AIRWAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 475, 3 October 1928, Page 7

AIRWAY

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“THE ROC."

The epoch-making flight of the Southern Cross, linking the three great English-speaking countries of the Pacific, gives promise of exerting a dynamic influence on the progress of aviation in New Zealand. It has awakened the Dominion’s air sense, stimulated our laggard interest in the possibilities of commercial aviation, and fostered a keen desire on the part of young New Zealanders to emulate the exploits of Kingsford Smith and his comrades. Week by week in this column THE SUN will chronicle news, notes and expressions of opinions relating to aviation, with particular attention to its development in Auckland. * * * Auckland Aero Club To many Aucklanders It is a mere hazy dream that in a shade over four weeks airplanes, the property of the Auckland Aero Club, will be zooming about this city. Orders have been placed for machines and they were due to arrive this month, but some delay has been caused owing to the fact that the Ue Havilland Aircraft Company has decided to replace the old engine in their Moth plane of 35-85 h.p., by the new Gipsy, a more powerful engine, capable of generating 85 to 110 h.p. The Gipsy is the same engine as that used by Captain Broad when he broke the endurance record for light airplane flying. Slotted Wings

Arrangements have been made for the Auckland Aero Club’s machines to be fitted with slotted wings, which is one of the greatest advances toward making flying safe in several years. In many aircraft, the controls have insufficient power at once to correct the initial spin resulting from a stall, but the function of the Handley Page Automatic Slot is to endeavour to remove the tendency of a spin developing. Thus it will prove invaluable to beginners and inexperienced pilots. Out at Ihumata The Auckland A.A.C.’s airdrome at Ihumata is certainly a long drive from the city, but it will most likely prove successful in more ways than one. The timber for the construction of hangars, etc., is already on the ground and the actual building should be under way any day now. It is the aim of the club eventually to form tennis courts and build a club-house, while only a minute or two from the drome, which is situated near the water, is to be found idea! fishing and swimming. Ex-War Men Although to date there has been only one appointment made to the club’s staff, that of Major Cowper as instructor, it will be necessary to secure the services of at least one ground engi-

neer. Such well-known ex-war pilots as Major Caldwell, Captain Bloomfield, Captain Harkness and Captain Seabrooke are keenly interested in the club and their knowledge, gained from wide and hard experience, should prove invaluable to young Aucklanders learning to fly. Lectures under the direction of the A.A.C., which have been held every Tuesday and Friday evening from 6.30 to 7.15 p.m. for some time now, are being exceptionally well attended. The second course of lectures, which will really cover the same ground as the course already in progress, is to commence in a fortnight’s time.

Government Activities The work of forming the Government airdrome at Hobsonville is progressing steadily and it is reported that a few machines will be housed there by Christmas. Some of the machines for Hobsonville, however, have already arrived at Sockburn, Christchurch.

Major Isitt, officer in charge of the Government airdrome at Hobsonville, is at present at Blenheim awaiting the departure of the Tasman flyers on their return trip.

Sounds Easy Enough When Captain Broad broke the endurance record for light airplane flying by remaining in the air for 24 hours, he took with him two interesting novels to beguile the tedium of the flight.—This fly»ng game can’t be so difficult after all.

A4I Conveniences The following advertisement, which appeared in a provincial paper in Eng-

iand, is reproduced as a fine example or the growing airmindedness of John Citizen, and what is in store for New Zealanders: bmall stone-built house, 7 rooms, delightfully situated on the beautiful Isle of Purbeck. smin. from sea, a grand natural airdrome, garage for car and plane.” Speeding Up the Mail The Air Ministry at Home is at present considering plans for a highspeed air mail service which would enable a letter posted in London to be delivered in India within three days. A new type of plane is being produced which, driven by one of the latest Napier water-cooled engines, will be able travel at 100 miles an hour for 2,000 miles without a stop. Such proposals as these bring still closer to us the possibilities of posting a letter in the Auckland P.O. one evening and having it delivered in Sydney the following morning.

A Dip Into the Past The Walsh brothers (Leo and Vivian), who are still in Auckland in the engineering business, may rightly claim the honour and distinction of being the pioneers of aviation in New Zealand, and to them we owe much to the important part our aviators played in the Great War. As far back as 1910 they were keenly interested in flying, and in that year purchased sufficient materials from Howard Wright, England, to enable the construction of

a biplane, which was completed in January, 1911. The following month Vivian made a short flight. It was an epoch-making event—the first flight to be made in the Dominion. In the years that followed they were faced with financial difficulties, but they struggled ahead, never losing interest. At the outbreak of the war, not even assisted by luke-warm Government support, they built a flying school. As a result of gaining recognition from the Royal Aero Club, they started training candidates for the Royal Flying Corps. Although the school was only on the small scale it aided in contributing to the winning of the war in the air.

Many of the ex-pupils of the Walsh school did excellent work at the front, and, although the school records are not complete, information has been received of the following decorations awarded to ex-pupils, details of which may doubtless be found on the honours list: Major K. L. Caldwell, M.C., D.F.C., succeeded to the command of the 74th Squadron after Major Bishop. Captain C. C. Callender, Order of the Silver Crown of Italy, O.C. First School of Aerial Gunnery, Hytlie. Captain M. C. McGregor, M.C., D.F.C., for some time in the 85th Squadron, Major Ball’s. Captain H. W. Collier. Captain W. W. Cook, M.C. Captain H. F. Drewitt, M.C. Captain R. B. Bannerman, D.F.C. and bar. Several other ex-pupils have made excellent fighting pilots and have gained distinctions. * * * The Safety of Flying “Is flying safe?” writes some old die-hard in a contemporary as he touches, in a dubious sort of way, upon the possibilities of aviation in the Dominion. Of course man will never be altogether immune from accidents, and there is certainly an element of danger in flying just as there is in driving a car through a busy thoroughfare, but that element of risk is gradually being forced more and more to the background. Of the many lessons to be learned from the R.A.F. display at Hendon this year, surely one of the most important is the distance which modern planes have traversed along the lane to safety. That a demonstration of this magnitude, in which over 200 machines participated, should have passed oft without a single untoward incident, or the slightest trace of an accident, is not only a tribute to the organising skill of those responsible and to the proficiency of the present day pilot, but also bears eloquent testimony to the reliability of the airplane engines used.

It is unfortunate, although quite true, that most flying accidents are directly attributable to the human element in the shape of errors of judgment on the part of the pilot or, to put it more brutally, lack of reasonable care. Many serious accidents are the result of performing abnormal evolutions at too low an altitude. Such mishaps are in every way avoidable since they are due to an utter disregard of instructions and in this respect a golden rule is: “Do not fool about near the ground, it is both silly and dangerous.”

If it is possible to make a relative survey of safety, then the following extract from a recent address is illuminating: According to statistics just published, Imperial Airways carried last year 52,000 passengers over 2,500,000 miles, without an injury to a single passenger. In “The Times,” London, dated June 14, 1842, appears the following: “In 1841, the number of passengers carried on the eight railway lines numbered 10,508, over a distance of 3,562,338 miles. In that year only 56 passengers were injured, of whom 22 were killed. Facts such as these can only dispel any doubts that may still linger as to the reasonable safety of flying. It is the old saying—- “ History repeats itself.” _______