Part 14

Part 14 of Wonders of World Aviation was published on Tuesday 7th June 1938, price 7d.

This part included a central photogravure supplement showing French air services. This section illustrates the article on World-Wide French Services.

The Cover

Our cover picture this week shows Mercury, the top component of the Short-Mayo composite aircraft, in flight during its tests at Rochester, Kent. Normally this seaplane will be so heavily loaded that it will require the aid of Maia, the lower component, to assist it into the air.

You can read more on the Short Mayo composite aircraft in part 1.

Contents of Part 14

Tests of Flying Fitness (Part 2)

The high standards of physical fitness demanded in the specialized examinations of the Central Medical Board of the Air Ministry. This chapter is concluded from part 13.

The Principles of Navigation

For ordinary flights there are three essentials. Firstly, the map should incorporate the (north and south) lines of longitude as straight lines, and the (east and west) lines of latitude as straight or nearly straight lines. Secondly, the difference between true (or geographic) north and magnetic (or compass) north should be indicated. Thirdly, the scale to which the map is drawn should be marked. With this information the pilot can measure beforehand the course he has to fly and how long it will take him to cover the distance between two places on the map.

How Bird’s-Eye Views are Used

Everybody has now become familiar with the bird’s-eye views aptly applied as illustrations. Oblique views are useful in teaching geography. The archaeologist finds these views invaluable. Parliamentary Committees and similar bodies are frequently called upon to study them in connexion with proposals to amend boundaries and with other problems of administration. The coming of the aeroplane enabled the air-view operator to choose his view and his viewpoint instead of being limited in his choice by the wind and other factors inseparable from work in balloons.

This chapter is the third article in the series on Air Photography.

World-Wide French Services

France is still one of the leaders of world aviation. In 1933 the five principal air lines in France were merged in to one organization, Air France, which now operates about 23,000 miles of air routes. Air France’s development to its present efficiency has maintained the French tradition for pioneering. The five fleets which were taken over by Air France in 1933 had a total of 259 aircraft, of which 226 were land-planes, and thirty-three were seaplanes or flying boats. These machines were unsuitable for routes which were to extend to about two-thirds of the world’s circumference, and they had to be replaced by various types of aircraft which would suit the conditions of the new routes. How this task was accomplished, and how the routes were developed, form the subject of this chapter.

This is the sixth article in the series Air Routes of the World.

World-Wide French Services Photogravure Supplement - 2

HIGH-WING, TWIN-ENGINED BRACED MONOPLANE of the type used on the services between Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and the French Riviera. Until their replacement by Dewoitine 338s, they were used on the Far East service. This Potez 62 aircraft, which is named Cigogne (Stork), has two Gnome-Rhone 14Kirs fourteen-cylinder radial engines, which are air-cooled and supercharged. The Cigogne’s span is 73 ft 7½-in, her length is 56 ft 9½-in, and her height 12 ft 9-in. The wing area is 818 square feet. The weight loaded is 16,500 lb. Maximum speed at 6,560 feet is 202 and cruising speed at the same height 174 miles an hour. The normal range is 620 miles.

Romance of the Wright Brothers

How the successful Orville and Wilbur Wright aeroplane of 1903 was developed from glider designs. When we reflect on the part that France has played and still plays in world aviation it is a remarkable thing that France should have shared the world’s indifference to the momentous achievement of the Wright brothers, who made the first power-controlled flights in an aeroplane. These historic flights took place on December 17, 1903. The later flights of the Wright brothers also were ignored, and it was not until Wilbur Wright went to France in 1908 that the critics were converted. The story of the Wright brothers’ achievements is the subject of the sixth chapter in the series Makers of Air History.

Flying in New Zealand

The problems of establishing air services to New Zealand are considerable. The Dominion is not, at the time of writing (1938), linked by regular services with the air route between Great Britain and Australia. Because of the isolated situation of the Dominion and the geographical characteristics of the country, commercial aviation has developed slowly. The first regular air line was inaugurated in December 1934. Recently, progress has been accelerated and the four companies now operating aircraft services in New Zealand have co-operated to provide swift transport for passengers and mail.

This is the seventh article in the series Air Routes of the World.

World-Wide French Services

Photogravure Supplement

CONTROL TOWER AT LE BOURGET AIRPORT, Paris. From Le Bourget Air France, either independently or in conjunction with other companies, operates services in many directions. North-west, north and east, the air lines reach London, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Cologne and Berlin. Strasbourg and Prague - for Warsaw or for Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Bucharest. Going south are the trunk line to Marseilles - for Cannes, North Africa and for the Levant and the Far East.

Potez 62 aircraft, which is named Cigogne (Stork)

EXAMINATION OF PASSENGERS’ BAGGAGE at Le Bourget Airport

World-Wide French Services

Photogravure Supplement - 3

EXAMINATION OF PASSENGERS’ BAGGAGE at Le Bourget Airport. Customs examinations at airports are carried out with a minimum of inconvenience to the passengers, as there is no crowding such as is often experienced in ordinary custom offices and sheds. The new buildings of Le Bourget Airport were opened in November 1937.