FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0554.PDF
l/QGMf) Mr. Billing referred to the ca»e of a B!e>iot, the wings of which folded up in the air. The Chairman asked what evidence he had. Mr. Billing replied that it was based on information received from officers and others. "I am very much afraid," he added, " that in the majority of these cases I shall have to refrain from giving any information which may lead to it being traced to any individual," " How was it ascertained that the wings had folded up?" urged the Chairman. Mr. Billing: During a discussion, someone who actually saw the accident said so. Among other cases Mr. Billing referred to that of Cap'. Roche <m January 2lst, 1915, whose death was stated to have been caused by defective bombs which blew up on landing. He instanced another case in which a pilot, flying a B. E. 2 C machine, was shot down over the enemy's lines. I Ie suggested that this type of machine could not climb rapidly. Even at the moment this machine could not mount more than 360 ft. a minute, whereas there were machines capable of rising 1,500 and 1,600 ft. per min. His informationjin this case was based on a newspaper report. Mr. Billing .said hr would like members pf the Committee to see a trial between B.E. machines, with their slow climb, and other speedy mounting machines. The death of Lieut. T. Dalton Downing was due to " the usual B.E. 2 C spiral " and nose dive of 300 ft. at the Cen'ral Hying School on February 25th, 1915. Mr. Bright pointed out that IS. E. 2 C machine was largely used at the flying schools. Mr. Billing agreed, but said it was a very grave error of judgment. It was a very stable machine, and the pilot was apt to become over confident, and if a pilot was trained in a B.E. 2C he was ruined for any other type of machine. On August 24th, 1915, Captain G. W. Mapplebeck was killed while testing a Morane machine, although this type of machine had six months previously been condemned by the French Government as unsuitable and unsafe. General Smith-Dorrien observed that a type might pass out of date because it was of no use for fighting, not because it was unsafe. Mr. Billing added that the safety belt was improperly fastened. The Chairman pointed out that these were the kind of spjeific complaints of negligence that the Committee wanted. Mr. Hilling mentioned the names of other officers who had met their deaths, and adopted Mr. Balfour Browne's suggestion that in the case of Second Lieutenant W. Polehampton, who was killed in France as a result of a side slip when getting off the ground, his charge of negligence was the use of the B.E. 2 C machine, f The case of Lieutenant Croft, killed as the result of engine failure causing a side slip, was next referred to. The machine, he believed, was a B. E. 2. A further case was that of Major Unwin. Mr. Billing said the officer had no experience. The War Office telephoned for two air men to go up, and a reply was sent that the ground was not suitably lighted, that the men were not experienced, that there was a thick ground fog, and thit it was not safe. The greatest fear any flying man ever had is that he will lose his nerve, and get what is colloquially known as '« cold feet.'' The result is that, if a pilot is ever ordered to do anything, no matter how foolhardy, how ill- advised, how dangerous, or how unnecessary, he will generally prefer to take chances and attempt it than to be known as a man with "cold feet." He believed there was a Zeppetin raid, and Major Unwin, rather than send up two men, went up himself, crashed into a tree, and was killed. The Chairman : Do you suggest that this officer was ordered to go up despite his remonstrance?—That is the suggestion I make. Mr. Billing said that the type of machine was quite unsuitable for attacking Zeppelins. He knew of cases where men had been sent up with nothing but a Winchester repeating rifle across their knees. This was done merely to stop popular clamour. In reply to Mr. Butcher, witness said that an officer was ordered to go up despite atmospheric conditions. lie confessed that he himself would be frightened to fly at night without having been trained. Mr. Butcher doubted whether such peremptory orders were issued, giving flight commanders no discretion at all. Mr. Billing said his experience was that an order was an order, and must be obeyed. On the occasion referred to many pilots were sent up, 75 per cent, of whom were killed, many machines smashed, and no useful military purpose accomplished or attempted. Mr. Billing went on to say that the Fokker was a much over rated machine, but its performance was wonderful in comparison to the machine we put in the field against it. Our pilots were hope- Ies>ly outclassed, and in the first thirteen days we suffered twelve casualties. His point was that there had been a lack of intelligent foresight on the part of the Royal Hying Corps, that they had standardised a type which was inefficient, and perpetuating a type JDNE 29, 1916. of machine