CIVIL AVIATION

Hokitika Guardian, 13 September 1930, Page 2

CIVIL AVIATION

OFFICIAL REPORT FOR 1929. A 40-SEATER- AIR LINER.

LONDON, July 25. A report on the Progress of Civil Avifition issued by the Air Alinistry and published by H.AI. Stationery Office (4s 6cl) is a volume of great interest, not only to aviators in afi parts of the Empire, but to all concerned in any way with the development of aerial transport.' Under the section devoted to Great Britain the first chapter deals with such subjects as Imperial Airways Limited, Survey ail'd Photography, Light Aeroplane Clubs, and Private Flying, Air Races, University Air Squadrons, and Training of Reserve Officers. Other chapters treat of the aircraft industry, ground organisation and navigation, administration, and statistics of civil flying. Part II of the volume is devoted tq aviation, in the Dominions, India, and the Colonies, and Part TII to foreign countries. There are sixteen excellent full page illustrations and seven maps showing the air routes in every part of the world. In regard to- the England-India (Australia) Service the report mentions that the transit time of mail between London and Karachi by the route as originally planned was a few hours over seven days, and represented a saving in time over the ordinary transport of 5.9 days In transit to- the various commercial centres in India, hut with the better weather and longer hours of daylight in the summer, Imperial Airways hope that they will be able to reduce the time of transit for the India mail by 24 hours without any appreciable amount of night flying. As the wireless and meteorological facilities and night-flying equipment of the various countries over which the route operates are improved, it is hoped that still further improvements can be made in the time-table. The Government of India are now examining the question of the possibility of extending the air service from Delhi to Calcutta and to Rangoon at the earliest opportunity. Proposals have also been submitted to the Air Ministry for the operation of the remaining section of the Eng-lapd-Australia route, that between Rangoon and Australia, and it is hoped that with the assistance of the various administrations along the route a through service may be inaugurated within the next two years.

It is contemplated that a regular service between Alexandria aiid Alwanza, connecting at the former with the trans-Mediterranean section of the England-India service, will be commenced before the end of 1930 and that the thorough service to Cape Town will be put into operation during the following spring. Representatives of the Air Alinistry and the Imperial Airways proceed in October to Cape Town in order to survey the route, and to discuss the ground organisation and settle details concerning the service with the local authorities concerned. The survey is now well advanced. FOUR-ENGINED 40-SEATER, During the summer of 1930, the first four-engine 40-seater Handley ,Page air liners, which represent a great advance in carrying capacity and luxury over any aircraft at present in use on any commercial air line will be put into service. It is hoped that by next autumn the traffic over the Lon-don-Karachi route will have developed to such an extent that aircraft of this size will be required to carry the load to India. There are also under construction, for the Alediterranean Division of Imperial Airways, a fleet of new all-metal four-engined flying boats of similar carrying capacity to the 40-passenger Handley-Page land aircraft.

It seems likely that in the future there will be three types of light aircraft avilable to the private, owner and others. The fast but somewhat expen-sivfe-to-run type of machine, the medium powered type of machine which will be not unlike the present type, and further, the lighter and cheap-to-run type of machine. There is also a. tendency for pilots to demand a cabin-type of machine rather than the open exposed cockpit type, but manufacturers are finding it difficult to produce a cabin from which the all-round view for the pilot is as good as in the case of the open cockpit. GREAT INCREASE OF PILOTS. As showing the growing’ popularity of flying, the number of pilots’ licenses issued in Great Britain during 1929 was 49 per cent, above the total for 1928, and 195 per cent, more than the 1927 total, while the number of navigators’ licenses increased by 43 per cent., ns compared with 1928, and 67 per cent., as* compared with 1927. The number of licenses issued to ground engineers during 1929 showed a noteworthy advance of 100 per cent, over the previous year’s figure. A consideration of the accidents that occurred during 1929 shows that approximately 70 per cent, of the accidents were, in the opinion of the Inspector of Accidents, due solely to