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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0390.PDF
,l9iS! MARCH 27, 1919 will be grouped all other forms of flying. As flying develops, so will the activities of the Ministry. When the Post Office decides that the time has come for the delivery of mails by aircraft it will approach the Ministry, and tenders will be asked for. The selection of the machines will be made and the service will be run by the State. In the meantime, if the Ministry is unable to produce from elsewhere machines and pilots for the work required, it will be possible to draw on the Royal Air Force; but that is a con sideration only to be entertained while the supply of commercial machines is limited. We are glad to have this last assurance, which means more than at first meets the eye. ^ It is intended that a sum of £2,000,000 EXPSdlent sha11 be devoted to the purposes of Research experiment and research. This money will not be devoted entirely to Govern ment work, but it is to be used also for the assistance and encouragement of the manufacturer, who, while he has improvements to perfect and test, may not have the necessary capital behind him, and is thus hindered from helping the State and the industry. A considerable amount of ground with aerodromes is being acquired for this purpose, and matters are being so arranged that the experimenter, while he has every facility at his disposal, has also a definite guarantee of secrecy. Again this is good news. It may be possible, in the future, to definitely separate the funds to be allocated for Government and private research and experiment, respectively. Certainly it would be desirable, since the money being at the disposal of the Department it is only reasonable to suppose that where the sum available is in a single unit, so to say, the whole of it might easily be expended on Govern ment work, leaving nothing at all for the encourage ment of private enterprise. We do not say it would necessarily be so in fact, but the contingency is one that cannot be ignored. , That sort of thing has happened before, and it would be as well to guard against it in the future if that is possible, as we believe it is. As to the facilities to be provided, these are already partially in being. Aerodromes have been acquired at Orfordness, Roehampton, Farnborough, and other places, and are to be grouped in accordance with the work to be done at each. Some will be experi mental stations, while others will be flying schools. The purely Service aerodromes are being reduced to a minimum, for the reason that it is desired to have, for the purposes of control, only a few centres. The Air Ministry has apparently based its plans on -the successful Admiralty policy of having a small number of shipbuilding centres at Portsmouth, Chatham and Devonport. Training depot stations are, in future, to be known as training depot wings, with three squadrons per wing, each having its own definite establishment of personnel. In each station there will be available accommodation for civil use, to be leased at rates already fixed. There, too, will be installed meteorological bureaux, signals, and wireless, to be at the disposal of both military and civil branches. Aerodromes the R.A.F. wishes to dispose of will be offered to civil firms, but it may be necessary to borrow them for special purposes, and, if that is done, a small maintenance party will be left at each. Assistance will be forthcoming for the erection of aerodromes near factories as may be required, and this will be done on the understanding that they are liable to be called upon for emergency landing places for all craft on similar conditions to those governing the leasing of Government stations. The Ministry does not propose to have any pilots of its own. The pilots for State flying will be found by the Services, and those who fly machines for civil purposes will be provided by the firms supplying the machines. All pilots, however, before receiving a licence, will have undergone training with the Royal Air Force, and will, later, be called upon to take their place in the reserve of that Service, and will be liable to attend manoeuvres. An All this is eminently satisfactory Oblect^onableunt^ we come to *ne ^as*- Assuming Proviso the ai"ticle under discussion to be the reflection of official intentions, which is obviously the case, it is clear that what the Air Ministry intends is to keep alive a modified form of conscription of pilots. The granting of a licence to fly at all is to be made contingent on training with the R.A.F. and enrolment in the Reserve of Officers. In other words, civilian aviation is to be turned into a closed preserve for men who have been trained in military flying in a military school, and all pilots are to be made liable to military service. We do not hesitate to say that this is invidious to the last degree. Why not extend the principle to all applicants for motor driving licences, and decline to grant such licences unless the applicants have been trained at Grove Park, and are made liable to serve with mechanical transport ? The one would certainly be as logical and just; or, rather, as illogical and unjust as the other. Again, what about the civilian schools of flying which, as we have many times pointed out, were a strong tower of strength to the Army in the early days of the War ? Are they to be finally and com pletely closed down and their owners compelled to accept work as instructors under the R.A.F., or to seek other fields of livelihood ? We need not elaborate the point further, since we have spoken our mind with a fair amount of freedom on more than one previous occasion. All we would say now is that we appeal once more to the sense of justice and proportion of the Air Ministry in the matter of the civilian schools which have really deserved well of the country. Nor do we see why it should be necessary for the Ministry to burden itself with the business of licensing private civilian pilots —unless it be that the intention is to charge a fat fee for such licensing—when there is already an excellent machinery in existence in the Royal Aero Club, working through its association with the International Federation. It scarcely needs saying that there are Difficulties manv difficulties to be surmounted Surmounted before commercial aviation can become an accomplished fact. The worst of these arise from fog, wind and weather. If it were possible to guarantee against these, the inauguration of commercial services would be an essentially simple matter. But it is not possible, nor can it be until the meteorological services are in thorough working order. At present these services are in a most 390
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