Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
For the past 150 years man's ingenuity has been exercised in producing machines to transport himself faster and faster until today he is talking of aircraft which can travel faster than the rotating speed of the earth at the equator, and such that any point on the earth's surface is within ten hours flight time from any other point. But such is the contrariness of the situation that these speeds involve the use of extensive runways away from the crowded city centres and, what with the crowded roads and trains, the journey from the airport to the city centre can be long, tedious and uncomfortable.
The helicopter enthusiast suggests that this problem can be overcome by using a machine that can take off vertically from the city centre and carry the passenger rapidly in comfort to the airport. He also suggests that for journeys up to 200 miles or more, the helicopter is the quickest form of transport from city centre to city centre.