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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0629.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEERAND AIRSHIPS FIRST AERONAVTICALIVEEKLY IN THE^WOPLD •• FOUNDED WOO Editor C M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 Telegrams : Truditnr, Seiist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (50 lines . HEUTFORD ST., COVENTRY.Telegrams ; Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. GUILDHALL BUILDINGS.NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, 2. Telegrams; Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 2971. 200, DEANSGATB,MANCHESTER, 3. Telegrams: IliSe, Manchester. Telephone Blackfriars 4412. 2flB, RENFIELD ST.,GLASGOW, C.2. Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTIONHATES : Home and CanadaOther Countries: Year, «1 13 0.Year, £1 iS 0. 0 months, 16s. 6ij.ti months, 18s. Od. 3 months, 8a. 6d.3 months, 98." Od. No. 1524. Vol. XXXIII. MARCH 10, 1938. Thursdays, Price 6d. The Outlooks •'if The Cadman ReportT HOSE who had taken too seriously some of the wilder newspaper guesses concerning the Cadman Committee's Report must have been somewhat disappointed when the Report actually became available with the Government's decisions last Tuesday night. Nevertheless, this Report is a distinctly vigorous one, and some of the criticisms made—particularly those deal- ing with- the management and conduct of Imperial Air- ways—are among the most pungent which have ever ap- peared in an official publication. Among the results of these particular observations is the decision that a whole-time chairman, and at least one whole-time director to be asso- ciated with him, should be appointed to the board. More important, perhaps, are the accepted recommenda- tions in the matter of external air transport operations, designed primarily to remove the somewhat absurd situa- tion which arises when two subsidised companies are run- ning in competition over the same route. Imperial Air- ways will be primarily concerned in future with their Empire services, though they will continue to cover the European sections which are, so to speak, already part of those to Africa, India and Australia. That is only reason-a ble—so long as arrangements for transporting passengers to and from (for instance) Italy and Greece can be made. British Airways, suitably reorganised, will take over other present and future services in Europe, with the exception of that between London and Paris. Here the difficulties nave been surmounted by a proposed amalgamation of the two companies. '•pi •mere is no suggestion in the Government's decisions that any further companies, whether already formed or likely to t>e formed, will be eligible for a share in the subsidies, the total of which will be increased from the present ^1,500,000to £3.000,000. It did not require the findings of the Cad- wan Committee to force such an increase—which, were it not for the " fly-by-yourself " dictum, could have been made ten or fifteen years ago. The internal services are not, after all, to be assisted in fn-' way- The suggestion even that the petrol tax shouldDe reduced for them was turned down flat. Nor are the owners to be subsidised, though, following the Committee's recommendations, grants will be m the matter of equipment. PersonnelW ITH the Cadman decisions concerning the creation of new posts in the Air Ministry it is difficult to quarrel. In theory at least they should do good, and they cannot very well do harm, although, as Flight pointed out some weeks ago in commenting on the Report rumours, the man always matters more than the post. That the post of Under-Secretary of State for Air should be permanent instead of transitory is all to the good. The subject of aviation is one which is not " picked up " in a few weeks or months, and the unending stream of Under- secretaries who have filled the office during the last fifteen years cannot have contributed either to efficiency or to continuity of policy. A Permanent Under-Secretary should be able to take the long view and plan accordingly. Possibly of considerable practical advantage, but other- wise of relatively small importance, is the decision to create a post of Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation. Whether the Director-General is relieved in this manner or by transferring some of his routine duties to existing members of the department is of minor importance. The main thing is that he should be left free to give his atten- tion to matters of broa.d policy and to planning, in collabora- tion with the Permanent Under-Secretary, for the future. He should also take a strong part in international problems, which are bound to increase in importance with the years. The establishment of a Directorate of Civil Research and Production must be welcomed wholeheartedly. While the nation is straining every nerve to achieve military ascen- dancy, it is not to be expected that the present organisation can devote to purely civil problems that degree of sym- pathetic attention which civil aviation demands. The new Directorate will, to some extent, compete with the existing Directorates of Scientific Research and Technical Develop- ment, and many will be the cases of doubt as to whether a certain line of research is of interest primarily to the civil or military side. Frequently, of course, research is of equal benefit to both. It is to be assumed that when the two sides clash in their claims to priority (we have but a limited number of research establishments) the Permanent Under- secretary will give the final decision. The Report and the Government's decisions thereon will be dealt with in detail next week.
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