THE WAIPA POST Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 27th OCTOBER, 1928. PROGRESS OF AVIATION.

Waipa Post, Volume 37, Issue 2227, 27 October 1928, Page 4

THE WAIPA POST Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 27th OCTOBER, 1928. PROGRESS OF AVIATION.

NOW that the excitement and public interest in connection with the successful return flight across the Tasman Sea has died down, and there is a move in several localities to establish Aero Clubs (the formation of a mid-Canterbury organisation was announced by telegrlaph from Ashburton in our last issue) it may be opportune to mention that few people are aware of the wonderful progress of commercial flying during t'he past year or so. In t'he bulletin published by the Imperial Airways Ltd., of the Airport of London, Croydon, some interesting facts are given. And, be it noted, these facts are not displayed with any great flourish of trumpets, as was the practice formerly. They are just stated as a matter of business. An alteration in the timetable of the east-bound air liners from Cairo; the temporay suspension of the 1.25 p.m. liner on the LondonOstend - Brussels route: these are amongst the notices appearing in a recent issue of the mpnthly bulletin. We learn that since April, 1924, the cross-Channel services have flown 3,367,000 miles, carried 71,587 passengers and nearly 3,000 tons of freight. Night flying, which seemed so astonishing to ,uls in New Zealand and Australia until we read of the exploits of Kingsford Smith and his companions, is an every-day affair in Europe—if the term every-day can be applied to night happenings. A regular night service of fast air liners is operating from London to Moscow via Berlin, the time occupied being 29 hours from Piccadilly. A Waikato resident who, during a recent trip abroad, travelled on this line speaks in glowing terms of

praise anent the comfort, speed and convenience, as compared with the old rail-stemer-rail service. The timetable is: London depart 7 a.m., Berlin arrive 4 p.m. Berlin is left again at 11 p.m., allowing a stay of seven hours in that. city. Flying throughout the night the Junkers allmetal air-liners arrive in Moscow in the early afternoon of the following day. Our informant states that an air experimental service from Moscow to Pekin (or, as it is now officially labelled, Peiping) was running dutring last summer, and next year it is hoped that a regular through night and day service, traversing the whole of Europe and Asia, will be an accomplished fact. So many regular air services are working all over Europe that it is now quite simple to arrange a comprehensive tour from city to city covering the entire Continent. There is already talk of establishing a regular air service between Sydney and Melbourne, and if this eventuates and proves satisfactory it should not! be long before a commercial project for a service between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch is brought into operation, even though commercial flights across the Tasman are not expected to be established for at! least a decade.