Important Early Memorandum On International Air Travel
This work encapsulates the vision of the British Air Ministry in the 1920s to revolutionize air travel within the British Empire.
In 1926, with commercial aircraft having a mere 400-mile range, refueling stops were essential, especially on the British Empire's long route to India. The Air Ministry aimed to shorten this journey to just five days.
It includes intricate details of the proposed air routes, particularly the critical London to India path, traversing through refueling stations strategically located in the Middle Eastern oil reserves of Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Illustrated maps provide a vivid depiction of the trajectory via cities like Cairo, Gaza, and Baghdad, moving towards Bushire, Bandar Abbas, and onto Karachi and Hyderabad.
The document also explores experimental airship designs capable of 4,000-mile journeys and discusses the impact of challenging conditions like heat and terrain on aircraft performance. Advanced concepts like wireless communication in air traffic and meteorological mapping further highlight the forward-thinking strategies for developing imperial airship routes, including across the Arabian Gulf and African coasts.
The work underscores the intrinsic connection between meteorology and aviation, particularly emphasizing the critical dependence of air transport on meteorological science and services. The work addresses the importance of applying meteorology to air navigation, including the establishment of ground-based meteorological organizations along air routes and specific meteorological investigations for airship navigation between England, Egypt, and India.
The work also elaborates on the specialized meteorological work undertaken for airships by a dedicated division of the Meteorological Office, aiming to equip airship pilots with comprehensive weather information in atlas and handbook forms, analogous to resources long available to maritime navigators. It draws an analogy between the air and its currents for aircraft to the oceans and their currents for ships, underscoring the necessity of adjusting airship routes to avoid dangerous atmospheric disturbances and capitalize on favorable weather conditions. This adaptive approach to route selection is exemplified by a case study showing how weather charts and forecasts could enable pilots to choose more efficient and safer routes.
Moreover, the review touches upon the broader implications of airship navigation for meteorological science, noting the demand for more refined atmospheric data, particularly regarding wind and thermal structures at lower atmospheric levels. This has spurred specialized research, such as the investigations at Cardington and proposed installations in Ismailia, Egypt, to enhance understanding of atmospheric conditions crucial for airship mooring and navigation.