RAPID GAINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19732, 29 December 1926, Page 8

RAPID GAINS

FRENCH AVIATION COMMERCIAL LINES SUCCESSFUL. REMARKABLE SAFETY RECORD. Commercial aviation has made considerable progress in France since the war, !according to the French Bureau of Tn- ] (formation, at the Beginning of the pre- i ;spnt year there being no less than i I thirty-seven aerial lines running on rt- ! igular schedules. I The activity of the “Transports i Aerie.ns” company, at first connected \ w'ifh the War Office, made possible the i creation of a State Secretaryship for ; Aeronautics, but t.he different branches I of aeronautics, however, have not been | united yet, and the four sections of j aviation—military, naval, colonial and | commercial—are still connected, with | four different Ministries: War, Navy,!, Colonics and Aeronautics. A connection between them is estab- ; lished, it is shown, but rather imper- • fectly, through three central services < under the control of the State Under- ; Secretary for Aeronautics: Technical : Service of Aeronautics, Manufacturing < Service, National Office of Meteorology. Nevertheless, airplane manufacturers being thus encouraged and advised, and production being to a certain extent supervised, the output is more regular and the aeronautic.nl industry is nowworking on a safer basis than ever before. it is declared. Airdromes and emergency stations ] iwith telephones' and repair shops have , been built. Landing places, it is point- I led out, are of three kinds: Emergency | Handing grounds, stations and aerial i ports. An emergency landing ground usually covers about twenty-five hectares acres), and has a watchman ■ with his residence on the spot. Airmen [find there a telephone, the necessary .equipment for summary repair work, and also a supply of gasoline and oil. I A station fias a better equipped reipair shop, a more important supply of I gas and oil, shelters and a wireless sta- ; tion. Stations close to the borders have ] a customs office besides. j An aerial port is nothing else than a station, but its equipment is more complete and the landing ground is much larger. At the present time, there are in France and in North Africa one main port, two secondary ports, nineteen stations, twenty-three emergency landing grounds, seven bases and one seaplane port. Safety Rate Tripled in Year. The bureau, describing the progress in aeronautics, continues: “A scientific co-ordination of all avaition services and also improvements in industrial methods have given very good results. Aerial transportation is now no less secure than and just as regular as any other, The percentage, of punctuality for the whole year is as high as 98 per cent. Accidents are less and less frequent. In 1922 twenty accidents !causing loss of human life occurred, while the distance covered 3,500,000 ! kilometres. In 1923 there were twelve I accidents for a distance of 3,900,000 j kilometres, which represents one person I killed for a flight eight times around I the world. j “The coefficient of security for 1924 Hs three times higher than in the pre- [ ceding year. Such splendid records are I a sure proof that French air machines I are more and more reliable, that the I aerial service is methodically organised, • while the professional ability of pilots is an additional guarantee of security. “During the year 1924 French avia|tion made new records and audacious flights, among which the following arc particularly remarkable: ‘Captain Pelletier d’Oisy, Paris-Hanoi-Peki ng-Tokio: Paris-Shanghai (16,450 kilometres, or about 10,220 miles) in 90 hours of actual flight, with 14 ’stops; Paris-Tokio (21,000 kilometres, or about 13.000 miles) in 122 hours of actual flight, with 20 stops. From Paris to Shanghai the flight was made with the same plane, the same motor (not one part being replaced), the same pilot and one mechanic. It is one of the most remarkable achievements in aeronautics. “In 1925 Captains Lemaitre and Arrachard made a non-stop flight of 3400 kilometres, or about 2100 miles, from Etavipes (France) to Villa Cisneros (750 kilometres, or about 465 miles, from Dakar, Africa). This non-stop flight is the official world record. Motors Show Improvement. ’ “Such records speak well for I France’s airplane industry. Improvements in the motors and a considerable (increase in power also are factors of no ismall importance. A few figures given i here below sum up the technical pro'gross made since the war:— I Power of motors: 1919, 300 h.p.; 1924, [4BO to 500 h.p. Duration of flight: 1919. 50 hours; 1924, 200 hours ( completed), 600 hours (maximum). Average speed: 1919, 110 to 130 kilometres an hour; 1924, 180 to 220 kilometres an hour. Non-stop fight (completed): 1919, •i3lO miles; 1924, 373 miles. ■ i “A model aerial line is now being . ; created, and it may be taken for grantr. ed that the work will be performed . rwith the most painstaking care. France already possesses at Le Bourget, ; i which is the aerial port of Paris, one iof ti’e be£t equipped aerial ports in the : world. Its equipment includes a large building in which are located offices for (the iua.n.ogement, a waiting room for •passeuger,a reading room, post office, an • exchange office, etc. Lately a restaurjant and customs offices have been established. Besides, and in order to make sure "of the physical fitness of pilots, ( an office for physiological tests and i studies has been created. ! “It is obvious that landing stations [on aerial lines cannot have as import- . ant an equipment as aerial ports. However, some landing grounds and aerial [depots are being created close to some u big cities on convenient spots. “At present the five State subsidised » companies for aerial transportation are j [trying to establish connections between i Paris and the main capitals of the world jand to organise a Mediterranean aerial ' system so as to connect France with the [’Near East and South America. 1 “The Soeiete Air Union takes care lof the traffic on the Paris-London line. 3 i “The Soeiete Generale de Transports j [Aeriens operates the Paris-Brussels-j ! Amsterdam line. I “Airplanes of the Compagnie Francoj Rumaine make the Paris-Prague-War-i saw run and Paris-Prague-Constanti-linople. Seaplanes of the Aero-Navale i connect Antibes (France) with Apaccio ’ ; (Corsica) and will soon make the con- - nection of Bizertc (Tunis). . I “Airplanes of the Compagnie Gen-

erale d’Entreprises Aeronautiques (Latecoere lines) by from Toulouse to Casablance (stop at Perpignan, from where there is an aerial connection with Marseilles and again Casablanca (Morocco). “There are also the lines Alicante- ' Oran and Casablanca-Oran.