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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1947.PDF
Ob FLIGHT. JULY 16, 1936. every entry an equal chance of dead heating. It is lack of a well-defined policy on the part of the Royal Aero Club which has robbed what should be the most im portant of all British air races of the interest and importance which ought to belong to it. Ex Cathedra N O one in the world could accuse Sir Samuel Hoare of a bias against the air. In fact, he has himself told the story that a colleague once accused him of having been bitten by a mad aeroplane. There fore, when Sir Samuel makes a statement on the com parative importance of the Navy and the Air Force in our scheme of national life, it will be accepted on all sides that he speaks from conviction and not from pre judice. Speaking at Southampton last Saturday, he said: "It is upon the sea that this country and this Empire depend for their existence," and he called that a "fundamental fact." He went on to elaborate the point thus: "As our life depends upon free passage through the seven seas of the world, the Fleet must be strong enough to go anywhere and to carry out its duties in any conditions. It is our determination to have such a Fleet and to build it with the least possible delay." These statements, of course, do not in any way imply a depreciation of air power. Britain must have both sea power and air power, and sea power cannot exist with out ample help from the air arm. We may trust Sir Samuel Hoare to see that the Fleet Air Arm is brought up to the highest state of efficiency in numbers as well as in all other respects. The importance of the pro- nouncement is that an authority whom none can sensibly dispute has refuted in the most emphatic manner the exaggerated claims of some foolish air extremists who have tried to persuade the public that the advent of air power has rendered the British Navy useless, and that all money spent on the Fleet is wasted. Such absurdities do no good to the cause of air progress; in fact they do harm by discrediting the reasonable cham pions of the air. With such unreasonably zealotry Flight has never had any sympathy. In addition to the Fleet Air Arm, Britain needs an air defence force and also an air striking force, repre sented by the Fighter Command and the Bomber Com mand, which must be strong enough to give pause to any party which might think of attacking her shores or her interests. The recently announced supplementary estimate of £11,700,000 shows that the expansion of the Air Force is being pushed ahead with all energy and at a pace which at first hardly seemed possible. The rebuilding of the Fleet will take longer. Everything will be made easier by realising that there is no rivalry between the two Services. PRESENTED TO HIS MAJESTY. This view of the King studying the retractable undercarriage on the new Handley Page medium bomber during his visit to Martlesham last week is but another illustration of His Majesty's genuine interest in things aeronautical.
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