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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1259.PDF
DECEMBER 9, 1920 AVIATION IN PARLIAMENT R.A.F. Technical Depot SIR W. JOYNSON-HICKS, in the House of Commons on November 30,asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the Sub-section of the Air Ministry, known as R.D. 4, has the responsibility of examining, consideringand advising the acceptance or rejection of certain highly technical drawings and specifications submitted to the Air Ministry by manufacturers of aircraft;and how many people are employed in this Section, their names, date of appointment, and their technical and practical experience, and qualifications.If any ? - Mr. Churchill : The Section referred to in the question is responsible for•advice on the matters referred to, but decisions as to acceptance or rejection 4o not rest with it. The Section is staffed with officials of suitable technicalqualifications and experience, and its services are supplemented by those of a special consultant. The qualifications of individual members of the staffcannot conveniently be discussed by means of question and answer in this House. Allegations Against OfficialsSIR W. JOYNSON-HICKS asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that on March 11, 1920, the Air Council came to the conclusion thatthere existed a prima facie case for appointing a Committee to enquire into the ,. allegations of a certain aircraft firm to the effect that certain Governmentofficials who by reason of their office received technical information from the _ company concerned had made improper use of that information in connection • with patents subsequently taken out by them, and that they used their posi-tion to hinder the development of the company's work for other than reasons of public policy; and whether he will suggest to the Committee that their — enquiry should be open to the public and the Press, and that such witnessesas the Committee may see fit to call should be allowed the assistance of counsel or solicitor if they so desire ? Mr. Churchill: The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirma-tive, and to the second in the negative. The object of the Air Ministry has been to ascertain in the simplest and most direct manner, not whether certainGovernment servants had acted illegally, because there was no question of this, but whether they had acted in such a way as to prejudice the interestsof a private firm. For this purpose, a Committee was set by agreement, con- sisting of representatives of the Air Ministry and the commercial interestsconcerned under an independent chairman ; and it was further agreed that their enquiry was to be without prejudice to the legal rights of any of theparties. Such a body was evidently never intended to exercise judicial func- tions, and I do not see my way to ask the Committee to change the characterof the enquiry which has been entrusted to them. H|The Controller of Patents, after a lengthy public hearing under the PatentActs, has just decided that Mr. Mooney's patent was not infringed by the : Government officer (Major Wylie), who took out a subsequent patent. Itmay be anticipated that the Committee at their next meeting will hold that this decision disposed of the first of the two terms of reference. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : Having regard to the fact that all these allegations. are made against officers of the Air Force, would it not be better in the interests of the officers themselves, as well as those who make the complaint, that thematter should be discussed publicly ? Mr. Churchill : I do not quite see any sufficient reason to depart from theregular procedure we are adopting. If you were to have a public enquiry in every case where allegations are made against British officers, there wouldbe hardly any means of getting through the business. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : Is my right hon. friend not aware that the allega-tions here were made by the Society of Aircraft Constructors, who alleged that there was a prima facie case ? Mr. Cnurohill: They have their legal rights, and if they choose to makeallegations of that character which infringe the law, they will be themselves liable to have these allegations tested in the courts. Airships for Civil Use COMMANDER VISCOUNT CURZON asked the Secretary of State for Airwhether the larger airships of this country are to be turned over to private concerns; whether, before any changes of policy with regard to the Air Forcetake place, he will undertake that Parliament will have an opportunity of debating the matter ; what work has recently been carried out by our largerigid or semi-rigid airships ; and whether all these airships are to be considered as being in full commission and in a state of complete readiness for use in all • respects at short notice ?Mr. Churchill: Th* Department of Civil Aviation will temporarily take over, as from December i, all airships, bases and material, surplus to servicerequirements, in order to carry out experimental work of an operational character, such as mooring-mast tests and flights of primary importance, togauge the ships' capacity for commercial operation. This arrangement involves no modification of policy in regard to the Air Force. Tlie work onwhich rigid airships have been engaged is that of training Royal Air Force and American personnel, and routine work with the Navy. With regard tothe last part of the question, these^airships cannot all be considered as being in full commission. Viscount Curzon : Does the right hon. gentleman's answer mean that a proper force of airships to co-operate with the Navy will not be available in future, but will belong to the Department of Civil Aviation instead ? Mr. Churchill : No, Sir ; we are keeping as many airships as we can pos- sibly afford for work with the Navy, but we have more airships than we can afford to man and staff in the Air Force, and these are being used experi- mentally by the Civil Department, and we should be very glad if commercial firms would come forward and take them over. Ex-German Airships VISCOUNT CURZON asked the Secretary of State for Air how many flights have so far been carried out by the ex-German airships handed over to this country; whether