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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0134.PDF
(5H3 FEBRUARY 25, 1926 When I introduced the Air Estimates for 1925 I stated that it was proposed during the course of the year to undertake certain long-distance flights. One of these flights has already taken place, R.A.F. aircraft from Egypt having visited Nigeria, passing through Upper Egypt, the Soudan and French Equatorial Africa. The flight was an unqualified success, and valuable experience was obtained. Arrangements are complete for another R.A.F. long-distance flight in Africa ; this will be from Cairo to Capetown and back, and the air- craft will leave Cairo in a few weeks' time. Further flights of a similar kind are in contemplation. In July a flight of seaplanes from Malta visited Italy and returned the visit of a flight of Italian seaplanes to Malta which had taken place earlier in the year. Personnel. The decision to spread over a longer period the building up of the Home Defence Force has made it possible to maintain approximately stationary the numbers and cost of personnel during the coming year. Vote A (maximum numbers allowed) shows as compared with last year a slight decrease of 500 (mainly due to the substitution of civilian for service personnel) and Vote 1 (pay) shows a net decrease of £7,000. Further progress has been made in economising the use of officers, and provision is made for 208 airmen pilots as compared with 139 last year. Ex-officers are being appointed in a civilian capacity as recruiting officers, and this change, together with other economies, has allowed of a reduced provision for recruiting. Further progress has been made in the substitution of civilians for airmen, and the number of the former provided in Vote 1 increases by over 250. Difficulty has been experienced in obtaining the airmen clerks required, and the good type of boy obtained for training as aircraft apprentice has encouraged the Air Ministry to adopt a similar scheme for clerks. Pro- vision is accordingly made for 96 boys under training as apprentice clerks. The reduction effected last October in the pay of new entrants—both officers and airmen—affects Air Estimates during the coming year comparatively slightly, but the saving will increase year by year. The cost of the medical services will be approximately the same as last year, Vote 5 showing a saving of £8,000 on the gross total and an increase of £5,000 on the net total. The main reduction effected in the Estimate has been in the pro- vision for medical services in the Middle East—a reduction which does not affect net Air Votes. A saving of over £50,000 has been effected in the cost of educational services (Vote 6). This decrease is largely the result of a close investigation into the establishments of the two great training stations, Halton and Cranwell ; the economies are administrative, and do not impair the training curricula. The number of apprentices at Cranwell is further reduced, newly entered aircraft apprentices being trained at Halton. Reserve and Auxiliary Forces. The development of the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces and of the two University " Air Squadrons " described below, is to be continued during 1926, and Vote 7 is accordingly increased by £58,000. The re-equipment of the civil flying schools with aircraft of modern type for the training of Reserve Officers is progressing, and the higher cost of this training is reflected in the provision. Xow that the supplementary source of recruit- ment for the Reserve of Air Force Officers from amongst qualified pilots trained during the late war is practicall " exhausted, an experimental scheme has been launched for the enrolment of young men, and their training ab initio as pilots, in the Reserve. Provision is taken for continuing this scheme on a small scale during 1926. A beginning has been made with the formation of Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force squadrons, and these squadrons will, as already mentioned, be further developed during the year. The intake of volunteers in the squadrons already formed varies considerably in the different localities, and the estimate under this head is consequently still somewhat tentative in character. During the latter part of 1925 provision was made at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge to enable members of those universities to obtain knowledge and experience of all matters connected with aviation. Although the term " Air Squadron " has been adopted for convenience of use, no unit organisation has been introduced, and all instruction is given individually in the form of courses which are both practical and theoretical. The object of these courses is to influence the flow of candidates for commissions in the R.A.F., the Air Force Reserve and the Auxiliary Air Force, to stimulate interest in air matters generally at the universities, and to promote and maintain a liaison with the universities in tech- nical and research problems affecting aviation. Except in so far as the qualifications of members, independent of their connection with the " Air Squadrons," render therrTeligible and willing to enrol in one or other of the non-regular Forces, they will have no liability for Air Force service. In each " squadron " there is a Chief Instructor, who is, at Oxford, a professor of the university, and at Cambridge a wing com- mander of the Regular Air Force. In addition a regular officer and two airmen are attached to assist in the instruction of the members. The provision taken in Vote 7 for the two " squadrons " (pay, etc., of instructors and miscellaneous expenses) approximates to £4,000. Technical Equipment. A net increase of £441,000 is shown in Vote 3 (Technical Equipment and Research). The gross expenditure is, however, £350,000 less than that shown in the Estimates for 1925, Appropriations-in-Aid being down by £791,000. This decrease is due to the reduction in expenditure on account of the Middle East and the Fleet Air Arm. The Vote includes provision for research and technical development (as shown in Appendix 2 of the Estimates) and for airships. These are separately referred to below. The remainder of the Vote is concerned with provision for the standard technical equipment of the Air Force and for the services of inspection, etc., allied thereto. While additional expenditure of a capital kind on Technical Equipment in 1926 will not be heavy, the increased main- tenance requirements of the expanded force must be taken into account. The circumstances make it unlikely that the liabilities for which provision is taken will fail t<> mature before the end of the year, and accordingly no lump sum deduction has been made for underspending as was done in 1925. It should be noted that the comparison between the figures in the individual sub-heads of the Vote for the two years are to this extent vitiated ; for instance, on the main Sub-head A (Aeroplanes, Engines and Spares) the apparent decrease should be discounted by (say) £200,000. Research and Technical Development. Sub-head Bof Vote 3 now comprises the out-station research and experimental establishments previously shown in Sub- head C, in addition to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. The estimate for this Establishment has been rearranged so as to show separately from the main organisa- tion the cost of certain sections whose work is not directly connected with that of the Establishment, and which are merely located at Farnborough for convenience. Sub-head C (now comprising Aeronautical Inspection only) is excluded from Appendix 2 of the Estimates as this service is not in any sense peculiar to experimental work. Appendix 2, which can now be taken as showing with approximate accuracy the extent of research and experimental services, shows a net increase of £19,000. This small increase is largely accounted for by the addition which it has been found necessary to make to the staff concerned with the stressing for airworthiness of service and civil aircraft, in order to avoid delay in carrying out work which the department is under statutory obligation to per- form. The remaining expenditure is maintained at much the same level as in 1925. It has only been possible to achieve this result by careful adjustment, since research and technical development are active at the present time, and commitments tend to increase. It may be mentioned that a number of experimental machines have been ordered embodying the principle of the Cierva Autogyro, of which a preliminary test was recently carried out at Farnborough. The offer of a prize for a helicopter which was announced some two years ago comes to an end on April 30 next ; a number of entries have been received, but no machine has yet passed any of the tests. It has been decided to close down the attempt (initiated by the Ministry of Munitions during the war) to construct n helicopter in a Government Establishment, to the design <>1, and under the supervision of. Mr. Louis Brennan, C.B., whose distinguished abilities as an inventor have been often demon- strated in the past. In the present instance, 1 am advised by the Aeronautical Research Committee that, in spite of the great mechanical ingenuity of the apparatus, the prog res.. made with the experiments does not warrant their continu ance ; I have felt compelled, with regret, to accept thi advice. Airships. The present Estimates carry the programme initiated b the late Government into its third year. This programme > divided into two parts—(1) airship development under tl" • direct control of the Air Ministry, including the constructs i of a 5,000,000 cubic ft. airship at the Royal Airship W'or. a 114
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