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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 1048.PDF
FLIGHT, OCTOBER 20, 1982 • the new clause which has been included in A.N.D. 11 states that no one may attempt to get off the ground without having first obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for Air. The idea of a would-be follower of Icarus having to go before the Secretary of State for Air and explain his reasons before being officially permitted to jump off his own domain is really too comic. Yet that is, in effect, what the new clause means. Let us turn to p. 24 of A.N.D. 11, where we find, under Section VI and Article 60, that with reference to proviso (a) to Article 3 (1) and proviso (£>) to Article 4 (1) of the Order (we nearly wrote the " Sacred Order ") an aircraft which does not comply with all or any of the conditions there mentioned may, nevertheless, fly, provided that the flight does not contravene any of the other provisions of the Order, or that its flight is carried out by special permission of the Secretary of State for Air, or, finally, that the flight satisfies " A conditions " or " B conditions," which are then duly set forth in Section VI of A.N.D. 11. Upon looking up proviso (a) to Article 3 (1) and proviso (b) to Article 4 (1) of the Order, it is found that these refer to an exemp tion from having to comply with certain regulations if written dispensation has been obtained from the Secretary of State for Air before making the flight. Not much help to be obtained there. We then turn to " A conditions " and " B con ditions " of Section VI, Article 60, of A.N.D. 11. " A conditions " lay it down that the flight may only be made if the aircraft has a certificate of airworthi ness, is a " subsequent aircraft," that the flight is for the purpose of getting a certificate of airworthi ness, or that application for a C. of A. has previously been made. Obviously, " A conditions " do not help us much either. Our last hope is now centred in " B conditions." Alas, " B conditions " are just as bad. In fact, they are on a par with the deep depression conditions in which Iceland seems to spend most of its unhappy time. In the main, " B conditions " relate to flights carried out under the supervision of " approved " firms, and with aircraft built by " approved " firms. So there you are. If you are not an " approved " firm, you may not take anything into the air without written permission from the Secretary of State for Air. Bureaucracy can go no farther than that. The Secretary of State for Air has " seen fit " to put the official " kibosh " on all private enterprise. What business has a " disapproved " firm or person to want to take things into that air which is, apparently, the sacred property of the Air Council? What right have such as they to cause air eddies not approved by the N.P.L., with wings and fuselages unknown to Farnborough? If such things were to be per mitted, who knows but that some day some totally unknown person, strongly " disapproved " by officialdom, might not be lucky enough to invent and try out some new form Qf flying machine, or introduce some new principle of flying. The whole situation is preposterous, and would be comic if it were not fraught with serious conse quences. What Divine right gives the Air Ministry powers to prevent any private individual or firm from taking experimental aircraft or engines into the air? The British aviation community has submitted 0 0 tamely to one red-tape restriction after another being introduced, until by now no man, unless he be " approved " by the Air Ministry, has a soul he dares to call his own—aeronautically speaking. And even the " approved " firms are barely tolerated. They are regarded by officialdom as very inferior beings to the Air Ministry's " experts," but, of course, they have to be put up with because one could not do without them altogether, unless— blessed inspiration—the Air Ministry were to kill off all private aircraft and engine firms and revert to that happy state of affairs which obtained when Farn borough was the Royal Aircraft Factory and its machines were designed by " the best brains in the country." By the new regulations, no private experimenter may make a " hop " across his own meadow unless he has got permission from the Air Ministry (in writing). The old limitation—that flights must not be made outside the three-mile limit of an aero drome—was bad enough, but at least there was traceable in it a sane desire to protect the public on terra ftrma from possible damage. The new regu lation seems to be entirely without justification, unless it is the intention of the Air Council to squash all those who are just now keenly interested in the development of low-powered aeroplanes. We hope that we are not going to be the means of getting Senor de la Cierva into trouble, but as he is not an " approved " firm, he could, under this regulation, be stopped from testing the new machine which he is now flying at Hamble. That machine is never to be marketed. Consequently no applica tion has been made for a certificate of airworthiness. But on it Senor de la Cierva has carried out invalu able research work which will unquestionably result in the production of better and still better " Auto- giros." Must he, therefore, obtain the Air Minister's written permission every time he wants to make a short flight? One could probably think of several others quite as capable as Senor de la Cierva of deciding what is or is not a reasonably " safe " aircraft without asking the Air Ministry. Even an " approved " aircraft firm is likely to suffer through this ridiculous restriction. Let it be supposed, for example, that an aircraft has been built by X & Co., who are " approved," and that it is a " subsequent " aircraft. Y & Co. may be agents, and may have their aerodrome more than 6 miles from that of X. They may wish to stock a few of X's machines so as to have them ready to sell " over the counter," as it were. The C. of A. will not be wanted until the aircraft is sold, and consequently no application is made for it at once. But X cannot have it flown across to Y's aerodrome because the flight is not a test flight, nor is the aircraft being flown for its C. of A. So every time X & Co. want to fly a machine across to Y's aero drome to replenish his stock, a special written per mission must be obtained. This does not sound very formidable, but getting a decision from the Air Ministry on any subject is apt to be a lengthy business at any time. This whole subject is one which has influences far outside the sphere of the S.B.A.C., and it will be interesting to see if bureaucracy is to be allowed to " get away with it." Kft rs 976
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