any experiments have so far been carried out with them ; and to what use is it intended to put them in the future ? Mr. Churchill: No nights have been carried out so far with ex-German airships. The experiments conducted with them have taken the form of investigating German methods of design and construction. These airships are surplus to Royal Air Force requirements, and will be dealt with in the same way as surplus British airships. R.A.F. ExpenditureMR. LAWSON asked the Secretary of State for Air what has been the total expenditure on the Air Force, apart from demobilisation, in each theatreincluding Ireland and this country, since the Armistice ? Mr. Churchill : This information could be obtained only after a greatamount of calculation and research out of all proportion to the value of the result, and in view of the depleted staff available for work of this nature, Iwould ask the hon. member not to press for an answer. Mr. Glanville asked the Secretary of State for Air what is the present monthlyrate of expenditure on the Air Force in Ireland ? Mr. Churchill: The estimated monthly rate of expenditure on the RoyalAir Force in Ireland is £37,000. Of this amount £8,700 represents additional expenditure due to existing conditions in Ireland. Cadet College, CranwellMR. D. HERBERT asked the Secretary of State for Air whether it has been decided to build a Royal Air Force cadet college at Cranwell and to entrustthe work to the Office of Works; and whether there is any reason why the scheme should not be thrown open to public competition, so as to obtain thebest possible professional services and greater economy of expenditure through the employment of an independent practising architect ? Mr. Churchill : Yes, Sir. The matter has been very carefully considered,and it has been decided that the most satisfactory and economical results in this case are likely to be obtained by entrusting the work to the Office ofWorks. R.A.F. PromotionSIR W. JOYNSON-HICKS on December 2 asked the Secretary of State for Air whether under the new regulations for the promotion from flyingofficer to flight-lieutenant a man, aged 22, with five years' service, mostly at the Front, has to wait another two years for his promotion, while a manof three years' service, of which only one year would be at the Front, can be and is promoted flight lieutenant merely because he is 25 ; and whether heis aware that this rule is creating serious discontent amongstthe younger and most gallant members of the Force ? Mr. Churchill: It was found essential, for the sake of uniformity of practicein the Air Force, to give Air Officers Commanding some guidance in making periodical recommendations for promotion. This was done by means ofpersonal letters to those officers, of which my hon. friend appears to have heard. He has, however, misconstrued the particular direction to whichhe refers. I should deprecate "detailed discussion of the matter, but I might explain that no one will be promoted to flight-lieutenant merely because heis 25 years Of age. That age was given as a normal minimum for promotion to the rank, but permission was also given to recommend younger officerswhose exceptional service warrants this course. All promotion is by selec- tion, and War-service records are fully considered. There is, therefore, nooccasion to fear the anomalies which my hon. friend imagines. R.N.A.S. TransfersSIR IVOR PHILIPPS asked the Secretary of State for Air whether men who enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in October, 191C, under the Regula-tions then in force for a period of 12 years' service are held to this 12 years' engagement when transferred to the Royal Air Force, or whether their serviceunder the Air Force Constitution Act is limited to four years ; and, if so, whether their four years' service is counted from the date of their joining 1the Royal Naval Air Service or from the date of their transfer to the Royal Air Force ? Mr. Churchill : Men who enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service for aperiod of twelve years' service, and who were subsequently transferred to the Royal Air Force, are held to their twelve years' engagement under Section 3(1) of the Air Force Constitution Act, 1917. The limitation of service to the period of War or to a period not exceeding four years applies only to personnelattached to theTAir Force, and not to personnel transferred. PERSONALS Death Cadet F. D. W. BAYLEY, who was killed in the Macroom ambush, was the son of Mr. G. W. Bayley, of Manchester. He joined the Artists' Rifles in 1916 on leaving school, and got a commission in the Royal Flying Corps and served as a pilot in France for over two years. He was engaged on secret service work, and did a good deal of night flying over Germany. Demobilised in August, 1919, he was articled to the law, but joined the R.I.C. Auxiliary in August last. Married CHARLES JOHN RALPH (late R.A.F.) was married on December 7, at St. James' Church, Piccadilly, to IRENE, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. WILLIAM M. HEWETSON, of Dudley House, Sutton, Surrey. ARTHUR EDWARD REYNOLDS (late R.A.F.), of Johannesburg and Shepstone, was married on November 27, 1920, at Saint Paul's, Durban, to PHILLIS MARY, only daughter of HARRY, and MARY WOODINGTON, of 16, Leopold Road, Wimbledon. Captain FRANCIS WHITELEY, late R.A.F., was married on Nov. 5, at the Cathedral Church, Rangoon, to VIOLET BORROW, elder daughterof Lieut.-Col. andMrs. FRANK JOHNSON. Fatal Accident in Egypt '•'•'- • _-' - THE Air Ministry regrets to announce that an aeroplane dt i Et t ith idt N'b 2 Killed in Irish Ambush : r INCLUDED among the victims of the ambush of R.I.C. Ck thon duty in Egypt met wit an accident on Nove'mber 29 auxiliaries at Kilmichael, near Macroom, Co. Cork, on the which resulted in the deaths of Flying Officer C. O. Rigden :— ~' "T 1— ~° "•- *-"—~~ ~" c A ^ and of 2^5261 Aircraftman A. L. Goodill. Flying Officer S. T. B. Cripps was seriously injured. :y ., The cause of the accident is at present unknown. « evening of November 28, were the following ex-R.A.F. officers. Killed : Capt. W. Palester, Cadets W. T. Barnes, D.S.C., F. Taylor, F. D. W. Bayley and J. C. Gleaves. Wounded : Cadet M. F. Forde, M.C. I26l
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