In the air

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 450, 4 September 1928, Page 7

In the air

Not the least of the factors to be considered by Kingsford Smith in the flight across the Tasman is the suitability of the taking-off ground. A big plane, and one heavily laden like the Southern Cross will be, needs a specially clear field. The Richmond airdrome offers a runway of about a mile and a-hajf east-to-west, which will be roughly the direction required. On the other hand Point Cook, the airdrome from which he took off on the Perth flight, has its longest runway free from and holes, in the direction suitable for that flight. One point against the Richmond airdrome, however, is that it is ringed in by mountains and the Southern Cross , woLild have to climb about 3,500 ft in 10 or 15 miles. THE FLIGHT TO PERTH Kingsford Smith’s recent flight to West Australia was the first journeyin a regular airline which .is being established to bring Perth nearer to Melbourne and Sydney. That the east-west airline —to be opened in April next year—is creating a wide public interest is indicated by the fact that already a large number of applications have been lodged for seats on the first trip. Aside from the natural interest attending so important an event, the saving of time must appeal to the business man. For instance, replies to English correspondence will reach England a week earlier than at present, and on the personal side of transportation, the new airline will make it possible for a business man to leave Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, reach Perth on Monday, devote the afternoon and evening to busines, and, returning from Perth the following day, arrive back in Melbourne on Thursday morning. Preparations are now well under way for the manufacture of a special air stamp to commemorate the establishment of the new service. CIVIL FLYING POPULAR IN ENGLAND The growth of civil flying in England has developed into a craze. The Air Ministry’s report for 1927 shows that for the second year in succession no fare-paying passenger was injured through a mishap to any airplane registered in the British Isles. The flying club movement in England has resulted in a large increase in the numbers of owners of private aircraft. This is a direct consequence of the increased interest in flying, improved facilities for tuition, and lowering of expenses brought about by the clubs. Amateur flying is on a high plane. Golfers think nothing of playing matches in England, Holland and Belgium on the one day, or of playing contests in three or four English counties on- the one day. Business men and women are flying up and down England daily on their working rounds. Young women, apart from the kind that engage in transatlantic stunts, are qualifying all over the Kingdom. England, indeed, bids fair to become the greatest of all air countries at the present rate of progress.