COMMERCIAL AVIATION.
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Planning Out the Imperial Air Routes.
1 N HIS RECENT lecture before the Royal Geographical Society, General F. H. Sykes conveyed a tremendous amount of valuable information as to the progress being made in connection with commercial aviation. He dealt particularly in detail with the Imperial air routes. One of these, namely, the Cairo to Cape route, is very much in the public eye at the'moment and it will, perhaps, be better to defer comment upon the attempts to use this route iintil these attempts have been completed one way or the other.
Trading and Fighting Fleets.
General Sykes was certainly able to show that his Department of Civil Aviation got off the mark promptly when the Armistice was signed and has already done a great deal of very valuable organizing work, upon •which the Imperial routes can -be built up. 'Viewed as a whole, the British Empire is, geographically, in a position to establish air depots, refueling bases, and meteorological and wireless stations all over the world and, therefore, to secure a position in the air no less strong than that occupied on the sea for many centuries past. In considering the relations of civil and service aviation, the analogy of the. Navy and the mercantile marine is a good one. In the early dais, the merchant ship could be, and was frequently, adapted to serve as a ship of war. Gradually the types have developed further and -further apart, until now the utility of the merchant vessel as a fighting machine is extremely circumscribed.
Similarly, while aviation is still young, commercial aircraft are likely to have a, very considerable military value, but the two broad types will gradually separate more and more. For the present, the commercial aeroplane would make a serviceable bombing machine. In building aeroplanes for military purposes, designers have to concentrate on the evolution of machines of great speed combined with the maximum climbing and matneuvring powers. For commercial purposes also, speed is essential in most cases, but it must be combined with a high degree of reliability, a big flying radius, considerable carrying capacity, and satisfactory economy in operation.
As time goes on, the branch aerial lines connect. ing up to the stations on the main lines will have to be provided. On many of these lesser lines speed will be a minor consideration, the main point being to secure the accessibility of districts at present, unconnected with civilization by an organized transport system of any kind. The point will, therefore, be to get there and not necessarily to get there very fast. Thus, in time, many commercial machines will be built having practically no military value. The ground organization will, however, always possess a great and even growing service value. By the aid of this organization we shall be able to concentrate our fighting aeroplanes at any threatened point. The prompt development of commercial aviation is, therefore, absolutely essential to the safety of the Empire.
Day and Night Relay Services.
It is pointed out that sea transit from Port Said to Bombay takes nine days. The aerial journey between substantially the same points takes only four days, assuming flight is only attempted by daylight. The speed of the sea transit cannot be much increased, particularly because of the damage which it would cause to the banks of the Suez Canal.' The aerial service could be speeded reducing the journey to about 36 hours, by the establishment of a relay system working night and day. Obviously, it is upon some such system that the great air routes will have to be worked. Each section will be served by its own fleet, and the type of ,machine used on one section will not necessarily be the best type for the next section. We thus see the limits imposed on any scheme of standardization. We may standardize for each section of each route, but we cannot standardize one type for universal employment.
One of the main advantages of standardization would, of course, be the simplifying of spare part stores at the depots, but the limited degree of standardization just suggested would enable this Simplification to be secured, asaumingt of course, that no appreciable use of the main through routes would be made by casual machines not forming part of the main service.
It seems quite probable that, before long, many of the stages will have to be flown on fuel other than petrol. If we take, for example, the African route, there must be many depots and landing grounds so difficult of access from the coast that the cost of maintaining petrol supplies would be absolutely exorbitant. Many such districts are almost certainly quite well suited for the growing of alcohol crops. To some extent, the sitei . of the depots could be selected so that the fuel supplies could be distilled on the spot from local produce. The ideal alcohol engine is not identical with the ideal petrol engine, and, thus, the sections on which the alcohol fuel may be used would require to be served by specially engined machines. Thus it seems more than likely that, in the long run, it will become almost impossible for any one machine to make a complete journey along the lraperial air route.
An Outline of Policy.
Thus, though every section of the problem of the great routes must, in a sense be considered separately, the entire problem muse also be considered as a whole and the policy framed and applied throughout the entire Empire. General Sykes summarizes the immediate requirements of aviation on an Empire 'basis as follow: 1. The maintenance of a highly efficient fighting force.
2. The expansion of commercial aviation to promote British trade and to supplement the fighting force when necessary by a reserve of personnel and material, knowledge and experience.
3. The co-ordination and co-operation of aerial communication throughout the Empire, and its relations to other countries.
4. The organization of routes, aerodromes, ground communication, and meteorological services on an Imperial basis.
5. The energetic promotion of research and encouragement of design.
6. Money to assist the institution of experimental mail services.
7. The encouragement of land survey, forest patrol, and other work in which aircraft can be utilized. BEnBRIDGE.