MODERN AEROPLANE STATION.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.
What is Croydon famous for? Very few people if asked this question to-day would be able to give a clear answer. They might hazard some fine specimens of Elizabethan architecture, or possibly a certain make of clocks, but they would not feel at all sure of their ground. The schoolboy of to-morrow if asked the same question, will promptly reply, “The London terminal aerodrome.” And so it will be. This vast aerodrome, within a stone’s throw of Waddon Station, on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, is destined to grow in importance with each succeeding year as a vital link in the air communications between Great Britain and the Continent. It has been likened to the Waterloo of the air; more probably it will become the Clapham Junction of aviation, with fleets of aeroplanes engaged on inland and cross-channel services converging on to its broad, even stretches of grass land.
This particular aerodrome is in many respects unlike Hendon or Brooklands. There are no grandstands or pavilions or enclosures for hosts of motorcars. It is not a pleasure ground. Business is the essence of its existence. “To the Continental arrival and departure station,” run the notices. Leaving the Croydon to Sutton tram at the point indicated, a representative of The Daily Telegraph followed the direction indicated by the guiding finger, and on passing a bend in the road found himself at the entrance to the station. It would be a mistake to think that an air station is ever going to present to the public view a palatial exterior such as Victoria. Lofty buildings are impossible where aeroplanes are constantly arriving and departing. Croydon conforms to this principle, but though dwarfed buildings may be necessary, there is no reason why, when the present temporary buildings come to be replaced, the architect as well as the builder should not be commissioned.
EXTENSIVE SERVICES.
It is the business man, the leader of commerce, to whom time fractions mean money, who has made this civil aviation undertaking a business proposition, and it is for him that the London terminal aerodrome is run, with regular services daily to and from Paris and Amsterdam, and that aeroplanes are always ready to take the man in a hurry anywhere, either in this country or on the Continent. Thanks to the war, there are immediately adjoining the site the biggest aeroplane sheds in England. The present occupants hold them on a three years’ agreement, but at the expiry of that period it is anticipated that they will become part of the aerodrome buildings. At one point the aerodrome is entered by a siding from the London; Brighton, and South Coast Railway. The utilisation of this means of communication between Victoria and the aviation terminus is certain as soon as the development of traffic warrants it, but the mode of procedure at present is for passengers to book through one of the recognised agents and then to be conveyed by a special motor-car from the Victory Hotel, Leicester-square, direct to the aerodrome. A comparatively small building of corrugated iron and wood houses the Customs officers before whom the traveller and his belongings have to pass.