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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0152.PDF
to us. His feeling was that we had not enough pilots or enough machines. It was no good talking about the spirit of Locarno to people who were not willing to listen, unless we were strong and determined enough to force our views upon them. Sir Frank Nelson seconded the amendment proposed by Mr. Harvey, and rather criticised the expenditure on training establishments, notably Halton. As regards the estimates, he preferred not to vote £16,000,000, but anything the Air Minister liked to put forward, provided we should have the finest Air Force in the world. He was only concerned in seeing that, whether they spent £16,000,000 or £60,000,000, they spent it to the best advantage. Sir Philip Sassoon, Under-Secretary of State for Air. replied to the proposed amendment. He denied the accuracy of the statement that the proportion of flying personnel to non-flying was disproportionate. We had a higher propor- tion of qualified pilots available than any other country. A numerous, highly skilled, and,well-equipped ground force was essential to maintain an effective fighting force in the air. Sir Robert Hutchison said the Air Ministry would be well advised to consult with the War Office and the Admiralty to see how far an interchange of officers could take place. It might be that we should arrive at a Ministry of Defence, but he saw no immediate chance of such a change. Brig.-Gen. Charteris referred to the universal feelingthrough- out all the Services that sooner or later a Ministry of Defence would be necessary, and said the sooner it came the better for the Services. Mr. Charleton revived the old suggestion of building aircraft in Government establishments. Brig.-Gen, Warner considered it a mistake to stop the development of the Home Defunct1 Force, an no practical gesture from any other country in the world had been given. He referred to the orders secured by foreign aircraft firms in the Dominions, and asked whether the Air Minister could not summon a conference of representatives from the various Dominions to discuss the question of aviation and to secure that when they placed their orders those orders should come to this country. Mr. J. Hudson said the matter to be discussed was an MARCH 4, 1926 increase of £500,000 to a net Air Estimate already about £16,000,000. This increase was to be provided under the apparent delusion that it was to secure the defence of the country. They would not secure the defence of the people by spending £16,000,000, or even by spending four times that amount. Capt. Brass thought the practice of limiting the commis- sions of young air officers to five years was against the creation of an esprit de corps in the Service. Lieut. Commander Kenwortlry said the Air Minister had departed from the air policy laid down by the Prime Minister in 1923 on account of Locarno. He asked whether other nations had cut down their air force because of Locarno, and answered himself in the negative. Capt. Reid said that Great Britain as an island would be freed from all hostile attacks by having an adequate and efficient Air Force, even though the Army and Navy were greatly reduced. He looked forward to the time when our Air Force would be increased to double its present strength, and when the Navy and Army would at the same time be decreased in size. Sir Samuel Hoare, in reply to some of the questions raised, spoke at considerable length, and space does not permit of referring to more than one or two points here. He said it was obvious that there was a growing feeling that there ought to be much closer co-ordination between the three Services, and he believed that every great question of defence and strategy should first of all be considered by the three Chiefs of Staff collectivel\r. He thought it better not to split a com- paratively small service like the Air Force up into a number of different sections, and he would much rather try the ideal of spreading engineering knowledge through the whole Service, and try to make all pilots to some extent engineers. The policy of not creating a separate engineering service was showing not unsatisfactory results. They had found that the engineering standard in the Air Force was growing higher every year, and the number of accidents per flying hour was falling year by year. The Imperial Conference would be held next October, and he would bring up the question of air policy then, and would see that air questions had a prominent place on the agenda. A Senseless " Stunt " ARISING, apparently-, out of a wager, a young Frenchmilitary pilot, Lieut. Collot, has lost his life in performing a particularly senseless and dangerous " stunt." Flying aBreguet D.14, he left the Orly aerodrome on February 24, and on reaching the Eiffel Tower he dived close to the ground and flew- under the lower platform of the tower. He cleared this safely, but, emerging from the other side, he collided with the wireless aerials, with the result that the machine crashed to the ground and burst into flames. Collot was burnt to death before he could be rescued. Orders have been given that a film taken of this " stunt " is to be destroyed. THE BRISTOL " JUPITER " ENDURANCE TEST: Our photo shows the Bristol " Bloodhound " biplanefitted with a sealed "Jupiter" engine, arriving at Croydon, from Filton, on February 25. Since January 4, when the test started, the machine has been making daily trips between these two points, and no enginereplacements have yet been made so far. On Tuesday over 200 hours' flying had been completed and over 22,500 miles flown. 132
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