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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0898.PDF
learnt that will be of the greatest value in the planning of aerial services—notably that fuel endurance must be increased if the factor of safety is to be satisfactorily high. But we know as an ascertained fact now what was simply a matter of belief before—that the Atlantic crossing can be accomplished even in face of really adverse conditions. Not for a moment do we desire to withhold any of the credit due to General Maitland, Major Scott, and their gallant companions. They were the pioneers of Atlantic flight by airship, and history will always regard them as such. They sailed away into unknown conditions, and, in the words of Major Scott's own wireless message, they " stuck it " when conditions seemed to be all against a successful termination of their journey. It would have been easy for a less determined commander with a less efficient crew to have given up and turned back to Newfoundland in search of the safety that, at one time, did not seem to lie in the prosecution of their enterprise. The - succeeded by sheer pluck and that British quality of not knowing when they were beaten. All honour and credit to them for it. • • '. • General Seely stated in the House a Navigation wee^ or two ago that the whole system Schools 01 instruction in aerial navigation is being revised, and that the schools of instruction are being rapidly reorganised. It is to be hoped that the reorganisation will in fact be rapid, and that some early statement may be forthcoming as to the intentions of the Air Ministry regarding the facilities, if any, which are to be extended to civilian pilots and navigators. The matter is one of vital importance to the future of civilian flying, but it is one that may easily be lost sight of in face of other sides of development. It is only now, when we are beginning to talk of plans for more and more long distance services, that we are able to realise the enormous importance of a thorough system of training in navigation. During the War, navigation in its proper sense played a very small part in aviation. Distances traversed were relatively short, and navigation was by the comparatively simple methods of maps and landmarks. If, however, aerial services are to be established and maintained between points separated by wide expanses of ocean, it is perfectly obvious that something more than the mere ability to read maps and pick up indicated landmarks will be essential. As a matter of fact, the real art of aerial navigation has received very little attention up to now. Before the War, the civilian pilot had no know ledge, and had received no training at all. The R.F.C. were in very little better case, and the R.N. A.S. alone, owing to the number of naval officers who transferred to the flying branch, had any practical knowledge of the science. The position at the time the R.A.F. was formed by the fusion of the two services was, then, that a proportion of R.N.A.S. officers had received a thorough training in navigation, while a very much larger number had done " courses " at Portsmouth and other centres of instruction. The officers of the R.F.C. generally knew nothing more than courses of aerial map reading had taught them. At once the Air Council decided to institute schools of navigation, though the resultant courses had not, at the time the Armistice was signed, gone very far. In fact, it is not too much to say that the majority of officers of the R.A.F. were still profoundly ignorant of the more scientific side of aerial navigation. There was no help for it. All the energies of the instructional staff of the R.A.F. had to be devoted to the training of fighting pilots and observers to make good the wastage of war and to build up our aerial arm to a position of supremacy over that of the enemy. Now that we are able to turn our thought to the developments of peace flying, the need for a better system of naviga tional training has become apparent, and the Air Council is giving attention to it. The main trouble to be grappled with is the dearth of competent instructors. The best method of pro cedure would seem to be to obtain officers from the Navy who are qualified in navigation, and to train them as instructors, additionally, of course, to those who are now serving, or have served, in the R.A.F., and who are possessed of similar qualifications. If the Navy cannot spare enough qualified officers from their sea duties, we suggest that it might be possible to make up the numbers from among officers of the R.N.R. who have been demobilised from the Navy, and who, by reason of the depletion of the Mercantile Marine by enemy action, are without immediate prospects of employment. However the difficulty is to be surmounted, it is clear that the matter is one of urgency, and that no time should be lost in grappling with it. • • * A correspondent of The Times suggests |l _i I that the Government should take in Air Force nan(i tne formation of an Air Force Reserve, presumably to more or less supplant the Regular service. He does not make this a point, but if his suggestions were carried out in their entirety that would be the effect, inasmuch as they would render quite superfluous the main tenance of any Regular force at all. That does not detract from the basic merits of the conception, but it is as well to point out the weakness and to lay down at once that it is quite essential that there should always exist at least a small active force for im mediate needs in case of war. We cannot do better than quote the suggestion in its entirety. He says : " My suggestion is that a reserve of the R.A.F. be formed, with aerodromes adjacent to convenient large towns. Individuals accepted for service in the reserve to attend the aerodrome every week and put in a minimum of three hours' flying and three hours' ground instruction. Two weeks a year to be devoted to annual training. Such a scheme would appeal to every athlete and adventure-lover in the country. To be taught to fly, provided with a machine, and allowed to " aviate " for three hours a week free—why, the authorities would have more young men than they would know what to do with. They could have 20,000 flying officers, the cream of the youth of the country, always in training, at the bare cost of the maintenace of the instructional staff and its equipment. So soon as a pilot or observer.showed signs of becoming ' dud ' and thus failing to pass regularly held tests his engagement would terminate. " Such a scheme would give to the Government a huge flying personnel, ready for instant use in emergencies, at a minimum cost and without in terfering with the civilian careers of those it employed." The point the writer seems to have overlooked is that if such a reserve training were offered broadcast it must, as we have indicated, almost automatically
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