COMMERCIAL FLYING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16503, 2 August 1919, Page 6

COMMERCIAL FLYING.

GREAT BRITISH FIRM,

READY FOR DEVELOPMENT. sr TEir.GKArH.— OWN CCIURESrONDEN'I. WELLINGTON. August 1. The possibilities of nit-ships aud aero-lunc-.s m supjiiyiiiß rapid transit for noiilrs, urgently needed commeieial requisites, and. passengers, are now beginnine lo in- roidiscd and it seems sate to predict that it will not be long before swell services are regularly established even in the Antipodes. The latest development in this direction is that the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the biggest concern of its kind in the world. Inis now sent out a special representative to Australia ami New Zealand with the view to starting aeroplane factories in these tit.its. " The company's representative 1-, Mr, C. H. (.'l'eravcll, one of the pioneer pilots of Groat Britain, the number of his certificate being 26. Interviewed in Wellington, Mr. Greswell staled that the purpose of his visit was to investigate the possibilities of commercial aviation in Now Zealand ami sec whether it was worth while lor Ills company to .start an aeroplane factory here. ‘ His company was starting subsidiary companies in every country in the worhWone of iU principal creations being Aerial Transport and Travel Company," Ltd. The machines of the company weie designed by Captain Ceotf. do line iland and, during the last rear of the war, had reached a production of 5000 or 1,00 a week. 'These include the famous DHL the aerial ile luxe which was used for conveyuig delegates' to the Peace Conference between Baris and London and DHI7, which carried 11 passengers with no more noise than that occasioned by a train travelling and equally as eomf,alable. Two of .the DIM machines would be arriving in New Zealand by the Mntatua next week. ‘•During the. war, said Air. Greswell ‘-the attention of manulactnrers was solelv directed to turning out war machines, the two prime necessities tor which are rapidity in climbing and speed. 'They had no opportunity of being able to design machines for commercial purposes, winch must have ab.solute reliability and maximum capacity for weight-carrying. Now the walls 'over aeroplane dcsignets and manufacturers have been given then; chance and wo are concentrating on it. the real commercial machine has not yet been produced, but with the experience trained by the war it will soon make its appearance and big results may he expected. '* . Airships were costly to buy and mamtain and would probably be used tor carrying mails and passengers long distances overseas. Being lighter than air they offered perfect safety in the, event of the engines stopping and by wireless message, could always summon help. Thev wore also more comfortable lor long distance travelling, because they afforded more room.