A lecture delivered by Air Commodore E, M, Maitland to the Royal Society of Arts recently elters the perspective of commercial airshins—as though, from being conscious of their presence upon the horizon, they now were brought before us in practical fashion through the concentrated medium of a telescope. Neither did we see through a glass darkly," for the questions of safety, regularity, carrying capacity, comfort, speed, and cost, were each dealt with in turn; and no statement was made unaccompanied both by facts and figures; and, in addition, the underlying assumptions upon which these depended, Enough has already been said about the lecture in other quarters, but it may be remarked hero that, during the subsequent discussion, the attitude adopted by Sir Alan Anderson, K.B.E., late Comptroller of the Navy, and now prominently associated with the P. and O. and Oriental Lines, was of especial interest. Speaking of cost snd the whole question of economic expenditure, he warned the _Government against the signal folly of wasting valuable existing material, proceeding to make the comparison between the expenditure involved in the construction and up-keep of even one harbour or drydock and that just quoted for suggested com, mercial airship bases," and concluding by urging the necessity for official support with regard to this movement, which has now Passed from the experimental stage to become a practical proposition.
Here one ventures to hope that too exacting a demand is not made upon those that govern the destinies of British flying when they are asked to recognize commercial proposition—since Germany has already advanced a step further: turning the practical proposition into an setual success.
Recorp oF THE Bopexsex.
No one-could accuse Germany of unpractical enthusiasm or untoward imagination where business is concerned; nor is it likely that a re cently vanquished notion has much money to waste. The following facts in the writer's possession may therefore prove interesting. German commercial airship Boden. see took four months to build, and started her career on August 24, 1919. Between this date and November 30 she made one hundred flights: most of these being nonstop journeys (Berlin-Friedrichshhafen); often carried out under most unfavourable weather conditions.
On November 30 she retired to Friedrichshafen to be lengthened: in order to carry more mails, passengers, and petrol. Her sister
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.