AIR TRANSPORT NEWS
Page 45
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AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION'S VALUABLE WORK.
The air-transport section of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors is beginning to do useful work, and its position is comparable with that held in the road-transport industry by the national associations. The section is divided into an airports division and an operators' division. Several leading municipal and non-municipal airport owners belong to the former and most of the unsubsidized companies to the latter.
For the airport members a valuable loose-leaf handbook has been prepared, ith separate divisions containing information about town planning, aerodrome equipment, legal questions, aerodrome fees and aerodrome lighting. The idea is to standardize, so far as practicable, methods of charging fees and systems of lighting and equipment.
The operators' division is concerned with the results of the Gorrell Committee on the control of civil aviation, also with problems of international barriers to air traffic, motor terminal services, booking agencies and the periodical meetings of the International Commission for Air Navigation.
Valuable Air-transport Publication.
A new edition of "The Air Pilot" for Great Britain and Ireland has been published by the Air Ministry, and is obtainable at 12s. 6d. from H.M. Stationery Office depots at London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, and Belfast, or through any bookseller. Until superseded by a further edition, "The Air Pilot" will be kept up to date by means of monthly supplements, which may be obtained at a subscription of 5s. (post free) per annum. • It is a most valuable publication, for it gives details and plans of all the aerodromes in Great Britain, also particulars of air-navigation obstructions which are lighted, and details of luminous beacons on the London-Continent airway.
An Ordinary Week for 011ey Co.
In the week to September 23, 011ey Air Service, Ltd., was busy with a variety of charter flights. Racegoers were brought from the Ayr meeting to Windsor, and could thus attend two consecutive days' racing, 400 miles apart, without having to spend the night in travelling. A shooting party was brought south from Richmond, in the Yorkshire Moors, a flight was made to Deauville and three return flights to Switzerland, as well as one to Czechoslovakia. During the week-end several flights were made over London.
Mr. Gordon P. 011ey has written a book of his memoirs from the earliest days. It is entitled "A Million Miles of Flying," and will be published next month by Hodder and Stoughton, at 7s. 6c1. It should greatly interest airtransport operators.
Winter Week-ends in Ostend.
The municipal authorities in Ostend are co-operating with the air services in an endeavour to create a winter season. Within a few days the Sabena (Royal Belgian Air Lines) will announce weekend trips by air to Ostend at an inclusive price which is no more than the ordinary return fare of the air service. For £5 4s. one travels from Central London to an Ostend hotel and back again, complete hotel expenses, with several concessions and, in fact, luxuries,' all gratuities and one or two extras being provided.
HartlepooLs Aerodrome Scheme.
A conference of West Hartlepool and Hartlepool Town Councils and Billingham Urban Council is to be held at West Hartlepool to reconsider a scheme for the setting up of a municipal aerodrome.
Smart Work by Birkett Co.
Last week Birkett Air Service, Ltd., Heston, did some fast work for a City man. who telephoned the airport traffic office for an aeroplane at 7 p.m. He was in Liverpool by 9.1-5 p.m. When he arrived at Heston the Birkett machine was waiting for him, and the traffic office had arranged for flares at Liverpool to assist the night landing.
The arrival of H.R.H. Princess Marina in Scotland kept the Birkett company busy fetching photographs.
The Air Annual.
The sixth volume (1934-35) of "The Air Annual of the British Empire" has just been published at 21s. by Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., Parker Street, London, W.C.2. It was founded and is edited by Sq.-Ldr. C. G. Burge, O.B.E. Its sections on service aviation, commercial and civil aviation and the industry contain well-written articles, photographs and statistical records. The descriptions of latest engines and aircraft are given in English, French and Spanish. The commercial aviation section covers much of the ground of the Report on the Progress of Civil Aviation.
A New Sound-deadening Material.
A concern well-known in the busseating business, the Rapido Padding and Curled Hair Manufacturers, Ltd., Angel Road, London, N.18, is now manufacturing sound deadening material which may prove useful in the aircraft industry. Close attention is being given to the use of inch material in the cabin walls of modern commercial aeroplanes. The Zero-Plus material made by the Rapido Co., is in the form of Kapok, quilted in light and fireproofed cloth or hessian covering. AIR-MAIL POLICY OF THE G.P.O.: CHANGES EXPECTED.
Up to now the attitude of the Postmaster-General with regard to air mails has been one of making use of what services were available. Now that the G.P.O. has an Air-mail Advisor in the person of Group Captain W. H. Primrose, D.P.C.. R.A.P. (retired), it is natural that suggestions for the improvement of services should commence to emanate from the Post Office itself.
Probably within the next week or two the G.P.O. will suggest to Railway Air Services, Ltd., certain improvements in the time-table of the London-Glasgow air service. -Probably the suggested change will be one that would enable morning letters from London to, be delivered in Glasgow the same evening, and this will necessitate special ground organization at the Glasgow end. The bags which are to be seen being loaded daily at Croydon are still dishearteningly light. The combination of air-mail and passenger services is always difficult.
Leeds-London-Paris Traffic Developing.
The Leeds-Heston-Le Bourget service, which London, Scottish and Provincial Airways, Ltd., is running, shows increasing promise. This 140m.p.h. service is being used more and more by Leeds business men, who leave their 'city at 10 a.m.. to be in London by noon, and leave Heston again in the late afternoon to be home in time for dinner.
The through journey from Leeds to Paris, with Customs clearance at Heston, means that a 10 a.m, departure from Leeds lands the traveller in Paris in time for lunch. It is proving as popular for domestic parties as for business people.
P.S.I.o.W.A. Figures.
In the week to September 20, Portsmouth, Southsea and Isle of Wight Aviation, Ltd., carried 1,276 passengers between Portsmouth, Ryde and Shanklin, and 165 passengers between London and the Isle of Wight. There were also several special charter flights, including one to Paris, carried out mainly after dark.
Paris Newspaper Services.
So far, the advance of autumn has not materially disorganized the air services which carry English newspapers each morning, just before dawn, to Paris. In the week to September 23. Commercial Air Hire, Ltd., carried 0,000 lb. of freight, including the newspapers which it takes under charter for Air Dispatch, Ltd.
A similar service is run by Messrs. Wrightson and Pearse, and, despite the difficult weather of recent weeks, this has been maintained to a high standard of regularity. Both companies are using de Havilland Dragons.