BRITISH AIR LINES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19805, 22 May 1934, Page 4

BRITISH AIR LINES

HIGH-CLASS MACHINES EMPLOYED

COMFORTABLE TRAVEL (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 10. “Diana”.is the “class” name chosen by Imperial Airways for the de Havilland D.H.86 biplane, fastest four-engined transport ’plane in the world, a fleet of which has been ordered for work on the company's continental routes rnd on associated air lines m Great Britain. Eight other names, drawn from classical literature, in accordance with Imperial Airways custom, are reserved for future air-liners of the “Diana” class —which seems to indicate that the company is considering the purchase of two more than the seven at present on order. They are “Dione,” “Doris,” “Dryad," “Draco,” “Daphne,” “Delia,” “Dorado” and “Delphinus.” The first machine, which will bear the class name “Diana,” will be flying again within a fortnight. Following the successful achievement in very quick time of all of the flights demanded for allotment of her airworthiness certificate, the aeroplane was sent back to the constructors for internal decoration and furnishing and for thorough inspection of the airframe and the engines. In the process certain small improvements were made to the external structure which had the effect of still further lessening the parasitic “drag” of the machine, and of increasing thereby the maximum attainable speed from just over 170 to 175 m.p.h. The easy cruising speed is now 148 miles an hour The D.H.86 was originally designed to comply with the conditions laid down by the Australian government for operation of the airway on from Singapore to Darwin anrl Cootamundra (New South Wales). Her outstanding qualities at once indicated other uses, and the fleet now in construction is intended for much work on the European routes of Imperial Airways and also in this country over the lines to be worked by Railway Air Services, Ltd., the concern which associates the four big railway groups with Imperial Airways in the future exploitation of home airways. “Inland” Airways Opened Mr Ramsay Macdonald, the Prime Minister, and Lord Londonderry, Secretary of State for Air. flew to Speke aerodrome, Liverpool, last week to inaugurate the new network of air services which will link Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast, and eventually many other points in the west and north of the British Isles with London and the Continent. Their machine was the new Avro 642 commercial monoplane, largest of the present fleet of seventeen aeroplanes owned by Midland and Scottish Air Ferries, Ltd.; during the afternoon the Prime Minister named the craft “Marchioness of Londonderry.” Mr J. C. Sword, chief of Midland and Scottish Air Ferries, has now reached a working agreement with Mr Edward Hillman, the pioneer of Britain’s home airways, for through connections that will make possible, for example, a journey from Glasgow to Paris in less than eight hours. Similar agreements may soon ~e reached with other of the companies which are entering the field this year. The result may well be a close network of air services all over the British Isles within the next two or three years. Comfortable Travel The Avro monoplane promises extremely economical working. The entire cost of operation, as stated in my last week’s message, is only one penny per passenger/mile with a full load of sixteen passengers on board, and that figure includes provision for everything—fuel, oil, salaries, replacements, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, overhauls, rents, landing fees and miscellaneous disbursements. Nevertheless the machine is fast, cruising easily, at less than normal engine rates, at 135 miles an hour, and reaching a maximum speed in level flight of 160 miles an hour. I had the privilege of travelling with Mr Macdonald in the machine from Liverpool to London, and the experience confirmed favourable impressions gained from an earlier inspection of the craft and its equipment. The cabin is roomy and well-illuminated, providing plenty of leg-room and space for its sixteen occupants. Squadron Leader Males, chief pilot of Midland and Scottish Air Ferries, who was in command, spoke admiringly of the lightness and efficiency of the controls. Though the weath was bad, with driving rain and cloud frequently down to within three hundred feet and less of the “deck,” the machine rode comfortably, without a single unpleasant movement. The journey of 200 miles, by way of Wittering, Lincolnshire, where Lord Londonderry disembarked, occupied only ninety minutes in the air, including the time spent circling the aerodrome on arrival and taxying in to the aerodrome buildings.