EARNINGS OF AIRMEN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1248, 21 May 1914, Page 4

EARNINGS OF AIRMEN.

Airmen and barristers are probably tbe only men who can earn money at the rate of £i a minute. Fortunes are certainly being made in the air to-day, especially now that passenger carrying in aeroplanes has developed into a regular business. Hamel, the only airman in England who regularly loops the loop with a passenger, is reported to be making several thousands a year. The adventure of looping the loop with him costs £so each time. He is probably the most prosperous airman to-day, but the income of Hucks cannot be far behind Hamel’s. For an ordinary passenger flight Hucks charges ,£lO xos, The present recognised charge for cross country' flying is 15s a mile for return journeys and £ 1 a mile tor single outwards journeys. An airman can travel with ease at over a mile a minute, and under favourable conditions on a cross country journey can earn £l® i ll 60 minutes. At the Heudon Aero drome, where tbe fees for short flights range from £2 2s to £5 ss, an average of 60 passengers are taken up on a flue Sunday afternoon, .amounting in money value to something approaching ,£2OO. Some of the passengers take longer flights, paying £26 to fly to Brooklauds and back, £2O for the return journey to St. Albans, and 10s to Elstree and back, a journey occupying hardly more, sometimes less, than a quarter o; an hour. Fees on this scale, therefore, ensure a skilful airman an income which may surpass that of a Cabinet Minister. The iunni----.-

expenses of an aeroplane ate , Uan tlae public imagine. It is possible to go for a three mouths’ tour of 4000 miles '.or under ,£3OOO, including ,£I2OO iui'rd outlay for the niachi' ine running expenses come to s.id a mile lor 0,l and petrol ; garage fees ,£ 12, mechanics’ wages ,£36, repairs ,£SO, insurance aga.ust third parly risks ,£ro. and a per cent, allowance tor depreciation. Given the machine, a three mouths’ flviug tour could he managed on ,£IOOO.