The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-04-19
BRITISH AIR MINISTER, REAR
ADMIRAL kerr TELLS WHAT The
...IGY. FUTURE OF FLIGHT is TO Be

mo man has a greater knowledge
of aircraft and it's possibilities than
Rear Admiral Kerr, the Naval mem
Der of the Air Council who, inciden-
tally was the first Admiral to obtain
flying pilots certificate. He dealt
with some aspects of the future of
flight in a recent address at the Lon
don University, which is here given
in full.)
(By Rear-Admira1 Mark Kerr, of the
Air Ministry
War has made very incredible and
fantastic dreams of ten years or less
ago common-places of the present.
Yet no development has been more
swift and dramatic than that of air
craft. Every day gigantic strides are
being made in the further conquest
of the air by man, and with the ar
rival of peace there will have to be
laws laid down to meet the vast aeri-
al traffic that is certain to become
part of the fabric of civilization.
All air vehicles will have to be reg
| istered like our shipping. They will
have a Plimsoll mark, or it's equiva-
| lent, and no doubt a Lloyd's list will
grow up with class Al, and so forth,
for vessels taking passengers and
mails in the air. If any do not carry
a flag they will be classed as pirates,
the police will knock them down and
it will be long fall.
AS a matter of fact, there is in ex-
istence a large association which has
aerial laws of its own. It is an as
ISOLATION of birds known as the '1ost
souls of the Bosphorus.'' They have
laws clearly laid down, and fly in
large groups, and I have never seen
any of them in collision. Almost as
if using a compass they navigate the
air, and have noticed that those fly
ing southeast pass over those flying
northwest! When our own aerial
laws are made we shall have to take
hint from those birds, and use
the compass in making rules for pass
ing.
Imagination and Energy
Aerial law is one of the foundations
on which the aerial communication of
the future will rest. It's statutes will
have to provide for regularity in wire
less communications, rule of the air,
aerial navigation, and in addition to
this, the rights of states and individ-
uals to pass through the atmosphere
over countries and properties belong
ing to other peoples, and also the
control of landing-places on the lines
of routes, as we'll as the licenses to be
granted, authorizing types of ma
chimes that may be used for convey
ance of passengers and mails, and
testing the qualifications of those il
, charge of these aircraft.
In my opinion the formation of the
Royal Air Force is distinct ad
' vance in aeronautics. 1t means the
establishment of General Stat
= whose business it is to devote thei1
( Imagination and energy principally tt
t the study of aerial problems sub
ject too great to be looked on as {
= by-product of the work of any 9th
er Ministry. To do so would be go
ing back to the ancient days whe1
the sailors sailed the ship, and tn,
soldiers fought the sea-battle. w
all know the result of that system
was to produce a state of stagnatioI
in matters connected with the sea.
When the blessed day of peace ar
rives there will be a great struggl'
all over the world to get a start o
others in matters commercial, and on,
of the principal features will be pri
ority in aerial communication.
These things cannot be done sud
denly. 1t is essential that we mus
prepare. Preparation means organi
cation, and the strength of organiza
ton is the law. AS nation we ar
prone, in things new, to wait for 9th
ers to give us the lead, and afterward
we generally catch them up and pas
them; but 1 have ridden many hun
dred races in my time, and though i
some things to ride a waiting rae
is necessary, yet I never saw a jocke
who did not believe that one lengt
gained at the start was worth a goo
three pounds in weight. Other cour
tries are already getting into trair
ing. and we must do the same.
| There will be many difficulties, bl
difficulties are an incentive to or
race, and when confronted with then
| we must throw our minds back
| the great men of the past who, wit
} the smallest means, performed IL
- greatest deeds. Sir Walter Raleis
I'd it was who first put into words Il