WORK FOR AIRMEN AFTER THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917, Page 5

WORK FOR AIRMEN AFTER THE WAR

NEW PHASE OF CIVILISATION

THE AERIAL POST

. "I hope that there will be work for jthe flying men when the war is over," ■says a Sew Zealand flight-lieutenant, iin a letter to a friend in this country. "I can say without swanking .that we are doing miracles in the air now. The war has brought about tho development of the aeroplane .at a •rato that would not have been dreamed !«f iniimes of peace. Tho nation has 'paid in money, material, and lives during throe years for tho knowledge and \ experience that it might have takon tfialf ft century to accumulate in times of peace. And now wo can fly. We 'can fly two miles high; wo can fly in jgales of wind, in the night, and in the (■rain. Wo can carry loads that would [startle you if I mentioned the figures, i and all tho time the machines grow I'fcigger and. better and faster. Those ■'of us who livo through it all will not .want to como back to earth for good, l«nd that is why I am loping that there flvill be work for us.".

Tho same point has been raised by ,'other flying men, and there is evidence that it has not escaped the attention of Governments and of the .great captains of industry, on whom 4he nations depend usually for the development of new ideas. When the !war ends the British Empire, to look (Eo further afield, will possess many (thousands of powerful aeroplanes, an army of highly-trained pilots, and all jthe industrial and mechanical organisa-' jtion required for their upkeep. That jithe aeroplanes will have' to be niainytained is a matter of certainty. No .-Power dare face another war without ja great air fleet. Unless the treaty of jpeace is such as to give an assurance that the next war win not como speedwe shall see a mighty struggle for aerial supremacy, nation building against nation as in tho days when the (Dreadnought was the accepted token •of strength. The Government, in any .'case, will have special inducements to .encourage the development; .of aerial Jiavigation for civil use.

.. Mails by Express 'Planes. f That civil uses will be found for the ;6eroplanes cannot be doubted. They Shave many qualifications possessed by j-ao other means of locomotion. They lean attain a speed of 150 miles an hour, I and they can traveL from point to •vpoiat by the shprtost possible route, (■■"as the crow flies," regardless of the [natural obstacles,! such as seas, rivers, ■mountains, and deserts, that may lie iibetween. Their speed is unrivalled, sand _no man can say yet what will be fits limit. It may be taken for granted, ithen, that in the future aeroplanes will lie used to maintain fast. passenger and anail services along certain routes. Some of the aeroplanes secrets are ;guarded carefully at the present time, but it has been stated on perfectly .Bound authority that there are in existence now machines that can carry twenty men. A machine of this type .■.would not have any difficulty in conveying 20001bs. of mail matter, and the' '.postal charges for this weight of letters, at Id. the half-ounco, would amount to over. £250, "so that there ! -would be a margin for--high running ACOSts.

The possibilities of aerial mail serL vice are worked out in some detail by a pilot who has written on the subject : _ito the "British Australasian." He esti- . mates that for a daily service between ' towns as widely separated as, say, Wellington and Cnristchurch, it would be necessary to make an initial expenditure of about £28,000 on machines, I sheds''and plant. "It would not be .necessary," he says, "for the machine to alight at intermediate towns. Proper reccptables could be easily carried and .released into,a suitable space, much inn the same way as bombs are now 'dropped. It would bo necessary to arrange for landing places at intermediate points, and also for a reserve machine to be standing by at some convenient point in order to ensure against engine trouble.. "In.order to operate properly, it would be necessary to arrange for landing grounds every 20 miles. A machine would then he able to glide and make a safe landing should it suffer from engine failure at any point on its journey, -v.. The Probable Dost.

"The cost of these grounds should Eot be high. Any patch of smooth grass country from'lso to 200 acres would be suitable, providing it were not surrounded by trees or other obetacles. Its uses as a landing ground would not necessarily restrict it to any great extent, for grazing or similar purposes. Of course, the terminal grounds would need to be properly fenced, and suitable communication arranged with tho adjacent cities and towns. This is a matter to which Australians should give their early attention. The day is not far distant when every town will regard its aerodrome as being as important as its railroad etation.

"Tho figures quoted abovo are for a medium-sized machine capable of carrying, in addition to pilot and petrol, a load of between six and seven hundred pounds. This is a conservative estimate of load, and could probably be exceeded by quite a big percentage. The running costs for such a service ; would be high, of course, and would depend to a great extent on the abilities of the pilots employed. Damage to machines is a very difficult matter to estimate, and renewals due to wear would also form a big item in running costs. Perhaps the most interesting way will be to consider the earning power and. cost of runniug each individual trip. It will be necessary to assume several things." Principally those affecting the cost of spares and the probable life of each machine." . •_ £ s. d. Pilot, two trips per week at £7 per week (A.I.F. pay)... 3 10 0 Mechanics, two at £4 10s. per week, per machine. Machine doing four trips per week 2 0 0 Petrol and oil 3 10 0 Spares (assuming the parts of the machine and engine wiR be completely replaced every year) 9 0 0 Writing off (assuming the life of the machine to be twelve months) .-.,, 9 0 0 £27 0 0 This calculation omits many factors, such as cost of management, rent, carriage of mails on land, but it serves to show that the aerial mail service ,would be profitable even with the me-dium-sized machines that have been in general use on the battlefronts for the last year. The latest machines are not onlv bigger and faster, but are less liablo to develop mechanical troubles. It is possiblo that with tho development of tho twin and triple-engine machines that are now coming into use tho intermediate landing places mentioned abovo would be unnecessary even from the most conservative standpoint. When the war ends the New Zealand Government will have experts to advise it nn such points.