in Tasmania. The members of the ‘commission said that model and full-scale research and experimental work in connection with the scheme 'had now been -ompleted, v d it was hoped that the Home trials of the two 5,000,000 cubic feet airships which will extend over six months would be completed next year. These will be followed by tests under sub-tropical conditions on the England to India route early in 1929, preparatory to demonstration flight- to the dominions. Mooring towe-r or masts would be erected in Canada and in South Africa next year, and demonstration flights to those countries would possibly be made in 1929, Austr -lia and ’ .«r Zealand being visited in 1930. ■ Captain Fellowes pointed out that the scheme could not be introduced in a shorttime, but would follow careful investigations. During the whole of these investigations extensive inquiry into the meteorological conditions in the areas involved had been carried out in . ler to secure economical as well as safe flying. Paralei with this investigation, he said, the meteoroloigcal information distributing centres and wireless system of communication have been started. Should Ins programme realise .its promise it is confidently anticipated that large commercial organisations, perhaps not only in England, but in the dominions, will interest themselves in airshipconstructionand operation. Assuming this development, 1 think that it is reasonable toforecastthat the regular time of passage irom England to Australia and New Zealand wil be shortened by more than half ' uring the next decade. We anticipate that it wiU be possible to plan a time-table on Hie assumption that the regular time of passage between England and Nc v land will be 12 days, and 11 tp Australia. The airships' will offer travellers every comfort, including a large room with suspension floor that - I •* * equal to any ballroom. , , Continuing, Captain Fellowes remarked, that until the airships had proved their capabilities it was only t 0 °^ e J r e c . that commercial people would not be pro pared to put their moricy into TOmrnfircial air lines. He thought that about £1750,000 would be spent during the experiroental Mas.,/ scheme was the testing of thi airships, on the England to India route, whatever route was adopted. Perth would be the first stopping place in a - airships would then fly to the south of the continent unless, of course, eertain c.eau conditions warranted inland flJ in -> Adelaide and Melbourne. Two mm routes were proposed, one by theeaafc and the other by the west coast of A lTwas also learned from Fellowes that airships vvere now being designed and erected on a thoroughly scientific basis. He said that the huge airships now building in England would carry 100 passengers each and would be eaSpped with heavy oil engines. Airdiios P wodld largely follow the routes of sailing Slips, and for that reason South Africa would be an important link in the system. The airship RIOO was bein'* built by the Airship Guarantee ?r&n, "ShC-e. ssast.sS Airship Works near Cardington, Bedford. The full speed laid down in the contract for RIOO was 70 miles an hour at 5000 ft, with a cruising speed of 63 miles an hourThe same requirements were being called for in RlOl. The accommodation would include two and four-berth cabins I™"?®, smoke room, dance floor, and a dining room capable of seating 50 persons. Flight-lieutenant Nixon said that at the inception of the service it was expected that the fares would be about 25 per cen . higher than first-class steamer fares, but gradual reductions would probably come later. The airships would not compete against the steamers, but would cater for different traffic. He fully expected that as soon as the airship service had been established the first-class airship P assa ß« -say, in 10 or 15 years—would cost less than the steamer fares to-day. Questioned about the total cost of the scheme, Flight-lieutenant Nixon _ stated that it would amount to approximately £4,500,000, including all the airships and bases, as well as mooring masts in England Egvpt, Africa. Australia, and New Zealand. * “It might appear a .staggering figure, but when one looks into the matter a little more deeply it is particularly cheap,” he said. , ~ Group-captain Fellowes interrupted the conversation by stating that Flight-lieu-tenant Nixon bad already visited East and. West Africa and selected bases. South Africa and Canada had each ordered mooring towers. There would be no trouble in building airships to meet all conditions of weather, thanks to the excellent scientific and experimental work carried out in England. For instance, with a mooring mast, it only took 1U men to moor or release an airship, whereas in the old days when airships were placed in hangers it necessitated the services of over 100 .men. Ihe whole scheme was purely a commercial development and Group'-eaptain Fellowes was confident that during the next two years the big shripping companies would be induced to take greater interest in the proposal. In Australia it was not necessary to have mooring masts in every large town. All that was required was one mooring mast in the east and one in the west. Once the big scheme got under way the subsidiary services would follow later.