British Airways Will Span Globe

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 193, 4 November 1927, Page 13

British Airways Will Span Globe

AIRSHIP FOR ATLANTIC

EXPERIMENT AND VISION (British Official Wireless. — Coin,right) Reed. 12.5 p.m. RUGBY, Thursday. Two large airsnips, which are under construction in England, will be ready for service next summer, and the Director of Civil Aviation, Sir Sefton Brancker, said last night that their first use might be on an experimental service to Canada via Bathurst, on the West African Coast, and the Azores, so that the assistance of the trade winds may be utilised. Experience with lighter-than-air machines, however, is limited, and all plans for the use of these great vessels are merely tentative. They were simply seeking experience on which to base plans for development of Imperial routes by heavier-than-air craft, and Sir Sefton. looks forward, as aircraft further improves' iu range, reliability and speed, to less and less dependency being placed on ground organisation until a position is reached in which, for. example, flying boats can proceed direct across the Atlantic from the West Coast of Ireland to Newfoundland. The three main objectives are through communication by airplane from London to Melbourne via India, with a branch line from this route through Cairo and Central Africa to Capetown, and the opening of an airship route. a Referring to the development of the Cairo-Basra route, which showed 100 per cent, regularity, Sir Sefton said that unfortunately Persia, having agreed two years ago to the route regularly running along her coast line, had so far refused to ratify the agreement. Accordingly a route on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf was being surveyed, and this showed that there were no physical difficulties until they reached the 220-miles sea jump across the Indian Ocean to British. territory. By degrees they were acquiring so much, confidence in the three-engined aircraft that he did not think that this jump was going to worry them. Negotiations were proceeding regarding the Karachi-Calcutta section, which was the business of the Indian Government, which also would control the route to Rangoon and thence to Singapore. The route was the responsibility of the British Government bu" the route was still indeterminate. It has been reconnoitred and British interests were negotiating for services from Penang to Dutch East Indies. He described the suggested air route to Capetown which, on present experience, could he flown from London in 10 days, and with night flying could be' reduced to 10 hours.— A. and N.Z.