AVIATION.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16729, 12 January 1920, Page 7

AVIATION.

FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA. (Br C»bl»—?r**s Association—CopTii^fct.) (Ur.i'.i-d Hftv-.c?.< ' ißeceived January 11 til. o-o LONDON", January SLieutenants Parer and Mcintosh ar« v ti>in'; a niodined IV Haviland scout mailiiiif. wit'u a cruising speed <>t miles au !..;:ir. The niachino weighs j pounds, fully equipjK'd. ineludiug ! the crew. 'i'iie aviators departed without ofilial leave. l>ec-;;ii>e tiuy were tired ol i waging. i iiev aro p:;epared_ persen;;]iv to accept all responsibility for their rict. . . ; Lien tenant Parer states that his sole i object is to try to make the journey to ! Australia with a single engine, in Je.-vS time than Ross Smith took. 110 ex-)K-ts to roach Port Darwin in twentylour days. [The General Officer Commanding the Australian Imperial Forces in the United Kingdom recentlv lorbade the ilepartun* ot Lieutenant Parer. He gave as his rea.'on that he was not satisfied that Lieutenant Parer had a chance of success. He thought that the expedition was foolhardy, and did not wish to take tho responsibility of permitting tho officers to depart. Lieutenant Parer is flving in a Do Haviland niachino fitted with a 630 horse-power, six-cvlinder Siddelcv-Puma engine, with a range of 10U0 miles. The machine is similar to those used in tho London-to-Paris mail scrvico. Lieutenant Parer, according to a. recent message from 1/mdon. had not received the order forbidding him to attempt tho flight, when ho mado an effort to start on December 24th. The aviators entered tho machine, and rose three times from tho W'addon aerodrome, but each time failed to locate Ilonnslow. They roturned and found the engino required an overhaul. The workshops were closcd, and the overhaul was impossible until Saturday. The two airmen statod that they intended to start as soon as repairs were made. They finallv got away on Thursday, January Bth.] ROSS SillTH MAKING REPAIRS. SYDNEY, January 10. A telegram from Sir Ross Smith states that the repairs to his aeroplane aro being satisfactorily oxecuted. Ho will find no difficulty 'in flying to Sydney.

CIVIL AVIATION. SUGGESTED STATE HELP. (trom otm owk connr-spo^DßifT.) LONDON, November 20. In a report on tho progress of work in the department of Civil Aviation (May lst-October 30th, 1019), MajorGeneral Sir F. Sykcs thinks that when civil aviation has developed it will bo tho main reserve of strength from which tho It.A.F. will draw in timos of sticss. Tho It.A.F. of tho futuro should bo capable of rapid expansion and of tho organised assimilation of largo numbers ot personnel and material at short notice. As tho mercantilo marine reinforced tho Navy during tho war, 60 should civil aviation bo regarded as tho potential reservo of the It.A.F. in Juturo crises. This sourco of supply can only bo regarded if civil aviation is in itself a healthy and well-developed body. The building up of such a body on a true basis is largely dependent upon tho growth of a steady demand for quicker communication. Irregular and spasmodic demands keep tho cost of such communication at a high, figuro, and do not, therefore, assist development.

Tlio carriage of mails promises to bo ono of tho most important and regular demands which can sorvo to develop civil aviation, and to placo aerial transport concerns on a firm footing. Tho futuro of aerial mail services lies on tlioso routes where a material saving of time enn lx> effected so that a definite commercial ndvnntago may Do obtained. Tho lino of development of aerial mails would scom to lio moro on tho continental and imperial routes, ivhero tho long distances givo moro scopo for the eloment of speed. For example, in normal times tho ordinary timo of transit by railway is 36 hours to Turin, 48 hours to Rome, 23 hours to Borlin, 58 hours to Christiania, and 24 hours to Berne. Over such distances tho potential saving by uerial transport is considerable. \Vhen regular services to extra-European countries becomo practicable, tho gain in timo will bo Btill more marked. The moro such services can bo brought into being, tho larger is tho area over which tho overhead charges are spread, and the lower becomes the cost of each additional service, which automatically produces an increased demand for such services on routes whero high cost lias hitherto nogatived tho desire for speed. It has been tho object of tho Department to ensure tho safety both of tho flying and non-flying public, without imposing irksome restrictions on tho various firms concerned. Hitherto nil machines employed by civil aerial transport firms have been converted wnr machines, and although numerous new tvpes are on the stocks, it may bo said that no true commercial machine has yet appeared. It may bo questioned, says MajorGeneral Sykes, whether civil aviation in England is to be regarded as ono of thoso industries which is unable to stand on its own feet, and yet so essential to the national welfare that it must bo kept idivo at all costs. Thero appear to be three methods of assisting i 'V- .means of direct Government subsidies—it is in this way that Franco lias decided to net, and 18,000,000 francs have alroady been carmarkod for this purpose. (2) By recognising that at the beginning tho British aircraft industry cannot stand on its own feot, and that to ensure its existence, although foreign to usual British practice. some form of direct Government assistance, probably in tho sliapo of a grant to approved aerial transport companies for mileage and weight carried is a necessity (3) By following tho principle usually accepted in this connry, that if nn industry is to Riirvivo it must stand .as nearly as possible bv 1 1self, and that a poliey of "doles" is unsound. Tn this caso tho assistance would take tho indirect form of tho provision of certain "key" aerodromes nnd shed accommodation at homo and on tho Empire routes; and the collat;on and issno of information, including meteorological data, and the l )r 2.V ls ' on eomrminieations. The problem is best to tide over tho oinietilt transition neriod through which we ;jro pa-sintr. Adhesion to tho British principle of independent private enterprise will undoubtedly he right eventually, but- if a limited industrv is to be maintained—as it must be to meet the requirements of the Royal Air Force—it is for consideration "whether it will not bo necessarv to adopt a combination of f2> and (3)