By Air to the Cape By flying a single-engined American
aeroplane from Wiltshire to Capetown in six days and ten hours, Lieu- tenant-Commander Glen Kidston lowered by two days a " record " of some immediate relevance to commercial aviation. He proved what he set out to prove—that the eleven days, ultimately to be reduced to nine, allowed in the Imperial Airways schedule for the journey do not represent the maximum of efficiency. It would be rash, however, to estimate the margin by which they exceed it on the basis of the time-factor alone. The conditions of Mr. Kidston's flight were not strictly comparable with those of a commercial air service. His machine was overloaded by about 1,800 lbs. ; much of his ground organization was redundant ; and there were other things which differentiated the high-tension atmosphere of a demonstration flight from the routine of a public service. His gallant achievement should be regarded as a stimulus to, rather than -an indictment of, the so far rather ineffective beginnings of the African air-mail.
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