The Wanganui Herald {Published Daily.) FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1920. AVIATION.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160739, 27 August 1920, Page 8

The Wanganui Herald {Published Daily.) FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1920. AVIATION.

The ae,rial crossing of Cook Strait on Wednesday by Captain Dickson, who flew from Christchurch to Trenttham in four hours twenty minutes, brings home to New Zealanders the important part that aeronautics is going to play in the future, and reminds them that this Dominion cannot afford to be behindhand in this regard. As a result of the stimulus due to the war, great strides have been made in aerial construction and navigation, and since the signing of the armistice there have been some remarkable achievements by airmen. Although a few so-called “commercial” aeroplanes , and airships have been built, the work during the past couple of years has been mainly in the direction of adapting war types for peace purposes, and using them for special journeys and for mail and passenger services. Throughout the Empire very great interest is now being taken in aviation, particularly In Canada, which during the war had no less than 13,000 men in the air services and 4280 fully-trained flying officers. An Ottawa cable announced the other day that the Canadian Air Board will soon establish a trans-continental air route with express aeroplanes, offering a 50-hour service between Halifax and Vancouver, carrying passengers, mails, and light freight, and that control stations will be established at intervals of 20 miles, with air ports at all the principal cities along the route. It will be interesting to hear what the American authorities have to say about the big scheme of their Canadian neighbours, for there has been a tendency in the United States to minimise the value of aeronautical services. In a recent issue the New York Times, while admitting that the delivery of goods could he made more quickly by aeroplanes or airships than by steamer, provided the former escapes typhoons and great electrical storms, to which they are vulnerable, emphasised the fact that the capacity of both was limited. Moreover, the cost of freight by the air route will, in the opinion of that journal, always be much greater than the cost of the safer and surer sea transportation. “When goods are wanted in bulk, and early delivery is not imperative, the steamship with its lower rates, will hardly have a competitor in the airships.” The Times points out that Britain, the United States, France, and Italy have all cut down their air programmes considerably, while Britain has abandoned the building of several giant dirigibles which it was intended to construct. New York’s leading journal goes on to say: Aeronautical news is baffling at times, often containing more optimism and fancy than unvarnished truth. As carriers the dirigibles are not dependable. R-34 came and went, but narrowly missed an ugly electrical storx& by a few miles. Had she got into the whirling centre of it no one would have lived to tell the story. It is doubtful whether one of these fragile monsters could survive a gale. Certainly a hurricane would finish it. But steamships defy gales and often outride hurricanes, in fact, are seldom in danger except fogs or in uncharted waters where hidden reefs menace them. When one reads that a company is forniing in England to operate airships to the other side of the world and th,e details are unusually “florid,” a promoter may be suspected. of drawing the long bow. At any rate, capital; balks at aeronautics on a grand scale in the present hard-up state of industry. But this is not to say that aeronaut tics on a modest and practical scale should be neglected. Particularly is it feasible and necessary to develop aviation for military and commercial uses, and there are signs in the United States that, although Congress is slow to aid the manufacturer by putting military aviation on a sound basis, the airplane is growing in favour and usefulness.