INLAND AIR LINE

Hokitika Guardian, 9 August 1930, Page 7

INLAND AIR LINE

FIRST IN ENGLAND

LONDON TO LIVERPOOL

LONDON, June 19.

The new inland air line connecting London with Birmingham, Manchester, ad Liverpool, was opened this week, when the City of Coventry left Croycton aerodrome- with twelve passengers. The service is being maintained thrice weekly, and will connect with the Continental services from Croydon. The plane, a. 20-seater triple-engined Argosy air liner, took off with its passengers at 0.10 at night, and beneath low-lying c-l0"ds fitted over the quiet acres of middle England, only the swiftly changing scenes and tne hum of the giant engines denotin'? her swift progress. At 6 o’clock, with Brackley on her starboard, the steward passed between the two rows ol arm chairs, and served light refreshments. Kenilworth, with the walls ot the castle ruins to- the port side, soon appeared, and at 6.35 the liner was gliding and circling down on the aerodrome at Birmingham, where for five mlinutes the- passengers stretched their lees and enjoyed a smoke, which is prohibited on board, A few rushing moments of speed,over the ground, the aeroplane rose, and the whole glorious panorama of Warwickshire and Btaflomsmre iuy ue-neat-h, the lakes and -rivulets reflecting in the .‘fun, Manchester was reached at half-past seven, and after a five minutes- stop, the liner left for Liverpoor, where it arrived twenty minmes later. The fare for the whole journey, which occupies acsbut two and threequarter hours, is £3 ss, and opportunities are afforded of trips from town to town if the liner is not full, The new liner is likely to elucidate many obscure po-ints of air service opperation in the British Isles. It has ’been stated that incidence of soot fogs in industrial areas is so high that the operation of a regular air line in such districts is impossible. Imper-. ial v Airways’ pilots may now be relied upon to penetrate think mist and moderate 'fog,' but it will be instructive to see how often they are prevented front reaching their aerodromes to times dui;jng the next three months. This is not the worst season for fog, -hut the large towns are often shrouded in a dense haze, seriously interfering with the visibility of a pilot travelling at 100 miles an hour.