THE AIR SENSE

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17964, 8 March 1930, Page 6

THE AIR SENSE

Colonel A. Brinsmead, the Director of Civil Aviation in Australia, is of opinion that we are on the eve of great aerial developments. He sees indications of an immense advance in services during the next four or five years with giant machines carrying from 60 to 80 passengers each. Such a prognostication a Jew years ago would have been placed in the category of the impossible, hut now few, if any, so regard it, for the development' of aviation has been one of the wonders of the last three decades and all things are regarded as possible in the aerial sense. Recent studies of travel by air have disclosed that nearly 80,000 miles of air routes are regularly traversed. Germany alone has 18,000 miles of such routes, which link up her principal cities and reach out to all the European capitals—a marvellous development since the close of the Great War. In the United States private- organisations operate over 16,600 miles, whilst France is the headquarters of machines with services extending over 12,500 miles; Britain with 5000 miles is a long \Vay down the. scale. Whilst these figures show the' encouragement accorded by ■the several countries to aerial development, they will perhaps be more illuminating if put in terms of miles flown. Such calculations have been published by Brigadier-General Groves of the British Army, in the Journal of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. It appears that in 1928 the miles flown commercially by the United States was 10,472,000, by Germany 6,750,000, by France '4,500,000, and by Great Britain 950,000. Thus the United States, with its transcontinental routes, reports more miles flown than does Germany, with a greater route mileage, but with shorter journeys. Colonel Brinsmead’s prophecy in the face of these facts will be recognised as being well within the scope of probabilities, and we are inclined to the opinion that such development will contribute much to international amity and goodwill, for air travel and mail communications will minimise distance and knit the world more closely together. If there is a Arm, universal determination to preserve peace, aircraft will never be a menace; it is more calculated to strengthen the peace sentiment by creating a better understanding between peoples.