AIR TRANSPORT NEWS
Page 42
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HILLMAN'S NEW LONDONBELFAST SERVICE.
It is now stated that the LondonBelfast and London-Glasgow air services of Midland and Scottish Air Ferries, Ltd., ceased last week-end, and Hillman's Airways, Ltd., started, on July 16, a daily London-Belfast service. Mr. Hillman finds that people do not like a very early start, and he has altered the time-table as follows:— The flying time for the return journey, using de Havilland Dragons, is 6 hrs. 45 mins. Three new Dragon Sixes are about to be delivered, and, as these have a cruising speed about 90 m.p.h. higher than that of the ordinary Dragons, they will reduce the flying time to about 5 hrs. 30 mins., and new time-tables will be issued.
Freight-carrying Developments.
• A new Leopard Moth was delivered to Messrs. Wrightson and Pearse, at Heston Airport, last Saturday, making two machines of this type in their fleet The machine has already made a flight to the Continent, piloted by Flt. Lieut. R. L. R. Atcherley, of Schneider Trophy • fame.
The firm are awaiting delivery of a ViEkers Vellox freight aeroplane, the first freightei to be based at Heston. This machine will be used principally upon the daily flight to Paris which Nfessrs. Wrightson and Pearse make under contract for a newspaper-distributing concern. English national newspapers are now on sale in Paris and other Continental towns by 7.30 a.m. or 8 a.m.
Commercial Aircraft in Big Race.
Improvements in the breed of British commercial aeroplanes was demonstrated in this year's King's Cup Air Race flown from Hatfield, on July 13 and 14. This is a handicap race, so that navigation means as much to success as performance, but range of vision, controllability and general airworthiness are of great importance. A feature of this year's race was the advance in design revealed in several competing machines of the smaller air-transport classes.
The race was won by a Monoipar S.T.10 (two Pobjoy Niagara 90 h.p. en1328 gines), which averaged 131.31 m.p.h. over the whole course. One of the new Dragon Six 8-10-seaters with tapered wings averaged 158 m.p.h. in the first round, and was among the unlucky machines in the later heats of Round 2, these being obliged to retire owing to the weather, Which was prac tically impossible for flying. There were downpours of almost tropical rain and dense black clouds reaching almost to the ground, obscuring the hills.
Three other Monospars did quite well, and a new British Klemm Eagle (Gipsy Six engine) averaged 153 m.p.h. in the first round. Leopard Moths (Gipsy Major) put up speeds of about 140 m.p.h., and Percival Gulls (Gipsy Six) approached 160 m.p.h. An Airspeed Courier (Napier Rapier) reached 166 m.p.h. in the first round.
Still Bigger Isle of Wight Figures.
In the week to July 12, Portsmouth. Southse,a and Isle of Wight Aviation. Ltd., carried 1,337 passengers between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and 151 passengers between London and the Isle of Wight. A terminal building at Ryde aerodrome is being constructed for the company by Boulton and Paul, Ltd., Norwich. It comprises, on the ground floor, hall, booking office, waiting room, restaurant, kitchen, etc., and above the central part will be an office and control tower. The station will probably be completed this month.
Some Banco Figures.
In June the British Air Navigation Co., Ltd., carried 236 passengers. In all, 73 flights were made by the company's own machines and 15,848 miles were flown. The Le Touquet service is now doing really well. Bookings indicate that for the next few weeks it will be loaded nearly to capacity. Already extra departures have been made.
The Heston-Pourville-Dieppe service started off well on June 29. The Banco Ford Tr-motor G—ABHO made the first run. That week-end two Ford Tr-Motors were chartered to take parties to Orly (Paris), whilst other recent charters have been to Cheltenham, and for pleasure over London.
Quick Work by Britannia Batteries.
Provincial Airways, Ltd., with its regular service between London and Plymouth, enabled Britannia Batteries, Ltd., Union Street, Redditch, to give first-class service in response to an urgent demand, recently, from the Mutley Garage, Plymouth.
This garage put through a trunk call to the London office of Britannia Batteries, Ltd., ordering a certain type of battery. This was sent by special messenger to Croydon, collected about two hours later at Plymouth Aerodrome (Roborough) and in service that day. AIR-MAIL DEVELOPMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN.
We are in a position to state that the Postmaster-General has now come to the conclusion that the experiment, which he inaugurated on May 29, of sending mails by air on the InvernessOrkney route has proved a success. He. therefore, proposes to consider making use of other regular air services in Great Britain, and it is probable that before, long he will make a statement in the House of Commons on this subject. He will probably combine with it a statement on the Empire air-mail position, particularly the demand by commercial Interests for a flat rate to all stations on the imperial routes.
As regards home air-mail services, we understand that the Postmaster-General is not likely to prepare a schedule of routes on which air transport would be advantageous, and to issue this schedule for tender by air-transport companies for the carriage of mails. All that he intends to do, for the time being at any rate, is to consider existing services, run by responsible companies, which might be of use.
The New Deauville Service.
On July 12, the British Air Navigation Co., Ltd., started its new daily air service which will operate throughout the rest of the summer between London and Deauville. Mr. T. N. Morton piloted the first machine, which was the company's Ford Tri-motor G-ABHO. The departure from Heston every day is at 11.0 a.m. and the arrival at 12.30 p.m. The departure from Deauville is at 3 p.m., with arrival at Heston at 4.30 p.m. (Sundays included).
The company has just taken over the suite of offices on the first floor of the terminal building at IIeston Airport, which hitherto have been occupied by Messrs. Norman, Muntz and Dawbarn, the aeronautical consultants.
Jersey Airways Progress.
Jersey Airways, Ltd., has now a hangar on the racecourse at Jersey. Here one Dragon is kept which is used for the Jersey-Paris service on Mondays and Thursdays, and as a reserve on the lines to England. It is much in use at the week-ends on the English routes.
The hangar which Portsmouth Corporation is building for the company at Portsmouth Airport is likely to be ready by the end of July. In the meantime, machines are kept overnight at Southampton and Heston.
Airwork, Ltd., undertakes the whole of the maintenance work and keeps one ground engineer at Jersey racecourse. The company at present has eight Dragons, and in over 1,000 Channel crossings about 5,000 passengers have been carried since the services started on December 18.