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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0276.PDF
APRIL 22, 1926 put his oil tank ahead of the bulkhead, he had used a stress of 5,500 lb. per square inch for spruce, and for the tail light of his machine he had used yellow wire instead of black. Here Mr. Fairey corrected himself and said no, he was wrong ; the wire should have been yellow and must not be black. (Laughter). Lieut.-Col. F. McClean said it was his privilege, he would not say pleasure, because he would never use that word in connection with having to get up and make a speech, to thank the Chairman, Lieut.-Col. Moore Brabazon, for presiding so ably over the dinner, and he said they very greatly appre- ciated his kindness in leaving very important work at the House of Commons in order to come to the Royal Aero Club that evening. STORES OFFICERS ROYAL AIR FORCE By Major F. A. de V. Robertson, V.D. A COMMUNIQUE, No. 1257, has been issued by the AirMinistry inviting men from between the ages of 23 and 25 on September 1 next, who have had not less than fiveyears' business experience in a firm of standing, to apply for commissions in the Stores Branch of the Royal AirForce. Inquiries for copies of the regulations and for application forms should be addressed in writing to theSecretary, Air Ministry, Kingsway, London, W.C. 2. The applicants who appear prima facie to be most suitablewill be requested to attend a competition which will be held by the Civil Service Commission in London in thethird week of July. The competition will consist of two parts : First, an interview with a board, and, secondly, awritten examination in English, general knowledge and arithmetic. The communique states that the writtenexamination will not be so stiff as to require any special study on the part of men of good general education andalert minds. A medical examination will also be necessary before the grant of a commission, but it will not be so exact-ing as that which has to be passed by pilots. The com- munique proceeds to descant on the responsibilities of thework of a Stores officer, pointing out that 70,000 articles are in use in the Royal Air Force, ranging from completeaircraft down to nuts and bolts. The ordinary unit, how- ever, presumably the squadron, deals only with some 3,000to 8,000, and it may be remarked that a stores officer is not required or expected to be intimately acquainted with allof these. The communique marks the commencement of a newpolicy on the part of the Air Ministry, and Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Game, K.C.B., D.S.O., Air Member for Personnel,last Thursday gave the Press some explanation of the position. Since the war the Stores Branch of the R.A.F. has beenmanned from three sources : (1) Survivals of the technical officers who were commissioned during the war ; (2) Shortservice officers ; and (3) crashed pilots who could fly no more and transferred to the Stores Branch. The first sourceof supply must come to a natural end some time. The second has also come to an end, for short-service com-missions are no longer granted in the Stores Branch. The reason for this cessation is a perfectly sound one—namely,that just when an officer was becoming experienced in his work his commission expired, and he was lost. As for thecrashed pilots, they proved a disappointing source of supply, because there have not been enough of them. This is ratheran interesting comment on the charges that service flying is over dangerous. However, it is the intention to keepthe Stores Branch open in the future for officers of the General Duties branch, who may find their flying careercut short from one cause or another. L'sually on transfer they will have to revert to the rank of Pilot Officer and goto the bottom of the list. The Air Ministry has therefore had to consider and adopta definite policy for securing a supply of regular and permanent officers for this branch who would be willingto make it their career in life. Two courses appeared to be open to them, one to select young boys who were justleaving school and train them for their work. Sir Philip Game feared that the prospects would not appeal to a boyof that age, if he were of the right type. Such a boy is usually out for a more adventurous career, and might thinkstores work too sedentary a calling. The other course was to invite men who had already proved themselves tosome extent in the business world, who had some experience of life and its responsibilities, but who were beginning tochafe at the tedium of life in a bank or a city office. If such men could see a chance of using the experience whichthey had acquired in a new sphere which offered greater variety, the Air Member for Personnel believed that a numberof them would be only too glad to take the chance. At 25 a man has a juster appreciation of values than he canbe expected to have when he is just leaving school. This line of reasoning shows that Sir Philip Game possessesone great qualification for the post of Air Member for Personnel. He studies human nature. Perhaps the weakpoint in the reasoning is that the boy who would decline Stores work when leaving school would also flatly refuse togo into a bank or business office. But most undoubtedly there are in business offices many men who are in all waysqualified to hold the King's Commission, who have enough business ability to make good either in civil life or in theservice, and who would welcome the opportunities for travel, sport, etc., which service life holds out. As the establish-ment is at present only 265 officers, and only 20 or so will be required each year, there ought not to be any difficultyin getting men of a really good type. When the air force is increased to a size somewhat more commensurate withits heavy responsibilities—in other words, when we begin to recover from the disastrous effects of Locarno—moreStores officers will, of course, be needed. But it ought to be some time before the standards need to be lowered. Atthe present rate, 20 first-class men ought to be easily obtainable every year. A very heavy responsibility will rest on the interviewingboard. It will certainly not be to the advantage of the service to let in mere clever jugglers with figures. A goodsporting public school man is the type most to be desired. It must be remembered that the position of a Stores officerin a squadron is always rather a delicate one. He lives and moves and has his being in a community of men whofly, and who mostly think that flying is the only thing in heaven or earth worth doing—and the Stores officer doesnot fly. He may be taken up as a passenger, but he is not allowed to become a pilot or, even if he has taken out acivilian licence at his own expense, to take up a service aeroplane. Such a position must have its difficulties, andcertainly it must be very bad for the service if those diffi- culties ever develop into anything like a mutual lack ofadmiration and liking between officers who fly and officers who have to serve the King aground. The greatest safe-guard against such an unfortunate development must be careful selection of the Stores officers. It is safe to say thatif they are good sportsmen they are sure to get on well with other good sportsmen, and it is much to be hoped that themembers of the interviewing board will always bear that in mind. As for pay and allowances, the revised rates are to beissued by the Air Ministry shortly. In pay and allowances a Pilot Officer (Stores') will get about ^368 per annum, andwhen, after 18 months' service, he has become a Flying Officer, he will get ^401. He can rise to Group Captain,and then he will receive ,£1,147, so that the pecuniary prospects are not at all bad. If properly worked, thisscheme ought to give good results. Aero Golfing Society THE spring meeting of the Aero Golfing Society will be held at the Huntercombe Golf Club, near Henley, on May 6. The programme will be as follows :— Morning.—Medal round for Challenge Cup presented by theproprietors of FLIGHT. Afternoon.—Bogey four-ball four somes for Society prizes. (Entries close Thursdav, April 29, 1926.) The Committee of the Huntercombe Golf Club have placed 10 bedrooms at the disposal of the Club for members wishing to go down the night before. These will be allotted in order of receipt of application by the Hon. Secretary, Harold E. Perrin, 3, Clifford Street, W. 1. 244
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