which had caused the death, needlessly, of many of our pilots, the most inefficient machine and the most inefficient engine ever used for the purposes of war. Of the first three months after the Fokker made its appearance there were 12 deaths in 17 days of the month of March, 1916. In the 29 days of February there were 18 deaths, and to January 29th, 26 deaths, to say nothing of about 50 pilots wounded and many missing. Mr. Balfour Browne: How many German deaths took place in the same period ? <, Mr. Billing said that he did not think there was any use spending valuable weeks inquiring for information which the War Office already had. Mr. Billing proceeded to give figures as to the number of killed and wounded pilots during the period in which the Germans were using the Fokker type of machine. Mr. Balfour Browne : This, after all, is war.—I appreciate that ; but do, for Heaven's sake, give our men a chance, and see that they are supplied with the best material. Mr. Butcher : Have you ever flown over the German lines? " I will answer that question if it is relevant" Mr. Butcher repeated the question, and Mr. Bil ing said, " I was flying over the German iines at Verdun the week before last. Of course, I was not doing so officially, but by the courtesy of the P'rench Government." Mr. Billing read a letter from a squadron commander of the R.F.C., in which he said that the "incapacity and dishonesty with which the Flying Corps is conducted is sufficient to justify drastic charges." Another letter from a captain in the Flying Corp contained the sentence, " Stick to the point about the murder and Fokker fodder and you will earn all our gratitude. You were perfectly right, and we all know that every time we see a friend has been killed we know there is a murder if he was on a B.E. 2 C. Mr. Billing, turning to his allegations of technical ignorance and administrative inefficiency on the part of senior officers of the Royal Flying Corps, referred to a detrimental undercurrent of intrigues existing in the corps. The trouble was caused by the existence of four contending groups. The first group was primarily responsible. It consisted of those who had carried on a long and persistent intrigue to get control of both the Air Services and to perpetuate the principles of the Royal Aircraft Factory. The second, while also friendly to the Royal Aircraft Factory, had no ambition but the existence of the military branch. The third recognised the defects of the factory and wanted to take construction away from it. The fourth went in for intrigues of an entirely different kind— namely, between the naval and military wings. The latter tried to keep the Royal Naval Air Service ignorant of its developments in order that the Royal Naval Air Service should compare unfavourably with and be transferred to it. In order ^to show inter-Service relations, Mr. Billing meationed the case of a Royal Naval Air Service man who went to the help of a Royal Flying Corps officer who had fallen into the sea through engine trouble. The commanding officer reprimanded him on the ground that Royal Flying Corps men had no right to fly over the sea. " If they fall in, let them drown." In Paris the administra tive officers of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service were not even on speaking terms. Promotion was one of the fundamental causes of intrigue. Neither seniority nor air experience was taken into consideration. Mr. Billing promised to pick out two of the worst examples of improper promotion. There was, further, an excess of generals and other senior officers as compared with the Royal Naval Air Service and the French service. There were Canadian pilots in the Royal Flying Corps who could not get British flying pay. The Chairman : This was in Punch three weeks ago.—Then I trust the necessary good work has been done. Continuing, Mr. Billing said that there was waste of expense in train'ng. The system of teaching pilots to land before they could fly was quite wrong, as was also the employment of a stable machine like the B.E. 2C at an early stage of training. There should be far more encouragement of civilian schools. The cost of training a pupil at a civilian school was about ^75, while the cost at a Royal Flying Corps school was nearer ,£500. The administra tion of the Royal Flying Corps was trying to get hold_of every thing, ultimately even of the Royal Naval Air Service itself. During the sitting, Mr. Billing said that he made the request for legal assistance in the interests of others at their wish. He al-o raised the question of the status of witnesses, and ascertained that they were privileged and not liable for slander. On June 26th the hearing was resumed, Mr. Billing continuing his evidence. . * IMS*, Mr. Billing, proceeding to give some examples of rapid promotion, said he would content himself with giving two or three cases, but he would prefer not to mention names. The first was the case of an 554
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
