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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0574.PDF
FLIGHT, SEPTEMBER 21, 1&33 it is a very good thing indeed that all the companies of Europe should get together at frequent intervals —actually every six months—and talk the problems over together. The meetings are held in secret. We imagine that this is not done because of the dark and dubious nature of the plots to be hatched, but out of sheer pity for the Press and public of the country in which they meet. The Press would feel bound to report the meetings if their representatives were admitted, and the public might try to read the reports. The same thing has recently happened at a session of some learned society in this country, and as a result we have had a lively discussion, not on the subjects with which the meeting was concerned, but on the technical jargon in which the papers were couched. Well, we must admit that FLIGHT sometimes is guilty of writing technical jargon, but at least we only ex pect such articles to be read by people who under stand that language and who enjoy reading it. In ternational transport by air or by any other element has its own jargon, and we must say that we feel gratitude to the I.A.T.A. for not expecting us to understand it and to attempt to translate it into lan guage which our readers will understand. If the results of the meetings are that air transport is unified and simplified, so that air travel and trans port become easier and more popular, we shall feel satisfied, and shall be quite content not to probe into the mysteries of how the gratifying result has been achieved. • • •> • To-morrow, if the weather is suitable, there will begin two days of combined exercises by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force of a nature not pre viously attempted. Briefly, a small but powerful fleet, which includes two aircraft car- Air and riers, will attempt to attack shore bases Sea Exercises in the Firth of Forth, while the defence will consist of aircraft alone. It is emphasised by both the Admiralty and the Air Ministry that these are not manoeuvres, only exer cises. To put the distinction in popular form, they resemble the knock-up before a tennis match begins at Wimbledon. No one will try to win the war. Both sides will simply practise their strokes. As nothing of the sort has been attempted before, no one knows clearly what strokes are likely to prove of much effect. Both Admiralty and Air Ministry want to get some idea on the subject. These exer cises are only a beginning. They have been deliberately made as simple as possible, and they will be in many respects unreal. One exercise will be an attack on the shore by aircraft from off the fleet, although it is to be supposed that the ships themselves remain out of range of the defending air craft. There is no difficulty in excusing such un reality when it is deliberate and avowed. When these exercises have given the two Government Departments a line on probable developments, it is the intention that in the future other more compli cated exercises shall be arranged, from which it may really be possible to deduce lessons which will be of service in any future war. The defending force is to consist of two squadrons of flying boats, one squadron of torpedo-bombers, lent to the defences by the Fleet Air Arm, four day- • • • bomber squadrons of the Wessex Bombing Area, and two Auxiliary A.F. bomber squadrons from No. 1 Air Defence Group. Naturally, the Wessex Bomb ing Area knows little or nothing about the sea and the ships which sail on it. The two Auxiliary squadrons, those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, live on the Firths of Forth and Clyde respectively, and may have a little more ability to distinguish between a battleship and a destroyer, but they can hardly be experts on what is called " ship recognition." The flying-boat crews and the men on the " Ripons " will, of course, know all about such matters. All will get some very good practice, and all should have a great deal more sea sense after these exercises than they had before. The fleet, too, will get some good practice. " Aircraft recognition " is to be a problem for the men on the ships. Here the carriers will be in the position of experts, but all ships will have to become knowledgeable on the subject. " Ospreys " will be friendly to the fleet, but " Harts " will be hostile. " Seals " will also be friends, while " Gordons " will belong to the defence. Those who distinguish them when overhead will have reason to be proud of themselves. " Gordons," " Wapitis," and " Sidestrands " will be strange fowl to the majority of the Navy, but the sailors will learn what they look like. All will get good practice in taking appropriate action against air attack. Other problems invite solution by actual trial. For instance, when a fleet is expecting an air attack, what is the best policy to follow with regard to its own fighters? Should they be sent up to patrol as long as their petrol lasts, running the risk that the attack will be delivered just after they have landed on the carriers and are helpless, or should they be kept in readiness on the deck until the enemy are reported to be approaching, running the risk that they may not be able to get up to the height of the enemy before he has delivered his attack and sheered off? To what extent will the destroyers be able to report the approach of the defending aircraft from the shore? These are among the many pretty problems on which some light may be shed. If this really were a sham fight, it would seem that the shore or defending aircraft are rather heavily handicapped. In addition to the fact that some of them are working over a strange element, the force has no fighters, and sometimes, perhaps, it will have to use some of its " Harts " as fighters to escort its bombing formations, if it is thought that they need escort. Incidentally, no bombs, not even bags of flour, will be dropped. The accuracy of the bomb-aiming in the various squadrons of the Wessex Bombing Area and No. 1 (A.D.) Group is not in question. No casualties will be awarded, and our sensational papers will not be able to report that a capital ship has been bombed—though, as a matter of fact, some dummy torpedoes will be dropped by the T.B. squadron. At any rate, the vexed question of whether an aircraft can sink a battleship will not be raised anew by these exercises. Still, a lot of very useful lessons should be learnt, and the exer cises should be of quite extraordinary interest. FLIGHT is sending special correspondents up to the Forth to report the happenings, and we feel sure that their accounts will greatly interest our readers. ?& ?£* Sjg />u\ />n\ /m* 928
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