Arizona republican., 1922-06-24
AIR. TAX|S SAID To
BE FAST GROWING
|NFAVOR| |NLONDON
Passengers Are Reported
AS Landed Almost At
Their Doorsteps; Speed
Declared Satisfying

LONDON, June 24.-Night flying
between England and France. which
was inaugurated early this month, is
expected to add immensely to the
commercial value of aerial communl-
cation. 1t saves time. and makes
possible remarkable train and steam
ship connections which were before
impossible.
The first plane to travel between
London and Paris at night left the
London air station at 10 o'clock and
landed at the Paris aerodrome soon
after midnight. 1t contained Briga-
der General w. S. Brancker, Direc-
tor of Civil Aviation: Colonel l.. F..
Blandy, Controller of Air Communi-
cations, a. navigator, pilot two Wire
less operators and a mechanic.
The air station at Croydon. out
side, London, was blaze of search :
lights, colored electric globes. and
powerful incandescent arc lambs.
The illuminated cabin OF the machine
and the red. white and green navi-
eating lights made it an object of
rare beauty as it rose in the dark
ness and headed for the coast.
!, On arriving in Paris General Bran
scker said: Il dined comfortably at a
London hotel, motored down to Croy-
here at / o'clock in the morning af-
ter a very leisurely flight. / am
ready to go to bed in Paris or am
prepared to go on to Marseilles to
make ship connection there.
Il expect regular passenger night
flying soon to start" continued the
Director of Civil Aviation. but cer-
tain things are needed before it be-
comes general between Paris and
London. The first essential is great
er perfection of wireless telephony
on board airplanes, so that pilots can
learn what the weather is ahead OF
them Then we need better light
ing of intermediate aerodromes. in
order that pilots may be able to land
safely If they find Paris covered with
an unexpected bank of fog. At pres
ent whenever there is fog the
French intermediate stations send up
rocket flares to a height of 1000 feet
at ten-second intervals to mark their
, position.
The flight of General Brancker was
followed a few nights later by night
round trip between Paris and Lon
don. This machine left Paris at 10
p. m. arrived at Croydon at a. m.
left for Paris at 2:50 a. m. and got
back to Paris at SOS a. m.
Great Britain pays her aviation
companies a, subsidy of $3.50 for every
complete flight across the English
Channel. This has encouraged most
of the companies to put on a daily
service. which is always we'll pat
ronized, especially by Americans
The railroad and steamship fare
across the channel occupying eight
hours is about s25. while the air trip,
which takes little more than two
hours, is one third more expensive,
plus baggage charges.
-taxicab service is the latest
convenience offered the London pub
lie. A former officer of the British
FLYING Forces in France has estab-
lished A fleet of small airplanes in
the city and suburban districts which
he calls ''air taxicabs." Passengers
are landed almost at their doorsteps,
instead of at some distant aerodrome
One of the pilots alighted with a
woman fare on the lawn in front of
her home. Earlier in the day the
same aviator took Jockey Steve
Donoghue, the winner of the Derby.
from the EPSON track to the steps
of his home. This meets my idea
of speed" said Donoghue. who has
ridden some of the fleetest thorough
breds in the world. Casually in TAX
ing an airplane I've been dropped
miles away from my destination in
stead of yards"