AIR TRANSPORT NEWS
Page 55
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AMBITIOUS P.S.I.o.W.A. PLANS REVEALED.
THAT noted aviator, Sir Alan Cole I ham, K.B.E., A.P.C., has become chairman of Portsmouth, Southsea and .Isle of Wight Aviation, Ltd. Services will be speeded up this year by a. new fleet of Airspeed machines, Lynx Envoys with Marconi AD 41/42 radio, and Lynx Couriers with Amu radio.
The company expects to run one extra major route this season, of greater length than any so far covered. The air-ferry services will connect the Isle of Wight with Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth, using Couriers. Envoys will be operated between London and the island, the fares being 24s. 6d. single and 45s. return, with an improved schedule.
At Heston, the company will be represented by North Eastern Airways, with connection by that concern's services to Leeds, Newcastle . and Edinburgh. There will be more services between Bournemouth and the island and two daily (as last year) will connect with the Norman Edgar Western Airways service to Bristol and Cardiff,
e;o soon as Portsmouth Airport is lighted, the popular PortsmouthRycle ferry will be run until midnight, and lighting will be provided at Re,Tde Airport.
WIRELESS BEACON FOR LIVERPOOL AIRPORT.
LIVERPOOL'S municipal airport at Speke is to have a Marconi short– range approach beacon working on a wavelength between 820 and 900 metres. The best .approach happens to be in a line with Barton Airport, Manchester, so that the Marconi direction-finding station there can. give Liverpool-bound aeroplanes their bearings and information before they come within the range of the Speke
beacon. •
This beacon will emit a series of Morse dots on one side and dashes on the otherside of the beam axis, converging along' the axis into a continuous signal. There will also be the usual two marker beacons, one three miles from the aerodrome and the other on its boundary. The markers are audible to the pilot without retuning and each will give its own distinctive signal.
FLYING NEON SIGNS.
WE learn that Mr. Whitney Straight has joined the board of Air Commerce, Ltd., the company which proposes to fly aeroplanes at night, displaying Neon-tube advertisements over towns. A new Monospar • (two Pubjoy Cataract engines) carries a frame of Neon tubing under the wings. The
company has a contract from Ramsgate Town Council to fly over London on Jubilee night, displaying the invitation "Visit Ramsgate."
BIRMINGHAM HELPS PILOTS.
A SUGGESTION of Birmingham 1-1. Airport Committee that the city's largest gasometer, which is 220 ft. high, should be made into an aerial signpost, has been agreed to by the gas committee. The abbreviation " B'ham " in 60-ft. letters, also an arrow pointing to the north, will be painted on its crown.
MORE TALK OF THE STORNOWAY SERVICE.
(AN March 15, Capt. Fresson, of O Airways, announced in Stornoway that all the survey work for a service from Inverness to Stornoway had been completed. It is hoped to have a regular service in operation before long. Capt. Pressen flew to Stornoway from Inverness in 55 minutes, whereas the journey by rail and steamer takes about 10 hours.
FIVE MORE MASTER PILOTS.
THE Air Ministry has granted five more Master Pilots' Certificates to Messrs. F. V. W. Foy, W. Armstrong, 0. P. Jones, H. H. Perry and A. S. Wilcockson. There are now 10 master pilots under the British licensing system and all are in the service of Imperial Airways. The five earlier awards went to Messrs. L. A. Walters, F. D, Travers, J. Spofford, E. S. Alcock and A. B. H. Youell.
MADDOX AIRWAYS CHARTER RATES.
WE are informed by Maddox Airways, Ltd., Heston, that the company's Dragon G-ACIU can be
chartered at is. 9d. per mile. The charge for the Hawk Major G-ADAS, the Falcon, which is due in early April, and the privately owned Leopard Moth and Puss Moth, which are available, is 8d. per mile. K.L.M. SERVICE TO LIVERPOOL TO RECOMMENCE.
THE air service which the Royal HE Air Line (K.L.M.).* ran last summer between Amsterdam, Hull and Liverpool, will be reopened this spring and probably continued through next wittier, So soon as Manchester Corporation has cleared a usable part of the Ringway aerodrome' site, the machines will call there, as well as at Liverpool.
Doncaster Corporation has also approached the company to use its airport, and, although the K.L.M. may be willing to include a fourth station in England, it is doubtful whether Doncaster is the best one to choose. The joint Leeds—Bradford Airport, at Yeadon, which is being developed rapidly, may prove to be better placed for traffic.
AEROPLANE AT COACH STATION.
THE criticism, often heard, that companies running air services in Great Britain do not advertise them effectively certainly has some foundation. Many smaller air-transport companies, on investigating this question, have found that the necessary outlay 'will be comparable with the annual item for depreciation and interest on their aeroplanes, and have decided, perhaps against their better judgment. not to advertise in a whole-hearted way.
Jersey Airways, Ltd., showed enterprise, last week, by transporting one of its de Havilland. Dragons by road, in the small hours of the morning, from Heston Airport to Victoria Coach Station, where the machine was on show to hundreds of persons who Were either buying tickets for coach travel or had just completed a journey. Such people are looked upon as potential air travellers, particularly during the summer monthe.
The aeroplane also formed part of the third anniversary exhibition. which was held by London Coastal Coaches, Ltd., the proprietor of the station, on March 14.