AIR LINER SERVICES

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1934, Page 6

AIR LINER SERVICES

UNITED STATES PROGRESS COMPARISONS WITH BRITISH. EXTREMELY UP-TO-DATE METHODS. EXPERIENCES OF MR, H. C. WALKER. The efficiency and capability of the air Tines in the United States of America were something to amaze the New Zealander accustomed only to Mom machines capable of speeds up to 100 miles an hour, said Mr. H. C. Walker, Palmerston North, who with SquadronLeader M. C. McGregor spent some time at New York en route to England to participate in the centenary air race. The control methods, speeds and punctuality of the air liners had been to them, sr - - 1 Mr. Walker to a News reporter yesterday, nothing short of a revelation. He stressed the far greater need for British air lines lurking the Empire to be as efficient. H- had been particularly struck by a statement of Colonel Roscoe Turner, /-’erica’s leading entrant in the air race, said Mr. Walker in leading up to his story. Scott, the unemotional Englishman, had concluded a typical speech at a dinner they all attended and was followed by Roscoe Turner, whose arresting dictum on British air lines had commanded a good deal of attention. After commencing by pointing out the necessity for speed as well as dependability in regular service, he had embarked on friendly but pointed criticism. EMPIRE WHERE SUN NEVER SETS. “We in America have our fast air lines across our States, linked up finally in the speedy trans-continental service.” said the American. “Englishmen boast that' their Empire is one upon which the sun never sets. Is it not even more necessary for Britain, therefore, to have air liners of a fast and reliable type to serve that Empire upon which the sun never sets?” fact was, said Mr. Walker, that although Britain was justly proud of her Empire Airways the Dutch and American air lines were superior, chiefly bec—.ce the use of American machines. There was no gainsaying the fact that American aircraft of the high speed, heav’r transport type were superior to British craft, and the organisation was much better. While at New York they had spent mu'-' time at Newark, which was the American Croydon. . Air liners arrived and departed all day long on several recognised routes, of which service the most remarkable aspect was the fact that on all, including the trans-con-tinental line, the average speed was consistently 200 miles an hour. Time-tables were kept up with deadly punctuality, and no one thought anything of it because it had come to be expected. The planes used were high-powered twoengined craft, in most cases, with units giving a total of approximately 1400 horse-power-“In New Zealand we have been accustomed to Moth' planes, and when at Palmr’-ton North some time ago the club purchased a plane that could do 110 r-fles per hour we thought it was great,” added Mr. Walker. “Some indication of the impressions we gained m America can be had from our experience coming from Hawera to New Plymouth yesterday. “We have a midget plane alongside these qir liners of the States, and our speed was only 155 miles an hour instead of 200. The trip from Hawera to New Plymouth, nevertheless, was made in 17 minutes, which I imagine is a record.” RADIO DIRECTION FINDING. “What do you do when the weather is bad and there is no visibility?” was a question asked by the New Zealanders of an air line pilot. “It does not matter if we cannot see the end of the aerodrome,” was the reply, “we take off just the same.” The reason was, said Mr. Walker, that all such planes, besides being fitted with complete instrument . boards, were equipped with beam radio direction-find-ing There was a network of radio beacons all over the States. It did not matter, therefore, what was the state of visibility or daylight. All the pilot had to do was to clip on his headphones and listen. A steady buzz denoted that he was on the correct line. If he deviated to the left the signal received was “dot-dash" or A in the Morse code. If too far to the right he heard “dot-dot-dot-dot” or H. Then all he had to do was to turn his plane to one side or the other till the steady buzz was once more encountered. “Sometimes we get tired of wearing our headphones,” explained a pilot to the visitors. In response to a mute inquiry he explained what happened then. “We just talk to the radio operator below and he tells us exactly where we are and what is below us. We correct our course if necessary and ask again after a while and get our exact position.” The instrument board of the American air liner was a remarkable thing, continued Mr. Walker. In addition to all the usual gauges there were night-flying instruments, dials which registered the degree of a bank and the angle of each wing, and altimeters that warned one of a variation of but a few feet in the altitude. _ , , “We made one .final effort to catch them out,” concluded Mr. Walker, “and put this question, ‘.what do you do when conditions are so rough and the air so bumpy that it seems impossible to «m--trol the plane?’ But it was no good. The reply was made, “We take off whether we can see or not, head in the correct course and then hand over to the automatic pilot, which flies the plane along the beam better and more smoothly in rough weather _ almost than we could under good conditions.”