CIVIL AVIATION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17235, 15 April 1930, Page 7

CIVIL AVIATION

PROGRESS IN BRITAIN AN AMBITIOUS PROGRAMME (British Official Wireless.* RUGBY, April 13. Among the early developments in civil aviation is the construction programme of Imperial Airways. Before the end of the present year, Imperial Airways will have in use 11 big new aircraft, eight land aeroplanes, and three Hying boats. The eight land aeroplanes are being built by Handley Page; four of them are 40 seaters, and are intended for the European stage of the air routes. They are biplanes, each fitted with four Bristol Jupiter engines, and each having slotted wings. Unlike previous British air-liners, these machines will have corrugated metal fuselages. The other four will be identical, with the exception that they will carry only 20 passengers, tho remainder of space and life capacity being needed for mails and other freight. These are intended for part of the India route east of Cairo. The three Hying boats are built by Short Bros., and these also are fourengined 40 seaters. They are needed for the Mediterranean section of the routes to India and Africa. The weekly air mail to India was speeded up yesterday by the saving of a day, due to the fact that the service does not now include the long railway section from Cologne to Athens. Instead, tho Imperial Airways air-liners take the mails and passengers all the way to Uskub, via Cologne, Vienna and Budapest. The only rail section is from Uskub to Salonika. From Salonika the flying boats cross to Alexandria, land aeroplanes doing the rest of the journey. Alexandria is reached three days from England and Karachi in seven days.