The Daily News. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1920. IMPERIAL AIR SUPREMACY.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 February 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1920. IMPERIAL AIR SUPREMACY.

It was the lack of prevision that prevented the Allies from winning the war long before it actually came to an end. This lesson has been taken to heart by the Director of Civilian Flyin<» (General SirF. H. Sykes) who recently delivered aleeture.o.n Imperial air routes before one Geographical Society at London, the purport of which was evidently to outline an organised scheme of military and civil aviation throughout the Empire, in order that our air supremaev in the future may be a valuable and reliable asset in maintaining the world's peace. Before the war aeroplanes were regarded, officially, only as scouting machines. There were some enthusiasts who declared these machines would have importance as implements of destruction, but in the official mind such people were ranked with the imaginative novelists, and no nation in pre-war days ever visualised the creation of' a really great air fleet, with thousands of aeroplanes built solely for destructive purposes. Great as have been the strides made in perfecting the structure of these machines and developing the engine power, there is still much to be done. General Sykes has visualised the possibilities, as well as the needs of the future. He has also shown how the military and civil aero services can be developed and co-ordinated so that their value to the Empire may possibly be greater than that of our sea supremacy. In the past five years there has been much groping from phase to phase, but the groping days are over, and the era of utility has arrived. The problem of the future no longer concerns theories, but greater strength, stability and speedabove all, well conceived organisation and well directed stimulus. If the aeroplane has not as yet proved up to the hilt all it can do, it has demonstrated it can fly from Britain to Australia, and "a greater test of endurance could not well be required. There will always be risks, but these are being minimised with marvellous success, as was demonstrated by General Sykes' statement that, between April 30 and December 31 of last year, excluding the Australian flight, the machines of the principal firms fiW 593,000 miles and carried 64,000 passengers, with only sixteen accidents, involving five deaths. The lecturer's main subject was Imperial air routes, and the reason for this was obvious, his scheme being devised to link up the Dominions to the Motherland in one common policy with the object of eo-operating in Imperial defence and developing Imperial trade, and thus creating a great aerial reserve. The proposal is sound and practical. Experience has proved that it is inadvisable to trust the military authorities to exhibit any enterprise in times of peace in the direction of preparing for war possibilities. General Sykes admits that military aviation is circumscribed on the ground of finance, and he urges that civil aviation must never cease to' expand. It is evident, therefore, that if Britain is to maintain her air supremacy it is to the development- of civil aviation that we must look as the maiu factor in this supremacy, and on this assumption Imperial air routes were suggested by General Sykes, who emphasised the necessity of keeping the first line fighting air force always on a war footing. To do this it is necessary to have both men and machines, so that the welding into one force of the whole of the forces of the Empire, civil and military, is the only safe method to adopt. This imposes on the Dominions an obligation to take their part in the scheme, and this duty should not appeal to them in vain, though public opinion may have to exercise its influence on the Government if a comprehensive scheme is to be carried out. The main spring of the whole movement appears to depend for its. operative force on the expansion of civil aviation, and it is as well this should be the case. Four of the leading aviation firms have, it is understood, formed a combination to purchase surplus Government super-airships for regular world-wide passenger voyages, linking up all parts of the Empire. Private enterprise will accomplish much in developing the commercial side of aircraft, and just as in pre-war times the great ocean liners formed part of the Naval reserve, so will the commercial aircraft serve in a similar capacity. It is imperative that Imperial air supremacy shall be maintained, and General Sykes has done good service by drawing attention to the

means- whereby the end in view can be accomplished. How vital this is, the experience of the past lias emphasised, and the lesson should bear fruit.