FURTHER USES OF AIRCRAFT.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16430, 25 January 1919, Page 13

FURTHER USES OF AIRCRAFT.

❖ SOVEREIGNTY OF THE AIR. CONDITION'S OF BUSINESS SUCCESS. (FROM OCR OWN CORRESrONDEKT.) LONDON, November 26. 'About six months ago the report of | tln< Civil Ai-riiil Transport Committee was presented to tho Air Council, and it is oxpectfil to become public property early in the now year. It is understood that opinion ivas j divided on the subject of tho part to bf | taken by the State in the development I of commercial flying, but the principal j sub-commit tee reported in favour of State en'-oiiTyfreme-nt of private enterprise ayainit a State Socialistic experiment. <nOVkiikk;.\ty of the ah:. f Certain (juestions rais-ed at once the initial difficulty of the sovereignty ol tho a ir—that is to say, whether the old doctrine, that tho owner of a jiieee of land possessed rights, usque ad coelum, existed up to tho present moment, and should exist for all time. A convention held in Franco had failed largely over this question, the Germans holding that it was idle to restrict the right of flying over private lands, and claiming "the freedom of the air" in a sense which would allow of machines flying, for examnle. over Portsmouth harbour. / The British delegates took the contrary view, and hold that there must be Fovereign rights in any State to control the passage and use of its own air. Tho commit too has come to tho conclusion that in anv legislation there must be | • an assertion of" the "sovereignty and rightful jurisdiction of tho Crown over the air superincumbent on all parts of his Majesty's Dominions and the territorial waters adjacent thoroto." At present there are no regulations roverninfc fifing on the Continent or foreign flying here. Methods of identification, of inspection, of passports, of Customs, tho provision of landing vta'w and manv other details, require consideration and settlement, also as to whether or not Germany shall take part in i'ne conference. Thyconference ought to get to work soon, in order that the change from military to civil aviation should not be 'delayed, and complicated. THE FALLING MACHINE TO BE RESPONSIBLE. An important point before the committee was the ownership of air "by the individual lntulowncr, and conclusion was come to that no action for trespass should lie, except for material damage, but that a right of action for trespass should include one for injury caused hv the assembly of persons on tho landing or ascent of aircraft Oisewhere than at authorised aerodromes, and in an action for trespass the obligation on tho aviator should be absolute, it not being necessary to prove negligence against him. The committee felt that in the case of a machino falling from tho skies killing or injuring either the landowner, or. say, his poultry. it would be- impossible to prove negligenco on tho nart of the airman, and that in such a case the actual machine causing the damage should he responsible, oven though the fall might be caused by collision with another machine whose pilot was the guilty party. PROSPECTIVE BUSINESS - SUCCESS. In order to ascertain what could be done in commercial transport by machines existing "when the committee was sitting, the second Special Committee took four machines as tlieir standards — the Handley-Page, the de v Havilland, the 11.13. 8, and the Sopwith "Pup." The two types which tho war has shown to he suitable for commercial aviation aro the big Handley. Page and the de Havilland type of large bomber. The J>e H. 10, which is a newer twpe than the De H. 4. is the machine which Mr Holt Jhoinas intends to use in his flights from London- to Paris, while a big Handley- ! Page recently flew over London carrying forty passengers. SOME DEFINITE CONCLUSIONS. In brief, here arc some of the definite conclusions about aeroplanes arrived at by the Special Committee:—l. For eommercial success speed is probably the I most material factor, this tlejjending ' very largely on the conditions of com- , peting methods. 2. Between large i ( centres connected by direct high-speed! railways, speeds of 100 miles per hour are desirable, but for linking places between which the railway service is slow or interrupted by sea crossings, lower speeds will be found commercially prac- , ttcable., 3. At present stages jof about 500 miles would be the normal limit, but commercially it would be desirable ■ that stages should be as long as possible. 4. Existing facilities for night flying should be developed as speedily as possible^—especially for the carriage .-.of mails. 5. Heavv loading is necessarv for commercial success, but as this will; .involve a high landing speed, developwont of land and air brakes is necessary, j ;In" view of certain disadvantages of high-speed landing, efforts should l>o Inade to keep loading as low~as possible ■consistently with securing a commercial of speed, and to provide for aeroorotnes and landing-places possessing i i P° ss 'ble surfaces, and it may •■well be hoped that future inventions • and improvements in design will enable « lower landing speed to be' attained -wtthout sacrifice of flying speed. . . The existing aeroplane will .be im- , proved. Such things as folding wings, • already used in tho Handley-Page ma-, chines, will', doubtless, be increased, ' .'.while fin all-round improvement in en- , gines is still certain to come. A very 'great improvement has taken plaoo since the committee sat, and the Libertv engine may, though it is not yet cer- , tain, revolutionise aerial navigation. • \ HINTS FOR LANDING-GROUNDS. The committee considers that the landing-grounds should bear some reference to the direction of tho main aerial .routes, placed sufficiently far from the - centres of cities to be fairlv clear of houses in the direction of flight, and ■ they ought to be placed in part 3 unlikelv to be shut m by buildings in the imme•diate futiire. So far as possible thev should be clear of obstructions, such as .trees, telegraphs, and railwavs, and on ground as far as possible free* from mist. Rn/nP' T , ier ? s ' ioU 'd t>e a good water supply, telephone connexions, good * » r r#il » tram, omnibus, and of th r t r. a . ffic i w'tb % different districts ot tho cities to be visited, and the aero- , romcs should be capable of expansion. A VARIETY OF USES. < Tho Second Committee arrived ab soma interesting conclusions as to wavs •i wl ?l c b aircraft would bo advantageous. thus: ° will! It® S a ?° of .by competing +Vu- u- tele S r «ph service, or bv <>swrilv. S r a n , en ' of c - x P rcs s JetUr In tbe case of passengers, by affording rapid transit over long JisParticularly where the journey lv,r des v seil "ossing. And bv «n----ao ing ordinary merchandise, eomme--MDidlv n S CS tc - t0 car- ricd more - fapidlj than by any other means.