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Extracts from the Hong Kong Daily Press - 31st August, 1928
CIVIL AVIATION FOR
HONG
KONG.
PRESENT POSITION AND PROSPECTS.
PROPOSED BRITISH AERIAL
TRANSPORT COMPANY.
THE VALUE OF AN AERIAL TAXI SERVICE.
"
[SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE
KONG DAILY PRESS BY MR. R. VAUGHAN-FOWLER.]
HONG
In the past several aeronautical enthusiasts have made attempts to start aviation in the Colony. Unfortunately these efforts have not met with any great success, and all have fizzled out through one cause or another.
When these attempts were made aviation had not reached the ad- vanced stage that it has to-day, the machines available were unsuitable for the work; and nobody had any experience of commercial aviation. Under these conditions the promo- tors were fighting against almost impossible odds, and they deserve considerable praise for the courage they displayed in their pioneer work.
a
Present day commercial aviation owes a lot of its success to the early failures, and we must not think that because air services were failure years ago they are going to be unsuccessful in the future. SAFETY AND RELIABILITY.
Owing to the dangers and diffi- culties experienced during the early years of aviation, and the high percentage of casualties in the flying services during the Great War, the public are rather apt to look upon flying as dangerous.
Imperial Airways, Ltd., during the last three years have not kill- ed one paying passenger, and there have been no serious accidents in British Commercial aviation during that period.
I think even the most ardent opponent of aviation will agree that this record is proof of the safety and reliability of British aircraft and aero-engines.
MODERN COMMERCIAL
AIRCRAFT.
Commercial aircraft are no longer in the experimental stage, and when a new air route is contem-
plated the type of machine to be used is very carefully considered. If it does not meet all the require- ments the necessary modifications are carried out; by this method the most suitable machine is obtained for the work.
It would be just as unreasonable to attempt to cross a thousand miles of desert on a bicycle, as it would be to employ the wrong type of machine on an air route.
COMFORT.
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Particular care has been taken to make the passenger accommoda- tion really comfortable, no longer is it necessary to travel in an open cock-pit and arrive at the journey's end in a "blown to bits condi- tion. Instead the passenger is ac- commodated in a well appointed cabin, in which he can read, write, talk, eat and sleep in comfort; in short air travel is luxurious.
Sea-sickness, or rather air-sick- ness is seldom experienced, and in practically all cases of passengers who suffer severely from sea-sick- ness it is found that they are un- effected by air-sickness; the se- sation of giddiness is also absent.
LOCAL CONDITIONS.
I have heard people who don't fly, say that flying in or around the Colony is more dangerous and difficult than in other parts of the world, owing to the climatic con- ditions.
In actual point of fact, prac- tically all the year round the local weather conditions are ideal for flying. The same people look upon typhoons as a danger, but thanks to the regular and accurate reports issued by the Royal Observatory, and also to the fact that the air- craft's speed makes avoiding a typhoon an easy matter for the pilot, they present no danger to aerial navigation.
KAI TAK AIR PORT. Reports have appeared in the press concerning the Air Port of Kai Tak. Unfortunately the actual details of design are not available for publication, but there are certain points that deserve attention.
The position of the Air Port is as ideal as it would be possible to find, because it combines a large aerodrome with an excellent sea- plane base.
There is no Air Port in Europe serving so important a place as
· Hong Kong that can claim to be a joint aerodrome and seaplane base. The value of London's air port at Croydon is considerably re- duced because it is impossible to obtain these ideal conditions.
If this combined air port were not possible at Kai Tak, Hong Kong would require two air ports, one for the seaplanes and flying boats that will be working the coastal