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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0922.PDF
What it all means to aviation is simply beyond description. We have always insisted that wireless science was linked up hand-in-hand with aviation, and would have to discover some methods of rapidly communicating with aircraft in flight. That has been an almost elementary article of faith from the very beginning, because it is so perfectly obvious that, in default of some such system of rapid com- munication, aircraft must be more or less blind until aerial navigation and air charts have made con- siderable advances beyond the standards _ ruling todav. The first great advance made during the. War" was in the perfecting of directional wireless, which would have served well for all practical pur- poses. But wireless telephony is obviously as great an advance even on directional wireless telegraphy as the latter was on visual signalling. By its aid we shall be able to communicate instantly and certainly with aircraft operating far beyond the range of vision. The airship flying qn the Atlantic route will be as accessible to the spoken message as the man m his office in the next street. There is simply no end to the possibilities—they are infinite. . •w • *' The Air Ministry has notified the con- Discharge ditions under which non-commissioned fh ranks of the RAF- may be per" mitted to purchase their discharge from •;••"•'". '..'.,:;._ •'•r~-*;--:'•'..-• . ]~?yi\:• -V•• '• •••;•'.' AUGUST 26, 1920 the Force. These conditions are set out in full detail elsewhere in this issue of FLIGHT. The amounts as there stated may be reduced in certain circumstances by authority of the Air Ministry, but in no case can the reduction amount to more than 50 per cent, of the maximum sum payable.' The discharge purchase price may seem to be fixed on the high side, but it must be remembered that the training of an airman is a very expensive process, in comparison with that of the infantry soldier of the line. It would not be fair to the taxpayer that a man should be able to join the R.A.F. for the purpose of getting a training in a skilled trade and then be able to leave it for civil life simply by payment of a purely nominal charge. For example, the man who has received a thorough training in Group I or II has cost the country far more than the £100 he is called upon to pay for his dis- charge, and is worth even more as an asset to the Force, provided he is steady rating of good character. It should be pointed out that no man can claim his discharge on payment. All such discharges are subject to the approval of the Air Ministry, which can grant or withhold them at its discretion. When approved, they are granted as an act of grace. "WAKEFIELD SCHOLARSHIPS" FOR R.A.F. CADETS SIR CHARLES WAKEFIELJJ has generously undertaken to provide funds during,the next three years for the award of two scholarships annually, each of a value of £75 per annum, which will be tenable at the R.A.F. Cadet College, Cranwell. ' This offer, which has been made in order to assist cadets whose parents or guardians are in reduced circumstances, has been gratefully accepted by the Air Council. The Scholarships will be known as " Wakefield Scholarships." One scholarship will be offered for competition each year at the examination for admission to the College held in June, and one at that held in November. The first award will be made in connection with the examination held in November, 1920. The Scholafthip on each occasion will be awarded to the candidate from amongst those considered eligible by the Air Council who passes highest in the examination. In determining who is eligible the Air Council will give prefer- ence to those candidates whose reduced circumstances are due to the late War. A King's Cadet, a Prize Cadet or a candidate nominated by the Air Council under the Regulations will not be considered eligible to hold a " Wakefield Scholar- ship." The Scholarships, which will be tenable for two years, will be paid in advance in equal instalments at the beginning of each of the four terms of residence. The names of intending candidates should be forwarded to the Secretary (S.7), Air Ministry, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2, from whom any further information required may be obtained. Applications should be received not later than January and May in the case of candidates who propose sitting for the examinations held respectively in the following June and November. Applications should be accompanied by a full statement (which wll be treated as strictly confidential) of the circumstances of the candidate's case. In view of the imminence of the forthcoming examination in November, 1920, applications to compete for the Scholarship will be accepted on this occasion only, provided that they reach the Air Ministry not later than the 1st October, 1920. Applications to compete for a scholarship should be sent forward independently of the ordinary application for admission to the examination for the purpose of entry to the Royal Air Force Cadet College; these latter applications should continue to be addressed to the Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, London, W. I, and should be forwarded in the manner prescribed and not later than the dates given in the announcement issued by the Civil Service Commissioners in advance of each examination. Aircraft on the N.W. Frontier, etc. IN his dispatch dated September 29, 1919. and published recently in the London Gazette, General Sir C. C. Munro, Commander-in-Chief in India, gives details of several opera- tions carried out between May 31, 1918, and April 30, 1919. Under the heading "Aden," he states that the Royal Air Force continued to render invaluable service, and co-operated with the artillery in the systematic bombardment of enemy camps. Dealing with the Bushire Field Force, which had a detachment of five R.A.F. aeroplanes, he mentions that aeroplanes, which had arrived from Mesopotamia on January 9, were sent to bomb Robatak at the same time as the force advanced to Kazarun; considerable damage was done, and Nasir Diwan, deserted by most of his following, fled to the hills. ..—. . , -. A Canadian Federation BY way of co-ordinating the activities of the various aero clubs and organisations in the Dominion, an Aeronautical Federation of Canada has been formed as the result of a convention of representatives of the clubs recently held at Winnipeg. It is expected that all organisations in Canada will give their^upport to the scheme. Aerial Surveying in Canada THE firm of Price Brothers, whose timber limits cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles, scattered throughout the eastern part of the Province of Quebec, have secured seaplanes to act as patrols and obtain aerial photographs. This air service will be staffed entirely with officers of the Royal Flying Corps with overseas service. — The Testing of Aeroplane Materials PROFESSOR C. F. JENKIN, in his presidential address to the Engineering section of the British Association at Cardiff on Tuesday, said that in no branch of the Services was more research work done than in the Air Service, and the advances made in all directions were astonishing. His own work had been confined to problems connected with the materials for construction, and he had come to the conclusion that the fundamental data on which the engineering theories of the strength and suitability of materials are based required thorough overhauling and revision. Again and again in aeroplane engineering the problems to be solved had raised fundamental questions in the strength and pro- perties of materials which had never been adequately treated. 924
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