Here again the geographical position of England presents a difficult problem. England is divided from the rest of the Empire by a wide expanse, either of ocean or foreign territory. Egypt, the starting-point for air routes to India, Australia, and South Africa, may be described as the centre of a circle of which England is on the circumference; and it may be some years before an aeroplane can complete the journey between England and Egypt with only Malta as a stopping-place.
The future of long-distance oceanic air routes may depend upon the airship. Lighter-than-air craft, mainly for reasons of cost and vulnerability, did not receive such an impetus from the war as did the aeroplane, but the modern airship has claims for use over distances exceeding 1,000 miles. It can fly by night with even greater ease than by day; fog is no deterrent; engine trouble does not bring it down; and it can take advantage of prevailing winds. It would reduce the sea journey from England to Karachi from 22 to 5 days; from England to Johannesburg from 21 to 7 days; and from England to Perth from 32 to 10½ days. Its achievements have already been considerable. In November, 1917, the German L.57 flew from Constantinople to East Africa and back—a distance of 4,000 miles—in 96 hours; in June, 1919, the R.34 flew from East Fortune to Danzig and back in 57 hours; and in July it crossed the Atlantic, was moored out in America for four days, and returned, a total distance of 8,000 miles, in the flying time of 108 hours for the outward and 75 hours for the homeward journey.
Before and during the war Germany gained wide experience in the design, construction, and handling of airships. It is probable that as soon as the peace terms and financial position permit she will begin to establish this form of transport on a commercial basis. In accordance with the Peace Treaty, and the Ultimatum of the London Conference of 1921, the construction of aircraft of all kinds is at present forbidden, but Germany is fostering airship development by the means left at her disposal. Her scientists are probing the constructional problems connected with large airships, while efforts are being made, by financial and other assistance, to maintain her technical staffs and airship bases in existence. At the same time German commercial interests are negotiating with foreign countries with a view to the development of airships abroad, and plans are being discussed for an airship service between Spain and Argentina.
The United States, France, and Italy are all interesting themselves, either financially or constructionally, in the future of airship development.
In Great Britain we have made great strides, particularly in the construction of small types, and our practical air experience in lighter-than-air craft, during the war, is the greatest in the world. With a view to carrying out the experiments necessary further to demonstrate the capacity of airships for commercial long-distance flights, a few months ago the Department of Civil Aviation took over all airship material surplus to service requirements. The main object was to test the practicability and value of mooring airships to a mast. Up to the present, a principal factor militating against the economic operation of airships has been the large and expensive personnel required for handling them on the ground, especially in stormy weather. The mooring-mast experiments have had considerable success and airships have been moored in high winds and over long periods with the assistance of a very small personnel.
The Government has decided, however, though recognizing their potentialities for speeding up communications between the various Dominions and the Mother Country, that the operation of airships cannot be carried out by the State on account of the present financial position.
Recognizing the limitations of Home services and those to the Continent, it was for the purpose of directing attention to the Imperial aspect of civil aviation that the great demonstration flights were organized in which Alcock flew the Atlantic in a Vickers "Vimy," Scott crossed to the United States and back in the R.34, Ross-Smith flew from England to Australia, and van Ryneveld from London to the Cape.
These flights necessitated, too, considerable ground organization in laying out aerodromes, as the following report on one in Africa vividly illustrates: "If aerodromes are left unattended for one year," it says, "practically all the work would have to be undertaken afresh, particularly in Rhodesia. The growth of vegetation is enormous, especially during the rains, and grass will grow to a height of eleven feet in six months; and trees stumped two feet below the surface will throw out suckers and replant themselves within a month after the rains have started.... It is most important that rough drains should be traced.... I have just started planting Doub grass. This grass gives an ideal surface for landing, kills other grasses, and possesses deep interlacing roots which will bind the entire surface of the aerodromes, making it permanent and free from washaways and the formation of sluits."
The demonstration flights, however, showed what could, rather than what should, be done, and what we look for to-day is the inception of practical undertakings, however small, in the various portions of the Empire. The most important of these is the service contemplated between Egypt and India; another instance is afforded by the West Indies, which suffer from the lack of inter-island communications, both for mails and passengers, and this could be partially rectified by an air service employing seaplanes or amphibians for the Leeward and Windward Islands and the Bahamas, and between the Bahamas and the American Continent, where an American company is actually conducting a service. Another project, given up owing to recent disturbances, was one for a flying-boat service on the Nile. Services are also being considered from Malta to Italy, Geraldton to Derby in Western Australia, Sydney to Adelaide and Brisbane, and Melbourne to Hobart in Tasmania. Canadian activity takes the form of work carried out by Government-owned civil machines in connection with forest patrol, photographic survey, exploration, anti-smuggling patrols, etc. It would be a great advantage if railway and steamship companies seriously considered the value of supplementing their services by air.
With regard to Government undertakings on the Imperial air routes, Malta is being equipped with an aerodrome, and a line of wireless stations has been established between Egypt and India, but the organization of this route has been delayed owing to the recent disturbances in the Middle East, and the financial outlay involved in ground organization. As I have said, the air route on which we should first concentrate, over and above the Continental services, is that between Egypt and India. Both strategically and commercially it is the most important in the Imperial system; it is a step towards Australia; it offers possibilities of the greatest volume of traffic; it should be much simpler to control than many international routes, which inevitably have many complications; weather conditions are not unfavourable; and the time taken for the journey by sea would be reduced by about one-half. If the shortcomings in point of distance of the continental routes in reaping the full advantages of travel by air, and the importance of the best possible communications for the Empire, are recognized, it is essential that a practical form of assistance should be given in the near future to the conduct of weekly or even bi-weekly services each way between Cairo and Karachi. Although it will not be a commercial proposition for some time, the Egypt-Karachi route, shortening as it will the delivery of mails between England and India by two-thirds, and England and Australia by one-third, offers greater results than the various other schemes at present contemplated. There are, however, certain considerations which will have to be weighed before the immense amount of work necessary to its initiation as a commercial air route is begun. The French, for instance, hope to push a trunk air route to India via Constantinople, and this line has the advantage of avoiding a long sea and desert crossing. On the other hand, it will be a very difficult matter to negotiate the mountains of Anatolia.