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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2206.PDF
98 FLIGHT. AUGUST 4, 1938. Topics of the Day Still C.A.Q. N OW that the tumult and the shouting have to some extent died down in this matter of the Civil Air Guaid, it might be as well to gather our collective wits and think of possible plans of concerted action. Obviously, it would be wasteful, and perhaps even fatal, for the different clubs to go about things in their own way and to buy new machines and hire new instructors when and how they can manage to do so. Luckily, there is such a thing as the General Council of Associated Light Aeroplane Clubs, and it is presumably up to this weighty gathering to prepare the way. Regretfully I plead guilty to a feeling of cynicism about the ultimate value of these Guardsmen and Guardswomen and to another, somewhat dog-in-the-mangerish, about all the worthy people who are now going to fly for next to nothing after thousands of amateurs (including myself) have had to spend large proportions of their earned and unearned incomes in obtaining the same facilities. Further more, as I said last week, I regret the passing of the days when there. was some semblance of self-sufficiency in the business of private flying. However, that is by the way, and we can all be extremely glad of the effect of all this on the light aircraft market, which has recently been in the painful process of dwindling into nothing. That the effect on this market will be considerable is already obvious. Two large firms which have been sitting on (or even experimenting with) very interesting designs for some considerable time will now be encouraged to go ahead with their productions. And, as I said before, what used to be known as the ultra-lightweight could only be expected to come into its own when large and reliable firms produced such machines. This they can now be expected to do. Shades of Evening E VEN now, however, these manufacturers (and other small but equally worthy ones) cannot be expected to lay down a batch of light aeroplanes unless they have some idea of the number that are likely to be bought. It seems to me that it is up to the clubs, through their Council or otherwise, to put their heads together and to obtain, once the majority ol the enquiries have been received and sorted out, an idea of their separate requirements. They may then, even, place direct orders firmly around the trade. The two manufacturers of which I am writing do not really hope to have machines coming out in reasonable quantities until next year, though others, in a smaller PRIVATE FLYING way, should be ready with suitable types in a month or two. In the circumstances, this delay is not as serious as it may seem. Unless the scheme can be got under way within the next month (and it can't) we may just as well wait until next year. Not only is there the difficulty of supplying the demand for good and experienced instructors—and this is, perhaps, the most serious bottleneck of all, though seldom mentioned—but there can be no appreciable amount of evening flying after the end of Sep tember. If everybody could be ready to start, using either British or foreign machines, in September, very few pupils would be able to take advantage of the scheme at the really cheap rates. How many of them can be expected to take a few hours off during the day? Even when it is light until, say, 7 p.m., aerodromes are usually so far away from the centres of daily labour, whether in office or factory, that only a very limited number would be ready to make use of the remaining hour or so of flying time. Most of us have a little habit of imagining the future as being very like the present, and it is always hard to realise in August that in October, after the change from summei time on the second of that month, the sun sets at 5.30 pan. -—just the time when the majority of noses are being re leased from their grindstones. Man-Power and Tricycles F OR those clubs which have the organisation and the requisite number of instructors necessary to make a start towards the end of August (the earliest possible moment, anyway) there are still the American light aero planes. Quite a few of these will no doubt be bought, and it must be admitted that they are good and safe, and, even at their comparatively high price in this country, that they are very good value for the money. Nevertheless, and much as I like to see the agents concerned with such im portations reap the benefit of their patience and propa ganda during the lean years, there is no doubt that the clubs will always prefer to buy home-produced aeroplanes. In spite of the amount of work going on in military preparations, it is quite absurd to say that civil aeroplanes cannot be produced in the necessary quantity. It is all a matter of organisation. The man-power is there, and these civil aeroplanes can, and will, be constructed of wood. All that the manufacturers needed was the hope of a market big enough to encourage them to consider such manufacture. War-time experience has shown that any amount of anything can be built (and be promptly blown up) if the demand and the cash are there. One of the minor burning questions at the moment in some quarters is whether to produce conventional aero planes in the old style or to take the bull by the horns now and to use this magnificent opportunity for insinuating the tricycle undercarriage, with or without its pusher counter part, on to the schools. The pusher is a logical layout both for training and for pleasure flying, and the tricycle type of undercarriage will undoubtedly take hours off the time spent in learning to fly. In any case, the step from tricycling to conventional three-pointing is a comparatively small one once the pup" has become a< customed to judging heights and distances over a reasonably long period of practice. At present the pupil must tak*e the stiffest fence right at the beginning of his training. INDICATOR.
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