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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0656.PDF
234 FLIGHT. MARCH IO, 1938. Vickers Wellesley THE Air Estimates for 1938, issued on March 2, showa gross value of ^111,502,000. Appropriations inAid are expected to reduce this staggering figure to i,73>50o,ooo, a net increase of ^17,000,000 compared with last year's Air Estimates. In a Memorandum on the Air Estimates, the Secretary of State for Air, Viscount Swinton, explains that if the amounts appropriated in aid of the votes under the Defence Loans Act, 1937, are left out of account, together with the charge of £780,000 in respect of interest on the loan money taken in 1937, the resultant net total is £102,720,000, which is the true index of the net ex- penditure contemplated and the true measure of comparison with previous years. Comparative figures for recent years are as follows: — Gross EstimateInterest charge in- cludedDe-duct— Fleet All" Arm GrantOther Appropria- tions-in-aid Loan provision Net Estimate to be voted Corresponding figure? excluding the Loanelements 1934* £ 20,365,600 1,338,000 1,266.600 — 17,761,000 17,761,000 1935.* £ 31,002,100 — 1,993,000 1,413,100 — 27,596,000 27,590,000 1936.» £ 55,748,700 — 3,572,000 1,476,600 — 50,700,100 50,700,100 1937. £ 88,588,600 — 4,200,000 1,888,600 26,000,000 56,500,000 82,500,000 1938. £ 111,502,000 (780,000) 5,718,000 2,284,000 30,000,000 73,500,000 102,720,000 * Including Supplementary Estimates. The Memorandum explains that the increase of £1,518,000 in the grant from the Admiralty in respect of the Fleet Air Arm arises in part from an increase in strength and in part from a payment in respect of train- ing services for naval personnel of the Fleet Air Arm hitherto borne on Air Votes without recovery. On the subject of progress of expansion, the Memorandum points out that the formation and training of new units for the Metropolitan Air Force have occupied a position of para- mount importance. Since April, 1935, the strength of that Force has been increased from 52 to 123 squadrons, of which one is at present overseas, and now comprises 68 Bomber squadrons, 30 Fighter squadrons, 15 squadrons of General Reconnaissance aircraft and Torpedo Bombers, and 10 squad- ions of Army Co-operation aircraft, with greatly enlarged train- ing and reserve organisations in support. Reorganised Command The increase in the number of home defence squadrons has made it necessary to effect an extensive reorganisation of the R.A.F. system of command and administration. The responsi- bilities of the former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain, have been divided between an A.O.C. in C. in command of the Air Striking Force, and aii A.O.C. in C. in command of the Fighter and Army Co-opera- tion units, who is also in operational control of the country's ground defences, comprising anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units and the units of the balloon barrage. Subordinate to the main commands there have been introduced a number of groups, organised partly on functional and partly on geo- graphical lines. So far as possible, the task which each unit will perform in war has been the governing factor in deter- mining its place in the peace-time organisation. A separate Maintenance Command will be formed in the course of 1938 to administer the maintenance units. The post of Inspector-General of the R.A.F. has been revived to follow development of the R.A.F. and report regu- larly to the Air Council upon the efficiency and training of the Force. To ensure smooth progress of the expansion scheme it was necessary to secure close co-ordination and balancing of all parts of the programme, and a plan was drawn up on broad lines covering every aspect of requirements. To ensure con- tinuous watching and effect adjustment of details, weekly ASTRONOMIC The Air Estimates : Principal Votes in Appropriations to £73,500,000 : Air Mkw pansion " Types of Aircraft Now in meetings of the Air Council were instituted, with Lord Weir as adviser on industrial matters. When the expansion scheme was launched, it was decided that the basis of the large-scale supply of aircraft required must be the firms of the aircraft industry which had been working in collaboration with the Air Ministry for the supply of air- frames and engines during the pre-expansion period, and which had thus acquired a vast fund of design experience. These firms were accordingly encouraged to extend their works to the extent necessary to meet Air Ministry orders, and provi- sion was made whereby the Air Ministry would, subject to certain conditions, indemnify the firms against the possibility of ultimate loss in respect of the cost of any extensions which subsequent experience showed to have been required to meet expansion orders only. The programme authorised in March, 1936, the main features of which were the re-equipment of the Force with more power- ful types of aircraft, and the provision of war reserves of aircraft and equipment on a comprehensive scale in addition to an increase in first-line strength, required the provision of aircraft, engines and equipment on a scale substantially in excess of the maximum capacity of the industry. To meet these demands, the decision was taken to make use in peace of motor car manufacturing firms which were allocated to the Air Ministry for production in war. The establishment of the two aircraft shadow factories and six engine shadow factories which followed the adoption of this policy will serve two main objects: it will provide for the production of that part of the war reserves of aircraft and engines which is beyond the capacity of the aircraft industry, and it will afford training in the manufacture of aircraft and engines of the utmost value to firms which would be allocated to this work in emergency. This shadow factory scheme gives promise of proving highly successful, and, with its advance to full pro- duction, a vast improvement will have been wrought in our production capacity, with consequential and far-reaching effects on war potential. "Off the Drawing Board" In view of the great urgency of the programme and the vital necessity for obtaining aircraft of the most modern type and performance, it was also necessary to place large produc- tion orders before the construction and testing of the usual prototype. This procedure involved certain initial difficulties, but it has vc ry substantially shortened the time of getting new- types into production and has accelerated their supply to units. As a further step to ensure maximum production, the number of types in the Service is being progressively reduced, thus simplifying the production problem and allowing several factories to be devoted to the production of a single type. Steps were taken at an early stage to ensure that the pro- gramme should not be delayed by difficulty in fixing prices, or in settling the exact conditions of the contract. Orders were therefore placed, and production initiated, under " Instructions to Proceed," without prejudice to considerations of price, which are dealt with under the terms of an agreement between the Air Council and the aircraft industry, with provi- sion in the last resort for settlement by arbitration. As a result of these measures a great expansion of capacity has already been effected. The number of persons employed- in the aircraft industry has increased- from 30,000 in 1935 to roughJy 90,000, and, in addition, large numbers are employed in the production of armament and every kind of equipment, Bristol Blenheim
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