AVIATION.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17124, 20 April 1921, Page 10

AVIATION.

\"- PASSENGERS BY WEIGHT/' ipBOFESSC«tSHtP OP AVIATION. "(jROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) -LONDON, February 24. ' .Confirmation of the reports that Mr • Churchill is to continue for a time to ' discharge the duties of Air Minister in conjunction wi£h those of Colonial N Secretary was obtained from'the Prime ■ * Miniate* in the' House of Commons. Mr Lloyd George, replying to enquirers, ■ stated: No decision has yet been reached as to the appointment of a separate Secretary of State for the Air Departtary for the Colonies has agreed to continue to disoharge the duty, and .he will present the estimates for this year to ' the Hpiise. • * Captain Wedgwood Benn: Is the right hon. gentleman aware that ho " explained to the House that it was necessary that the War Ministry and the Air Ministry should go hand in .hand, and what is the reason for the ' ' Colonial-. Ministry and the Air Ministry now going together? t ,-Mr Lloyd George: I certainly never , . said that. Captain Benn: Oh, yes. The Premier: My hon.' .friend says 'Ves'-and I say./ No.' '.; „ >i' , , Need for an Air* Policy. It is clear to "The Times" that the separation of the Air from the War Office and its temporary liaison with the Colonies, is not the expression of a ■ policy. It is remarked that if the pro- > duction of aircraft is not developed in Great Britain, our Dominious, Colonies, and Crown Territories win get what they -seed from Prance or Germany or America. "Civil aviation is stagnating ; liere." * Despondency is settling on pilots, designers, manufacturers, and air companies. What -was to be the London .terminus- of •"commercial flying, the >*Gharing Cross of th» Air,' is-almost - idle except for the visits of foreign com- ' petitors. There is a superficial attraction, -therefore," in the idea that Mi Winston Churchill, with, his constructive'imagination and his restless enI orgy, should at the same tame encour. 'agfe the constituent parts of the Em- ' pSe to' demand aircraft and «"»«»*« 'British manufacturers to supply the demand: But, -as a permanent arrange ' nfent, the linking of the Air Mmistrj

with the Colonial Office, in its- present form; is only better than the preposterous suggestion of'attnching it to tho Ministry of Transport. Aircraft must have behind it the full authority of a Minister of State who can concert measures for the defence of the country on equal terms with the Admiralty and the War Office." "The Times" suggests one way in which Mr ChurchilPs temporary retention of the Air may lead to the creation of an Air.policy—by stimulating the interest and imagination of the Overseas Prime Ministers when they are here in June, by letting them see lor thmselves the achievement of ; Great Britain. It Mr Churchill with the help and approval of the Dominions can contrive that an Imperial Air policy be )»rought.intc.existence and recommended to tho Government wider the authority of the Conference, he may bo well- content; to hand over the Air to a new and independent Minister." Air Passengers by Weight. Heavy-weight men will be complaining sooiu atT their disadvantage compared with men of light wiild, it the .decision is come to here, as in America, to charge air travellers arcording to how. they turn the scale, On the Lawsou air line between Chicago, and iSe.v York in the 24-seater machines, this system is in force. If lingers on the Paria-Loiidon airway paid by weight on the basis of present tares the .rates would work out something like this:Average man £7 10s, 15-stune man £lO 10s, 20-stone man £l4. At the lower rates promised for the cowing spring a traveller of average weight would get across for £4 13s 9d. The, otlwr day it seems, a very small, slightly built man was charged for some -excess luggaco. The total weight of himself and all lus baggage was, a3 he objected, less than, that of a heavy fellow-traveller who paid onlv the normal fare. The extra space, anart from weight, that a pas- ! senger occupies must, naturally bo borne in mind. A 450 h.p. aeroplane whica carries 20001b of-goods can only hnd apace for about 12001b of weight when it is represented by passengers. An extra percentage will therefore have to be charged for tfliis air and chair space. Sir Ross Smith, and Sir Keith buiith went to the works to see a Viking amphibian machine and an air ambulance which Vickeis, have just compJeted. The ambulance marks a new stage in aeroplane construction. It was found during the war that the ordinary type of road ambulance could not deal satisfactorily with urgent cases, particularly with abdominal wounds, and the air ambulance ha 3 been planned to. convey these cases with greater speed to the base hospitals. The machine inspected will take four stretchers, and ttiio

patients can.lie flat during the journey. There ts also accommodation for a doctor, a nurse, and an.orderly, and there is a small dispensary, as -»ell as fresh water filters, cooling fans, and other facilities, together with directional lines, and is designed to carry two pilots, and sufficient petrol for a flight of sevoral hundred miles. . School of Aviation in London. ■ At -Lowther Gardens, South Kensington, there .is the School of Aeronautics, which is the outcome of Sir 'Basil. Zahareff's generous foundation ot the Zaharoff Professorship of Aviation. The Zaharoff Professor and Director of the School is Sir R. Glazebrook, K.C.8., F.R.S., whose staff include* professors of meteorology and aerb-dynamics, with lecturers . on airships, navigation, strength of structures, engine design, and design" generally./ When the endowment was offered it was clear that in order to utilise it fully some organis-ation-would be necessary to connect university teaching with practical aerunautics. Lord Weir (then Secretary for Air) appointed a committee to draw • up a scheme, and the department has, been planned in accordance with that report. • ~ , Tho functions, of the staff are classified under four heads: — 1. To study, co-ordinate, summarise, apply, and extend the experimental work carried out by individual workers at various experimental stations in this country and abroad. ■ 2. To stimulate research by indicating what information is most urgently required, and what lino of attack is likely to prove most profitable. ;5."T0 guide and encourage research I by constructive criticism based on :i I careful study of past and current work j in this country and abroad. 1. 4.-To impart this knowledge by perI 'sbnal teaching to a limited number of I post-graduate students.. - One of the duties of the Research [ Committee is to promote education in ! aeronautics by co-operating with tha Governors of the Imperial College. The . I school is .financed by a grant from tha I Government of about £BSOO a year. i The post-graduate students hear lectures and receive practical instruction in the drawing office. Then their study is continued at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, at the National Physical Laboratory, and at other centres of aeronautical investigation. Meteor- | ology is taught in the Meteorological Office by Professor Napier Shaw and his assistants, while the resources ht \ the Air Ministry laboratory also have ; been employed tor instruction in navigation and for some practical experi- ' enoe with aero-engines. Later, men | engaged in the study of design and r

engineering, will join the staff of-the Royal Aircraft Establishment as student assistants, and take part in investigations at Farnborough. The curriculum seems to be thoroughly complete, and -will be an invaluable training.