AIR MINISTRY’S SECRET

Hokitika Guardian, 22 May 1930, Page 6

AIR MINISTRY’S SECRET

’PLANES AMONG CHIMNEYS

* AERODROME FOR LONDON

Lulled I’rusii xYssociatmii—By EltH:Crjc ' ..•Ibgiupli.—Copyright.J s. LONDON, April 10 Central London is shortly to have a \ ast aerocLuiae at least three liundrect ieit auoie giooiid level. It will be six hundred yards square," eapable of standing the landing shock of. machines several tons in weight, and of housing the groat air liners of the future. It will enable passengers to reach Paris 1 in less time, annosc, than it now takes them to get to the aerodrome at Croydon. Where the areodrome wUI he is a jealously-guarded State seer t it may however, be taken as «e ,- ta:n t vt London will he amongst the first capitals of the world, to possess its own qr station in the very centre of its aotivily .He!)iriff the evidence given Jjy Sir, Herbert- Walker, .the general manager of the Southern Railways, before a committee- of; the House of Commons yesterda.v, lies an -inkling o'f the f secret; “We have been asked, by. the Air Ministry. ’’ said Sir Herbert,:i“whethei It would be possible t-> put ail aero-. drome 1 on' too of Waterloo Station. The *<])., ji v Herald” is able to reveal that it was at <me time hoped to utilise the roof of Waterloo as the great central air port of London. Lord Thomson, the Minister for Air toiW fbo Cl D,ai\v HcraM’s” politicalcorrespondent yesterday: — “The Air Ministry had the full authority of the .Government behind it. For weeks experts from the Ministry investigated the problem with the •ailway company’s engineers.” But Waterloo, although the largest terminus in London, has not the. requisite area of six. hundred square yards. Next: arose the question of height above ground level. It was found t 1 at the comparatively low elevation i 1 the station roof involved a meas ire < f dai. ger both to surrounding nouses ind to taking-off aeroplanes. The plan broke down on the.inadequate strength of the structure., A station roof is carried on pillars sticng enough to bear the weight of the r of with a margin of safety to allow for wind, snow and other co lit ingen les. In the case of a roof which is also used as an aerodrome, however, they must also be strong enough to take the shock ql descending machines weighing several-tons and travelling at high speeds,.’is ' Their shock is estimated at three' times the weight of the machine. It was'found that the structure, even after strengthening, would be unsatisfactory from many points of view, and would cost not less than £6,000,000. So, the plan fell trough. The Air Ministry, however, is still hot on the scent of a suitable site. It is JinderHeod that the space requirecincjrn. bej provided .only bv large railway stations or markets. The merits of each potential area are now being surveyed. - -. The Committee of the House before which Sir Herbert Walker made his disclosure was that which is considering the Charing Cross Bridge Bill. Tentative plans were drawn up by railway engineers for the demolition of the 1 existing roof of Waterloo Station and the erection of a great concrete floor supported by steel stanchions driven deep into tlm London clay. The railway company . also pointed out that the presence of the roof aero-d-ome would present a new problem of lighting the railway station. A “Da’ly Herald” representative was informed yesterday .that the -purpose of the aerodrome v r as entirely civil and + o aid British aviation in The competition which it w.ill have to meet from Continental rivals' in the near future. Such a station, too. it is thought, would act as a stimulus to private flyers, anxious to own an aeroplane.

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