LINKING DOMINIONS BY AIR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 2, 3 January 1936, Page 10

LINKING DOMINIONS BY AIR

Airway of 20,000 Miles

In the jungles ui India or the heart ef Africa you usually can set yuur watch to-day by the roar ul the imperial Airways plane Hying overhead, states “Popular Mechanics '. A single operating company, partly tinauced by the British Government, has the job of linking together an empire that compasses the globe and includes more than 350,000,000 people. From Croydon, London, a netwoik ot miles of airways takes the passenger to any one Di twenty-three countries. Yuu cah fly direct to such out-of-the-way places fcs Kenya, Nairobi, Rhodesia and Tanganyika, in the heart of Africa; or to «uch queer spots as Gwadar, Delhi or Rangoon, in the south of Asia. With fine courage and determination the Imperial Airways pilots are flying aver some of the most difficult land stretches known. For the most part their routes lie in tropical countries, •nt the climate is not nearly as com<r»rtable as in many northern countries. Along the hot desert stretches the Bind feels like a blast • * hot air thrown I Off by a furna'-o. I ;•<I \irw:«;. - < planes fly over long and inhospitable tret. rood deal of the territory is inhabited )y wild tribes and wild animals. Despite all this, the company has proved 1 its ability to carry on a regular and an #tli< tent service. With the aid ot England .s iortmoai ferouautical engineers Imperial Airjays has designed a fleet oi land planes 4nd Hying boats whi' h lull into seven 1 Hasses. Each ship is equipped lor a 1 •articular service. A plane that flies 1 r Africa, for ex miple, i- far different. ( torn the one whi< h is u?cd to fly be4»een Croydon and 1. Bourget, ihtsu 1 Mops have such t-inr.-istu names as : •Hannibal,’’ “bciopio.’’ “At. Manta r ‘Avalon’’. “Diana” and “Bvadicea”. ’ the largest type now in rvr •_ on Im- ' serial Airways is the “ScvlD.” which accommodates fb»»t nim ' «nd carries a crew « t four, th, ~-iptain t trsr. officer, radio operator and Beward. The ‘ S'jllu ’ is a biplane frith four air-cooled Jupiter eng nes, Bi' h developing 555 h”i >e power, cn-H tiding the ship to maintain a crui-iug ! I |>eed of 13l> mile- |wr boui l ull; I I f»aded. the “ScvlJ.i ’ wei bs almost 13’ lons. According to 1 • tick b “Popular Met ha ni'?hips of the I Inperial Airways, as all other Euroloan aircraft, maintain slower ( frhedules than corresponding American i raft. The econon i< of high-speed 1 travel are decidedly again-t the Euro- < •can aeioplane op« rater. One difficult k the delay eßcouiiLcred at the numti•us international b .undarn > Another feason for slower sp< < 1 is the increased 1 hist of aircraft which cruKe at 2911 Allies or so per hour. But probably i the most important con-id, rar. n in the i figh-speed opera:* ••• of I ur* ptiin air- < B-att is the cost of i.d I. Aviation * lusts from two to live times as much IB it docs in the United Slate In the /’art of Africa and in \> a aircrait fasoline is a very expensive item 4 •fill in the matter of speed. Thev are fowl y but surely increasing the speed 1 |f their long-distan< p schedules by •Mining the design of th' ir planes am! mgines. The present speed schedules

along American airways would prove uneconomical under the conditions which prevail in Africa, Asia and Europe. imperial lour-engined amps oi the “Atalanta ’ class weigh almost ■J tons fully loaded, and have a speed ol 155 miles per hour. However, tiiree oi the seven classes ol ships operated by the company have a speed ot 175 miles per hour, which stands up fairly well beside the speed oi American commercial craft. Expansion plans are quite ambitious, j The company is laying a strong founda- i miles long, which will probably be operated in conjunction with Pan- ‘ American’s Pacific line. Jhe result ol j this union wiii be an Anglo-American air line, passing through countries , where scores ot foreign languages are heard. In other words, you will be . able to travel around the world with j English alone. If you travel around the world by train and boat, the situation becomes quite complicated—a different language is spoken at almost every boundary It is no longer a secret that ImperialAirways has under way a new class ol I aircraft of a much larger size than th c | _i.rnt “Heracles" and “Hannibal” j types, whic h have a wing span of 130 I feet and weigh 13 tons loaded The; Bri’.i'b Government is helping to Ini-; am e these “clippers ot the clouds” ; with a great aii-mad programme de I signed to bring all the far-flung Dominions ot the Empire within easy range. According to present plans i there will be no surcharge’s for the carriage of air-mail letters They will! tor the same price as slower ship mails. I'lying across mountains, oceans and cities by night as well us by day, giants will provide |>;.'.-cirgei> [ with all the comforts found on de luxe, express trains. Bangkok, Mam, will ■’ Ihe Far Eastern .-tr lion; tie ate thev wdl connect with the Pan-American j terminus in China. From China to New York the traveller will have PauAi 'erit an Au ways at his sei vice. Ihe system ot controlling Imperial air liners differs quite radically from ill'' system ("inmonly used in America. Uadi . equipment is standard on all . 'hips. Hie captain oi a ship deter-; mines his drift in a strong wind by ' i niiniiiiicatiiig with a ground station. He will say, “Hello, Croydon; Imperial XC calling. Position, please. Hello, Croydon; Imperial XC calling; posi-i t on, please. (XC is the international registration mark oi the air liner). The captain s request is receiv' d simultane- : ously by three ground stations near | the main control station, replies.! “Hello. Imperial XC. switch on.” In ! response, the captain lets his radio I transmitter “buzz” for half a minute . or so to allow- the three ground sta-I tioiH to “listen in’’. Sin-e the three' ’ami stations form a triangle, it is ease “ i them to send straight-line signals •<> t|.‘ oporatmu at Croydon, who compit’s the ships position very quickly! ;• moving strings across the surface of i ■’ h r map. Ihe exact position ot the : air liner is at the point where the I •.-ireo stretrhed strings intersect. The j mi- rma-i.;!! is ra.li.--t--; to the raptaie | in less time than it takes you to read I this.