AIR MAIL SERVICES

Hokitika Guardian, 27 August 1930, Page 7

AIR MAIL SERVICES

SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE, August 16

Flying in Australia by the mail routes is as safe and almost as regular as travel by either train or steam services and is within measurable time-of being a very active and serious competn with both.

1 am indebted to Captain Rodney Beresford, whose headquarters are in Brisbane, ifor some valuable information on the subject. Captain Beresford saw war service ‘in the British Air Force and lias been flying since 1916. “Flying in Australia,’ be said, “is controlled by the Defence Department on particular regulations taken from the International Convention regulations for air navigation. Tlie majority of countries agreed to this international convention; two that did not are Germany and America. Tlie regulations of this country, (Australia) provide that no air craft may be imported with out a certificate of airworthiness granted by a country in the Convention. In order to get an American machine into this country it lias to be flown to Canada granted a ceritificate of airworthiness there, and the shipped to Australia, which, of course, puts up the cost.

THE AIR ROUTES.

“Tlie Australian East Coast air routes are: Sydney-Melbourne, 460 miles, run daily; Sydney-Brisbane, 480 miles daily; Brisbane-Townsville (calling at Rockhampton and Mackay) 730 miles twice a week; Brisbane-Lisborne-Bai-lina, 180 miles, three times a week. All of these services are operateed 011 British manufactured and Eiritish-en-gined tri-motored machines of Fokker design. Twice a week there is a mail service from Brisbane West to Charlevilie. Services are also running regularly from Perth to Adelaide, and from Perth northward. “These mail services are run by Australian National Airways, Queensland Air Navigation, and Quantas (West route). Quantas is tlie only air service subsidised. ■ '\ “There are about 40 machines stationed at Brisbane and between 60 and 70 at Sydney.

SUBSIDISED AERO CLUBS.

“In all the capital cities of Australia there are aero clubs subsidised by the Government, and they train embryo pilots both for private license and commercial license. The biggest of these clubs is the Aero Club of New South Wales, which has fifteen machines of seven different types and employs regularly three full-time instructors. “There has never been an accident causing injury to any person on any regular passenger service in Australia. Tho regularity of the service is maintained by multi-engined machines, which have definitely proved their superiority over machines of the singleengine type, both for efficiency and safety.

BIGGER MACHINES COMING

“it is generally recognised by the co.npanies operating in Australia that their present machines are not fast enough ancl do not carry sufficient passengers to meet the demand for travel by air. The tri-motored machines at present used are eight-passenger machinss, and the cost to operate is approximately £l7 per hour, iwhereas certain types of bigger machines would carry 20 passengers and would cost about £2O an hour. The use of these larger machines, subject, of course, to thejr carrying complements, woifld make it possible to reduce fares so mu oh as to seriously compete with railway fares.

SCARCITY OF MAIL PILOTS

“Considerable difficulty has been experienced .in obtaining fully-qualified mail-route pilots in Australia, and more than 50 per cent of those employed are from the Old Country. By far the majority are old-timers with war experience or Air Force training. A company would feel very diffident about employing a pilot with less than 1000 hours’ flying experience. As flying costs a private pilot in an aero club from 30s to £2 an hour, he would pay £ISOO to £2OOO before he would qualify to go on a mail route. Various schemes are being brought forward whereby comparatively inexperienced pilots can join mail companies as apprentice pilots to train and qualify on the bigger machines. At least one pilot originally trained in an aero club in New South Wales has qualified as pilot on a mail machine in this way and he is doing extremely well.”