ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

Hokitika Guardian, 24 August 1931, Page 7

ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

TOURIST AND TRADE ROUTE.

LONDON, July ID. Etfery time a new Hying record is

made the whole cause. ol aviation is advanced ■ ,t may be in but a small degree, H may amount to little more than •staking a claimnone the less is there definite gain.

'l'he great American flight round the world by Mr Wiley Post and Harold Catty (an Australian) was far more than a feat of human endurance, says the Air Correspondent of the "Observer.” Had it been merely that, Little would need to be said. It was a triumph made possible by the aeroplane and its engine—-the Lockheed Vega monoplane and the Pratt and Whitney Wasp 450 :h.p. air-cooled radial engine. „■

While they were in the air the airmen Hew at an average speed of nearly 135 miles an hour, and no doubt, on balance, the wind helped them. 'Nevertheless, their speed may be compared with the 90 miles per hour or so of the British air routes. .Such a comparison gives point to discussions in which British air policy, catering for passengers rather than mails and seeking early dividends, is questioned.

The aeronautical world, even more than the general public, has been impressed by the confidence of the Amerj. can airmen in tlieir engine. Having <il» ready flown 11,500 miles, they faced the crossing of the Bering Sea without troubling to give their engine an overhaul beyond a brief inspection, and, perhaps, a change of plugs. After that, 4000 miles more to New York.

It would be only fair to point out that the Wasp engine used was neither geared nor supercharged, and that British air-cooled radial engines of the same power and without the complications of gears and supercharger are equally reliable. And it should be remembered that for fighting machines the highperformance needed demands the use of gearing or supercharges, and that such engines cannot rightly be compared with the same types in similar form.

WHERE DOES BRITAIN STAND ?

Great Britain surely ought to have been first with a flight of this kind, and it is much to be regretted that, possessing, as we do, machines, engines, and pilots at least as good as those of any (other ..country, we are ■ allowing other countries to take the prizes. This policy, or lack of a policy, definitely will not pay. British aircraft manufacturers are neglecting opportunities, and there is no convincing excuse for them.

At the present moment only one British combination of aeroplaite' ' arid engine is engaged on a series of demonstration flights. Captain T. N. (Stack, who has made several fine flights on the Vickers-Napier ’ mallcarrier at good speed between European capitals, is' now engaged on a flight to India and back. But all that he (lias done of late is outshone by the American flight, It is up to British manufacturers. But the Royal Air Force could do much by undertaking a formation flight of flying-boats round the world. This is a branch in which Great Britain has for long led the way, but it is high time for a conspicuous record performance. And such- a performance would be all in the day’s work /so far as training is concerned. Yet there is reason to fear that Italy will step in here and take the laurels, for already her preparations for a seaplane formation flight round the world are nearly complete.

Some years ago there were British attempts to fly round the world, one by the 'R.A.F., the outer private. 'Early failures were sufficient to discourage us, and it almost seemed that determination and persistence in the face of difficulties are no longer British qualities. AIR-TOURIST TRADE. It is said that Messrs Post and Gatty spent only £6 in travelling expenses, and this suggests that, although a regular round-the- world air service is for the far future, there may already be an air-tourist trade on the Post and Gatty route; but crossing the Atlantic by

steamship. The route is one of great trade importance, and many stages of it are already, or about to be, regular air routes. There can be no question for some years of regular air travel in both directions across the North Atlantic, but long before that becomes possible the project for a combined air and steamship route opening up for freight and mail transport the Middle West and Canada, thence by steamer 'to Ireland to connect up with the European air routes, will be fulfilled.

At a time of many grave economic problems and of strained resources, it may seem inopportune to urge expenditure on developments of air routes which cannot for many years be'profitable, but the example of the America world flight must remind us that if we neglect opportunities to stake claims now, we shall be heavy losers in the future.