The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-02-13
.BRITONS HAVE
NO OCEAN AIR
SERVICE AIMS
Would Rather Improve In
tra-Empire Routes,
Is Belief
By HENRY T. RUSSELL
United Press Staff Correspondent

]
LONDON, Feb. 13.-(UP).-
Britain is watching, but not COM
peting in, the race for Atlantic
air supremacy.
While France is forging ahead
with regular air mail service to
South America, Holland is busy
breaking mail records to the
I Dutch Fast Indies: Italy is exper-
imenting with a service to Brazil,
and Germany is competing with
France on the South American
route via her floating airport,
Britain appears to be merely
! looking on. There are three main
reasons for this policy of watch
full waiting:
First, Insufficiency of funds.
Second, Desire to devote what
funds are available to Interim
pire routes.
Third, Belief that flying boats
have not yet been sufficiently de-
vcloped to warrant the establish
ment Of regular transatlantic
passenger or cargo services.
Available funds for this year
amount roughly to 100000 lbs,
which is the most Britain can
spend on air services for the mo-
ment. 1t is pointed out that the
United States will spend at least
20 times that amount, and could
therefore better afford to expert
ment over the Atlantic. British
funds are likelier to be used for
the development Of inter-Empire
routes until further notice.
Each of the three main routes
available: via Alaska and Green
land, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, or
Azores-Bermuda, has disadvan-
tages, according to experts here.
Lindbergh's route on his last trip
to Europe means a long mileage
with high fuel consumption and
low temperatures. with the risk
of ice forming on wings. The New
foundland-Ireland route means
fighting a constant westerly wind,
making it almost 25 per cent
harder to get to the United States
than to come back. To back this
contention, they cite the example
of r 81, the British dirigible
which over 10 years ago took
108 hours to fly to the United
States and only about rs to re-
turn.
The route via the Azores and
Bermuda would appear to be the
best as far as climstic conditions
and regularity Of flying time are
concerned. The disadvantage how
ever, is said to be the greater
distance involved. Hence, it is
suggested, the Azores route must
always prove expensive in oil and
petrol consumption.
Another angle is the political
one. There must be arrangements
made for re-fuelling on foreign
SOIL. When dealing with trans
Atlantic flying this can only be
arranged by obtaining conces-
SONS from nations who may find
mid-Atlantic stations of strategy
cal value in time Of war and who
may therefore find it inconven-
lent to allow other nations to use
the territory as hopping point.
The only other solution ap-
pears to be the one selected by
Germany, using a converted liner
as a Floating" landing place.
But British experts claim that
this is only palliative and that
1t is merely a way of evading the
point that the flying-ships of to-
dav are incapable of flying the
distance in one hop.
A further point about the float
ing islands is. in the British view
that to make them really of suf,
1lclent. practical value they must
be large, and therefore are likely
to- cost: mere than it would nav
anybody to spend on them.