COMMERCIAL AVIATION.
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Some Topical Notes and Comments.
THE NORTH SEA Aerial Navigation Co. has publicly announced its intention of running . flying-boat services from Hull to Denmark,. Holland and ultimately Petrograd as soon as the ban on civil aviation is removed. A statement to that effect has been made by Mr. Stuart Hirst, chairman of the Blackburn Aeroplane Co. For some tirae past Mr. Hirst has been working towards this end. He has already pointed out that the port of Hull had an admirable opportunity of becoming one of the leading .aviation ports of the Kingdom, and. that, if the opportunity were missed, the results might be very serious to the district. Mr. Hirst and the business men associated with him are-to be congratulated not only upon their enterprise but also upon their local patriotism.
Large or Small Aeroplanes ?
On the occasion of the announcement mentioned above, Major-General Sir F. H. Sykes stated that the North Sea service was as yet in an experimental stage. The trip across the North Sea has been frequently made during the War, but nothing in the nature of a regular service has been established. He also pointed out that, at any rate at this stage of development, there are advantages in employing comparatively' small machines of moderate capacity, because the moral effect of a single accident to a large machine carrying a big party of passengers might be extremely serious.
Royal Fliers.
While recognizing the justice of this contention, there is no question about the stability of the big Handley-Page machines, with the appearance of which Londoners are now very familiar, since they make frequent trips round and over the City. A. few days ago the Prince of Wales took part in one of these trips. Prince Albert has, of course,' done a considerable amount of flying. The King and Queen of the Belgians often indulge in aerial travel. It is
• right that Royalty should set an example in this matter, because everyone knows that there are better reasons why Royalties should not take risks than those which operate in most other eases. Consequently, When Royalty shows confidence in the safety of aerial travel, the effect is likely to be the
a creation of widespread confidence amongst others.
Cheap Aeroplanes.
The Aern Club of America has announced the forthcoming arrival of an aeroplane with a wingspread of only about 20 IL, to be sold at' the low price of £240. This may be the first glimpse of what will ultimately become the aerial taxi or hire car for comparatively short runs. It is said that the machines will keep in the air for at least 21 hours, which would give them a non-stop capacity of about 200 miles. On the question of price it appears most undesirable at the moment. that any attempt should be made to get down to a strict minimum. What we want is durability, coupled with efficiency and safety. The operating costs of aerial travel are necessarily high., and, in making up the general account, the figure that has to be allowed for depreciation will therefore be a comparatively small percentage of the total. The difference between a machine built almost regardless of expense and one built at the lowest possible cost could not be more than a difference of about 5 per cent. in the total operating expenditure. This would, be more than counterbalanced if the higher:priced machine possessed greater durability or, by reason of superior reliability, was able to obtain more custom or to charge higher fares.
Aerial Advertising.
America is always quick in realizing-the possibilities of advertisement. A play called " Penny Wise" is now running in New York and an aeroplane has flown over the City distributing coins, both gold and copper, presumably representing not only Penny Wise" but "Pound Foolish." One may question the real delight of a pedestrian on receiving a twopound gold piece on the bridge of the nose, this same coin having descended a couple of thousand feet e from an aeroplane travelling at 80 miles an hour. Quite a good percentage of the shower of money would presumably—and perhaps providentially—lodge on roofs or be otherwise lost. In this .connection, paper money has its advantages, since it is certainly less deadly. The point is, however, that if international regulations have not already provided against the possibility, they will have to include some provision to prevent people dropping solid advertisement from the air to the danger of those beneath. It is almost equally undesirable that aeroplanes should be used for the wide distribution of printed matter except when it becomes necessary to spread propaganda m a hostile country.
Aeroplane Number-plates.
_The decisions of the International Aerial Convention may be expected to be announced in full at any moment, if they have not already preceded the publication of this note. Our Home regulations are already in draft and will be issued immediately upoa the appearance of the International regulations. Some of the latter are already known. For instance, the marking of aeroplanes roughly corresponding to the numbering .of cars has been settled. There will be one letter indicating the nationality and four other letters, preferably forming a word, added for identification purposes. The marks are to be painted on the lower surface of the lower main planes and on the upper surface of the top main planes, and also along each side of the fuselage.
Redords of Performance.
Commercial aircraft are to be required to carry no fewer than four log books, namely, thejourney log, aircraft log, engine log and signal log. Privatelyowned machines will have to keep journey logs and to enter particulars whenever they make international flights. The three additional books to be kept by commercial aircraft are to contain technical entries, the engine and aircraft logs serving as a record of the life and performanee of the machine and its mechanism. In this way an enormous quantity of very valuable data will be collected, which should assist in getting aerial insurance on to a sound basis and in enabling accurate estimatesto be made of the costs of operating services under various conditions.
Navigation Rules.
As regards lights and the rules of navigation, the• regulations for aircraft will follow pretty closely on the existing_ sailing regulations. Presumably the same colours will be used for port and starboard lights. When aircraft are approaching one another they will, like ships, turn to starboard. The old sea rhyme,
When both aide lights you see ahead Port your helm and show your red "
will apply to night flying. A system of signals has been devised for aircraft wishing to land at night, and also for indicating distress. In this connection Verey lights will_ apparently take the place of the
rockets used at sea. BEMBRIDUE.