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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0216.PDF
[/OGHT MARCH 9, 1912. THE AVIATION GRANT. THE NEW FLYING CORPS. VERY explicit and, in most respects, gratifying, was the explanation of Colonel Seely, the Under-Secretary of State for War, in the House of Commons, on Monday night, when dealing with the aviation section of the Army Estimates. The subject is dealt with editorially elsewhere, and below will be found Colonel Seely's remarks upon the subject. He said :— " A scheme has l>een prepared by the technical committee, which has been accepted by the advisory committee appointed in that con nection, and has this morning been approved by the Prime Minister. It will now be carried into effect. " There is to be one Flying Corps, embracing soldiers, sailors, and 1 ivilians - all who can fly, and will undertake the obligation to serve their country in time of war in any part of the world. " No man shall hold executive rank in the Flying Corps unless he is himself an expert flyer. The present air battalion ceases to exist, and part of it is absorbed in the new organisation. The corps will be one corps, and, as far as possible, all the officers will be paid alike and treated alike, l>ecause they will run the same risks, and have the advantage of doing the same daring deeds. In a purely land war the whole Flying Corps will be available, and in a purely naval war the whole Flying Corps will also be available. " The headquarters of the Flying Corps will be on Salisbury Plain, and a large tract of land has been purchased for the purpose, at a cost of about £90,000. " In the first instance, accommodation will be provided for sixty officers at the school at any one time. There are to be three terms of four months each, and we propose, all being well, to pass through 180 officers in each year. In addition, there will be non-com missioned officers and mechanics of various kinds. If an officer wants to join the Flying Corps, he has first to get the consent and approval of the military authorities. Then he has to be passed by the doctor. Then he has to obtain the Royal Aero Club certificate. We do not propose to use the Central Flying School for teaching officers ; we propose they should learn the elements of the air else where, and then come to the Flying School for the more advanced course. " After receiving the Royal Aero Club certificate, and before presenting themselves, each will receive £75, which will cover the cost. This particular arrangement has been in force for some time past, and between twenty and thirty officers have received £7$ each already. They will then be attached to the Central Air School, and there they go through a course of four months. " They will learn progressive flying ; mechanics and construction in all its details ; meteorological observations of the air; navigation and flying by compass ; cross-country flights ; photography from the air ; signalling by all methods ; and, most important, the types of warships of all nations. After this course an officer, for he will be an officer of the Air Corps, whatever source he came from originally, whether Army, Navy, or civilian, will either join the military wing or the naval wing, or else he may go straight to the Reserve. " The military wing will consist of seven aeroplane squadrons, each containing twelve aeroplanes and a suitable number of officers to fly them. There will be an eighth squadron, consisting of balloons and kites. The balloons will consist of two dirigibles which now exist, two flights of kites, and the present free balloons, so long as they last and possibly longer, because we are told on all hands that the practice of observation in the air is very conveniently carried out from the safe platform of the free balloon. The head quarters of the naval wing will be established at Eastchurch, and there will be branches of the military wings at points not yet settled. " In the reserve there will be two classes. Those belonging to the first will perform cross-country flights and receive a retaining fee. The second reserve will consist of those who have passed through the course but who do not want to go through these flights or receive a retaining fee. Both the Army and Navy wing of the air corps will always be on a war footing, and the peace and war establishment will be the same. The primary function of the Army Air Corps Factory will be experiments and building experimental machinery, making big repairs to machines where it is thought desirable, and sometimes building machines. Its primary duty, however, will be the training in expert knowledge of the numerous mechanics required for this new service. " I shall be asked in regard to this ambitious scheme what really is going to be the total number of men who fly, and how many aeroplanes have you got. The scheme involves the purchase of 131 aeroplanes. " I am not sure whether we shall be able to buy all this year. This is not a matter of expense at all. Already orders for a great many of these have gone out, and others are in process of negotiation. Not so many have been ordered from British manufacturers as we should wish, but that is because the technical members of my Committee, themselves flying men, realised, with the full approval of the whole Committee, that the first essential was efficiency and safety, and it is a fact that in many respects France has gone a long way ahead of us. We could not buy British machines—necessary though it is to encourage British manufacturers, because we cannot obtain machines from abroad in time of war—at the price of human life. Therefore we had to reduce the number of orders we had originally hoped to give to British firms. That diffi culty will soon be overcome, no doubt, because there are a great many of the best brains at work endeavouring to make aeroplanes not only more speedy and efficient, but safe. " The risks these officers will run will be very great. The insurance rates are very high, but it is some consolation to know that in France they have enormously increased the safety of learning to fly. I know one particular school where they have covered 60,000 kilometres without accident of any kind, and there may be others that will show records as good, or almost as good. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the risks will be reduced. But they will still be very great, and for that reason I trust the House of Commons will not grudge the expense involved in making adequate payment to those officers, and giving an adequate scale of pension in the event of their being rendered unable to continue their service. " I may take it that I may rely upon the House for every assistance in this matter, if for no other reason than that of the dangers in this business. One hundred and thirty-three officers are required for the military wing and thirty or forty for the naval wing. In the reserve the number we shall work up to will depend on how the science progresses in the near future. We have not got the 133 military officers, but we have no doubt that many will volunteer. " That brings me to the point as to why we suggested that these officers should learn to fly at private flying schools. There are two reasons. First, because it is so desirable that we should encourage private effort as far as may be, and secondly, because we believe there is less risk of accident in the initial stages if we proceed by this method. After learning the elementary art of flying officers will come to the Central Flying School, where they will not run the same risks, because they will have learned the elements already. " For the moment any officer who is approved by his commanding officer and the proper military authorities, and is passed as fit, and has obtained his certificate, will obtain .£75, because we are very short of members. But when we get up to our full numbers the phrase ' Let 'em all come,1 which now applies will no longer apply. " In regard to the encouragement of private enterprise, we propose to do it, not only by getting officers to obtain certificates privately, but also by the purchase of aeroplanes in this country as far as possible, and by renting sheds and landing rights in different aerodromes. " Scientific research will be continued in co-operation with the Advisory Committee set up by the Prime Minister. " This is an ambitious scheme, and, possibly, owing to the novelty of the science with which we are dealing, we have made mistakes, but we hope we have laid the foundations upon which to build, so that this country in the long run will be able to hold her place in the air as she has by land and sea." ® ® ® 66 The Army and Navy Flying School. SOME tentative details are now available respecting the Govern ment Flying School for Army and Navy Officers which is to be established at Upavon, on Salisbury Plain. The plans which have been drawn up allow accommodation for 180 persons, while the permanent officials will be the commandant and an adjutant, two chief instructors and five officers. The buildings will cost nearly .£40,000, and will include 14 aeroplane sheds, repair and engineer shops, a garage for motor cars, and hospital accommodation. There will be room for 68 pupils, to be drawn equally from the Army and Navy. The officers are to have separate quarters, while for the non-commissioned officers, who will number 63, a special block of buildings will be set apart. 2l6
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