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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0697.PDF
MARCH 17, 1938. FLIGHT. 249 I WINGS OF THE WIND : Hawker Hurricane multi-gunfigjiters of No. m (Fighter) Squadron, Northolt. The Hurricane will be a key-type in the even greater Air Forceforeshadowed in Mr. Chamberlain's speech. liamentary Under-Secretary of State and a Permanent Under-Secretary of State. The former is a politician, sits in one of the Houses of Parliament, and changes when the Government changes. The latter is a civil servant and remains permanent whatever Government is in power. Hitherto the Air Ministry has not boasted a Permanent Under-Secretary of State, but only a Permanent Secre- tary, Now Sir Donald Banks is to be raised in status from the latter to the former position. That increases the dignity of the Air Ministry ; and those familiar with the inside working of Ministries feel confident that it will oil the working of the machine, especially in helping the Direc- tor-General of Civil Aviation with his finance. We trust that it will do so. The Department of Civil Aviation is also swollen by the creation of two more posts, those of Deputy Director- General of Civil Aviation and Director of Civil Research and Production. The former is intended to relieve the Director-General of much routine and detail work, and as Sir Francis Shelmerdine is in bad health, and has in fact been obliged to go to Madeira to recuperate, this relief will certainly be welcome to him. Mr. W. P. Hildred is the new D.D.G.C.A. The Director of Civil Research and Production is the fourth director in the department, for three other directorates were created only a year ago. Most probably Mr. C. J. Stewart, the D.C.R. & P., will deal with the question of producing civil types of machine which will attract overseas purchasers. Imperial Raspberries ALTHOUGH those who have had dealings with /A Imperial Airways know that the company has ^ -»• gradually drifted into a curiously aloof attitude of that is our business and ours alone," one cannot help feeling that the Committee has been severe on Imperials. The managing director is blamed for taking too narrow a commercial outlook. The scale on which subsidies have been paid has not, one would have thought, been such P to justify him in taking any other course. If the Government wanted Imperial Airways to think more of Prestige flying in competition with more heavily subsidised foreign air lines and less of the shareholders, it should have ^pressed its willingness to pay for such service. We are extremely glad that the Cadman Report refutes the allegation made during the Perkins Debate that Imperial Airways' services are now less safe than those of foreign companies. At the time we expressed regret that Mr. Perkins should have thought fit to make comparisons based on a short period of time. The Cadman Report states " Experience suggests that accidents occur in cycles. A fair comparison of the safety of. operating companies can, therefore, only be obtained from records covering a number of years." The Industry ALLOCATING an extra £i^ millions to civil aviation /-% sounds grand, but the establishment of first-class *~ *• air routes to every important capital in Europe with British aircraft is not achieved by merely offering subsi- dies to British Airways. The Committee realises this, and by way of hitting oat impartially it advises Sir Bruce Gard- ner to put the industry's house in order. At the same time it not only recommends that State assistance be given, but suggests that an advisory panel should be set up to study and recommend requirements two years ahead. The scheme outlined for assistance to manufacturers follows quite closely one which was submitted by Mr. E. C. Gordon England to the Director-General of Civil Aviation last year. The Government's reply is that increased subsidies to operators will be made available, and that special con- sideration will be given to the question of obsolescence. R.A.F. Re=equipmentC URIOUSLY enough, the really serious defect dis- closed by the Cadman enquiry has very little to do with civil aviation but everything with the re-equip- ment of the R.A.F. Under the plea that the Cadman Committee approached the matter from the point of view of civil aviation, and that the suggested reorganisation of the departments of the Air Members for Research and Development and for Supply and Organisation is not neces- sary '' for the purpose of giving the requisite help to civil aviation," the Government flatly refuses to act on this particular aspect of the Cadman Committee's Report. Regarded from the strictly civil aviation point of view, the Government is probably right; but it is a foregone con- clusion that the matter will not be allowed to rest there. The views expressed by the Cadman Committee on the system of having research, development, supply and organisation under R.A.F. officers of high rank who occupy the posts for short periods only are very strong. Sen- tences such as the following occur: — There can, of course, be neither the continuity nor theexperience required for an efficient policy of aviation de- velopment and research under such a system. Such asystem is quite unsuited to the rapidly developing tech- nique of the problems of aeronautics, which is still in itsinfancy. It may, indeed, account for many of the diffi- culties in meeting the present demands for equipment forthe Royal Air Force, and it cannot be adapted with any prospect of success to the promotion of civil aviation. Diesel EnginesM ANY will welcome the recommendation of the Cad- man Committee that the Air Ministry should offer a development grant with the object of producing during the next five years a compression-ignition engine which represents a considerable advance in design com- pared with any of the foreign engines now on the market. However, to recommend that we should beat our foreign competitors is one thing. To do it is another, and the Government's reply that it "agrees with the Committee that assistance should continue to be given for this develop- ment '' is too vague to be reassuring. We shall not beat our foreign rivals by the half-hearted methods employed at present. Only by setting aside very substantial sums and giving to selected designers the job of developing the diesel aero engine shall we make any real progress. So long as the diesel is treated as a sideline to petrol engine development we shall make little headway. DIARY OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS—Pasje 256c/.
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