FLYING IN GERMANY

Evening Star, Issue 19663, 16 September 1927, Page 11

FLYING IN GERMANY

A VISIT TO EUROPE'S "MEAT CEHTRAL "

A huge level field, an open-air restaurant with hundreds of tables all ready laid for coffee, a miniature aluminium aeroplane quivering m. the breeze—that is what strikes the visitoi first at Tcmpelhoferfcld, Germany s greatest air port. And to warn passengers as they arrive that they are really in the Goman capital the wordBerlin is cut out in big letters on the gr Flying to-day is one of Germany’s jnost flourishing new industries, and everyone is interested in it. Of course, when a Chamberlin arrives from another world they go flying mad, but oven in ordinary times they have an interest in it which only a pageant at Hendon or a special week at some seaside town in this country arouses. And they are encouraged to take and recognise it, for, the Berliner at any rate, the way is smooth. The flying ground is well inside the city. He can sit and drink his glass of beer while he watches the flying, and now a special station is being built on the underground to land aim and Iris wife nght at tho door of tho aerodrome.

AEROPLANES OF ALL SORTS, 1 had an opportunity to-day of going all over tho aerodrome and of inspecting, under tho guidance of one or the Lufthansa experts, the equipment of what is undoubtedly Europe’s Groat Central ” flying station. Here are aeroplanes of all sorts and sizes, the small one which takes you on a halthour’s cruise round tho city, the liner which takes you to London or Moscow, the private plane which rushes pit with the early editions of the_ afternoon papers, and the “ taxi ” which you can hko for your own use. The now station buildings were opened with a great flourish of trumpets some time ago. and building is still going on. When everything is finished there will bo a hotel with accommodation for forty people, and an additional restaurant, with a terrace capable of holding 800. Already a post office with pneumatic equipment allows letters to be posted right up to the moment when the air liners leave. Every day eighteen planes leave the station and another eighteen arrive, for the work of the station goes on day and night. Strict punctuality is maintained in regard to the times of departure, and thougli the same cannot yet be guaranteed in regard to times of arrival, it is seldom that the planes are more than a few minutes late. A SHIP’S EQUIPMENT.

Now planes are constantly appearing, and this summer the Rohrbaeh. allmetal Rocco is expectedto begin a regular service over the North Sea ufom Hamburg to Loudon, it is to cany ton passengers, and has a speed ot about 130 miles an hour. The body is furnished with water-tight compartments, and carries a regular ship s equipment, including anchors and lifebelts, so that if its motors should ever go out of action a sail can be set and the plane brought to land. At present the largest aeroplane in Germany—the Junker G. 31 all-metal, triple-engined passenger and freight plane, to give it its lull name—is completing its trials. It will probably be adopted by the Lufthansa, which operates all the German airways, for it is one of the principles of the company to use every typo of aircraft which proves itself satisfactory. The new plane can carry fuel for 621 miles at an average speed of 114 miles an hour, and is equipped with engines capable ot developing 1,200 horse-power. It has three passenger cabins, apart altogether from the freight and baggage compartments, and will carry fifteen passengers. Although the steady development of flying—and its growth has been stimulated by the recent Paris agreement which removed the restrictions on the construction of German aircraft—has created a certain mattor-of-fact attitude in the German public towards aviation, Hying still remains an unusual experience. This is shown by the chapter entitled ‘ Hints to Passengers ’ in the new summer time-table. The hints include the assurance that “ walking up and down the aisle in the cabin will not affect the stability of the piano and the warnings that “there is no need to feel uneasy if the engines lower their speed or cease running,” and that “in making a curve an aeroplane is apt to tilt.” But for all that the average German knows more than wo do about flying, and last year 50,268 people travelled in the aeroplanes ol the Lufthansa Company, an increase of over 24.000 on the previous year, and two and a-half times as many as used them in _ 1924.—G. C, La wreuce, in the ‘ Weekly Scotsman.’