THE AIRPORT ISSUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25394, 27 November 1943, Page 6

THE AIRPORT ISSUE

Sir,—lt is difficult to imagine the bold effrontery of “ Costly Transport,” who, in his latest letter, states that, as a layman, he does not presume to criticise the expert opinion of Harbour Board officials, yet he attempts to discredit the use of the southern endowment from an airport point of view without the opinion of air experts as to its suitability. In his attack upon Mr H. M. Mackay he persistently quotes his contention that an aircraft is 40 tons weight to the square foot, as against one ton to the square foot of a building. Heaven help aviation if aircraft weighed 40 tons to the square foot! The comparison of the landing impact-weight of a machine with that of the stationary weight of a building is simply ludicro'us, and is a typical example of the extent to which your correspondent’s opinion is unbalanced. His vain repetition of a costs comparison of 250 to I has already been exploded by Mr Mackay. Is this another of his “ unanswerable arguments ” ? Mr Skinner gave an able reply to Mr Thompson on this question, and “ Costly Transport" would be wise to remove the blinkers from his eyes, get down to facts, and cease misrepresentation of articles taken from American and other Journals which are altogether beside the question under review. He now assumes the role of defending counsel for Mr Thompson, whose latest high-handed attack upon the Mayor of Port Chalmers Is looked upon as mischievous, arbitrary, and repugnant to every member of the Harbour Board and public generally. The views of ” Costly Transport ” on the airport issue are only made to create a diversion, and will not In any way affect the ultimate aim of all citizens who desire to see Dunedin again taking her place among the progressive cities of the Dominion.—l am, etc., Propeller.

Sir, —My colleague and I have read witli interest all the /letters concerning the airport issue. Your correspondents appear to have forgotten ffhe original subject and diverted their attentions to a little private argument about the strong words and expressions they have used to describe each other. As we have spent many years making an intensified study of aircraft, aerodromes and air transport, we are justified in believing that we know something of the subject. We suggest that some of the critics of air transport should try to realise that we are living in 1943, when aircraft have proved themselves a safe and speedy means of transport, and not in 1914, when to get an aircraft off the ground was a feat in itself. Aviation is revolutionising transport throughout the world, armies are being carried and supplied by air, and countless civilians have been evacuated from war-threat-ened areas by the same means. During this war great advances have been made in aircraft design and safety devices. Surely no person imagines that the lessons being learnt now will not be used in the further development of air transport when victory is ours. In our opinion your correspondents have been persons with little, if any, knowledge of the operation of air ports or air services. May we clarify a few points which appear to have confused your correspondents? From the tone adopted by " Costly Transport ” regarding the cost of freight transported by air as compared with freight transported by sea, the public might be led to believe that coal or phosphates, etc,, would be carried by air. Air transport is essentially a means of conveying urgently required freight. Industries are unlikely to use air transport for ordinary freight, but will use -it for the special classes of goods requiring speed in delivery—medical supplies, engineering parts, newspapers, samples, mail, scientific apparatus, etc. The time saved in forwarding such articles fully compensate the extra cost. One wonders if “ Costly Transport ” would be willing to pay the extra penny to forward an urgent letter by air mail.” Your correspondents, and no doubt the majority of your readers, have been misled regarding the cost of carrying freight by air. Although the present cost of freight-carrying by air is fairly high, when compared with freight carried by sea, the costs of air transport will inevitably be reduced as aeroplanes become larger and methods of handling freight more efficient. The cost of operating a freight airline is not high, as the following figures show—they were contained in the 31st Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on May 27, 1943:

Total Operating Cost Length of Flight. Per Ton-mile. 1.000 miles Is 4d 2,000 miles Is 8d , 3,000 miles 2s 8d These figures are calculated on the operations of well organised British and American air lines, and will be lower than the equivalent in New Zealand. Several people have considered the project of building an aerodrome at the site of the upper harbour. This, we consider, would not be practicable. A good commercial aerodrome requires an. operating area of approximately 1000 acres, without any obstructions within a radius of five miles of the airfield. There must also be buildings for accommodating and servicing aircraft, adequate buildings for loading and unloading freight, and faculties for dealing with passenger traffic. It will be necessary to have good road and rail connections with the city. Concrete runways will be a necessity in the very near future, and it will be necessary for them to have a length of not less than 4000 yards. Taieri airport as it is to-day, bounded on all sides by river, roads and railway line, will be useless in years to come as far as transport aircraft are concerned. The Avro Lancaster bomber which visited this country and flew over Dunedin on June 13 of this year, would have found it impossible to iand there. Great Britain is to-day producing the Avro York, a transport version of the Lancaster, which is classed amongst the medium-sized transports. It would appear, therefore, that Taieri airport need not expect any aircraft larger than the twinengined types which it handles to-day. The Otago Harbour would not be very suitable for a seaplane base, because of insufficient clear water and because winds blowing off the hills would make landing and taking-off operations difficult. If Otago is to have any part in future aviation in New Zealand an airport capable of handling any type of landplane must be built. If this is not done, Otago will, of necessity, never be served by any aircraft larger than the little Lockheed 10-seat passenger and mail plane which serves it to-day. Let us look to the future and stop bickering over hasty words. We hope we have helped to enlighten some of the public of Otago regarding the use and future of air transport.—We are, etc., Two Air Transport Supporters. Dunedin. November 26.