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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0115.PDF
FEBRUARY 26, 1925 these schools expires, opportunity is being taken to re-equip them with machines of modern type, and the higher cost of training on these machines is reflected in the increased sum allowed under Sub-head D for capitation payments to the firms. This improved training will have an important effect on the preparedness of the Reserve for war. Apart from officers who, on completion of their period of active list service on short service commissions, have passed to the. Keserve, the only means of building up a reserve is by direct entry of civilians. Hitherto it has proved possible to enter officers who were already qualified pilots trained during the late war, but this source of supply is becoming exhausted. It is, therefore, under consideration shortly to invite young men to enrol in the Reserve with a view to being taught to fly ab initio. Provision has been made for making a start with this scheme. Under other sub-heads provision is taken for expenses involved in the creation of the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force squadrons, to which reference has been made above. Apart from the cost of the regular staffs, the sums expended during the coming year must depend largely on the intake of volunteers, and the estimate is, therefore, of a tentative character. Technical Equipment and Research A net reduction of £400,000 is shown in Vote 3 (Technical Equipment, Experiment, and Research). Allowance, how- ever, has to be made for the grant from Navy Votes in respect of the Fleet Air Arm, and there is. therefore, a real net increase of £763,000. This increase is mainly due to the new squadrons being formed for Home defence and to the larger orders being given for aircraft of modern types. It is to be remembered that, as with all types of fighting equipment, there is a marked tendency for aircraft to advance in power and complexity, and consequently also in cost. The provision for research and development (shown in Appendix II of the Air Estimates) is slightly increased. The department has during the past year been feeling its way towards a more complete recognition of the scope of pure research, and towards an organisation which will free the technical administration troni responsibility for theoretical investigation and enable it t;> devote its attention to improve- ments in the production of material of new type. The work of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farn- borough will be continued and developed on the same lines as hitherto. It is the considered policy of the Air Ministry to reserve this establishment for experiment and research, and not to employ it on the normal work of production for the Air Force. In addition to the completion or progress of the experi- mental aircraft and engines provided for in previous years, the experimental programme of the coming year contemplates the putting in hand of 12 types of aircraft and 12 types of engines. The aircraft include three types for civil aviation. Airships In a supplementary estimate presented last May the late Government made initial provision of £350,000 for a pro- gramme of airship development in two parts, to be proceeded with concurrently, extending over three years. One part consisted in airship development under the direct control of the Air Ministry, including the construction of one new airship, and the other in the construction of a second airship by a private firm, which might prove the nucleus of a com- mercial airship service. In my view, however, such a com- mercial service is at present the principal object to be kept in view ; and the programme, which the provision in the present Estimates carries into its second year, is being made sufficiently elastic to render it possible to accelerate as 1 am anxious to do, the transition to a phase of commercial operation. In the meanwhile the immediate policy is to seenre that every step is taken to ensure the safety and success of the experimental stage, especially in view of the fact that these ships are twice as large as any previously constructed. For this purpose an extensive programme of research and experiment is in hand, including in particular the carrying out of the full-scale research on the strength of structures recom- mended in the report of the Airship Stressing Panel of the Aeronautical Research Committee, dated August, 1922. The Royal Airship Works at Cardington and the Airship station at" Pulham were reopened in July last. In order to obtain reliable data as to the stresses and aerodynamic pressures which are imposed upon the structure of an airship in flight, the R.33 (a sister ship of the R.34 which flew the Atlantic in 1919) has been reconditioned and fitted with special recording instruments, and will shortly carry out a series of experimental nights for this purpose. The R3b is now being reconditioned at Pulham for an experimental flight to Egypt, after having been tried out at the Cardington mast. In addition, model and full-scale research and experi- ment has been proceeding at Cardington and at the National Physical Laboratory. Exhaustive trials of experimental girders are also now in progress. The shed at Cardington is in process of being enlarged with a view to the construction of the new Air Ministry ship. The necessary mooring masts are being constructed in order that the new airships may be able to moor at Cardington and two stations overseas, while the existing mast at Pulham is being reconditioned for the purposes of the aerodynamic trials with R.33. The new Air Ministry ship will "not be actually laid down until the girder trials referred to above are completed. An initial payment of £150,000 has been made to the Airship Guarantee Company on account of the airship they have contracted to build, and the estimate contains provision for further progress payments to the company during the coming year. The total provision for airships under Vote 3 amounts to /500.000. Works Vote 4 (Works. Buildings, and Lands) shows a net increase of £445,000 as compared with 1924-25. This increase is more than covered by the increased provision for works services necessary to provide accommodation for the Home Defence Air Force. The provision directly attributable to purchase of land and erection of buildings for the Home Defence Air Force is £1.280,000 (less a proportion of the sum of £200,000 allowed for underspending), as against a provision of £570,000 for similar services during 1924-25. On account of difficulties in connection with the supply of skilled labour, the building programme is proceeding com- paratively slowly, and the amounts provided for the various items represent the estimated expenditure after a careful examination of the probable extent of the supply of labour in the districts concerned. There are a certain number of services at home which cannot be deferred until the accom- modation for the Home Defence Air Force has been provided, most of which appear this year as continuation services, having been commenced in previous years ; but, broadly speaking, attention is, and will remain for some years, concentrated on the " expansion " programme. During the last few years the problem of works expenditure lor the Air Force in Egypt has presented great difficulties. Many urgent services have been deferred until the political situation is clearer, and the distribution and strength of the Imperial Forces in Egypt have been definitely settled. But the continued maintenance of the F'orce in war-time buildings of the most temporary description is not compatible with its efficiency, and it is not possible to defer altogether the provision of more suitable buildings. It is accordingly proposed to proceed with a few of the most urgent items. The provision for works services in Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, the cost of which is recoverable from the Middle East Vote, is reduced to less than half the corresponding figure for the current year. Civil Aviation Under Vote 8 provision is made for expenditure in con- nection with Civil Aviation on the same lines as in last year's Estimates, including the maintenance of the Airport of London at Croydon, the Customs Aerodrome at Lympne, the ancillary services connected with the regularly-operated air routes, and the carrying out of operational experiments, such as night flying and the commercial operation of new types of Civil Aircraft. The Vote as a whole shows an increase of £2,000. The subsidy to Imperial Airways, Ltd., remains at the same figure as in 1924-25, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement with the Company, conditional on the Com- pany's aircraft maintaining efficient air services for the transport of passengers, mails and freight, and completing an average minimum mileage of 1,000,000 miles per annum. A sum is also included for the first time this year to assist in the establishment and maintenance of a limited number of Light Aeroplane Clubs. The details of the scheme are still under discussion. The Director of Civil Aviation is at present in India, having flown there with the object of investigating routes for possible air services. I hope that this, and other enquiries now proceeding, may serve to lay a foundation for the scheme of an Air Route to India, a project which has long engaged the attention of the Air Ministry, and which I am most desirous of furthering. Provision is again made for progress with the scheme of enlargement and improvement of Croydon Aerodrome in accordance with the recommendations made in 1923 by the 115
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