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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2405.PDF
AUGUST 25, 1938. FLIGHT. T6C Topics of the Day How Many 1 A FTER everything that has been said about the fillip that will be given to the light aircraft industry by the L C.A.G. scheme, it is interesting, if a trifle depressing, to make some approximate calculations of the actual number of new machines which is likely to be required during the next twelve, months. If manufacturers are thinking of terms of production in hundreds they are likely to be grievously disappointed unless the scheme, at the same time, encourages private ownership. It seems that during the first year not more than a hundred new aeroplanes of all shapes and sizes will be re quired by the clubs. Inevitably there will be a certain amount of overlapping and uneconomic purchasing, so this theoretical figure might possibly be a little on the low side. However, even it we increase it and divide the number amongst three or four or five of the more important manu facturers and allow a few score to go to the smaller firms, the numbers are still little on which to base a new and prosperous industry. The total figure is nothing in com parison with that for the production, for instance, of the original Moth series. At present there is no subsidy for the owner, but a maximum annual production of, say, fifty machines by one factory may permit the cost price to be sufficiently low to attract a few more amateurs into the ownership business. Furthermore, it is possible that the various club machines will be so busy that they will not be available for a long- period hire and those pilots who have been in the habit of borrowing club machines for trips to various parts of the country from time to time will be forced to buy their own. During the past year or so it has been considerably easier than it was in the old days to obtain club machines for quite usefully long periods, and a number of pilots have rather got into the habit of making use of such, machines at an hourage figure, which, over the year, has proved a great deal less expensive than running a private aeroplane. No very useful figures have ever been given for this cost, but a good average for the normal full-sized light aeroplane, flown 200 hours during a year, works out at somewhere between 3d. and 4d. per mile. Even at the higher figure of £2 an hour and at low cruising speeds the cost for every mile is just atoout the same, and the advantage of borrowing is that the pilot has no responsibilities whatever. Twin Training "pOR one or two manufacturers, however, the scheme X should mean quite a lot. The trouble is that others, with original and perhaps useful ideas in the way of new designs, will still not feel sufficiently encouraged to go ahead PRIVATE FLYING AT WILMINGTON : The Eastbourne Flying Club's new quarters on the day of the official opening. The roof should have been well tested last Saturday. and spend a whole lot of useful money. For instance, there should be room in the scheme for some kind of twin-engined machine, which would provide training in the new technique without too great initial or subsequent costs. At the moment the only available twins are fairly large machines, and would cost far too much to run for use by the clubs even in the more expensive category. The fact that it is possible to produce a satisfactory twin- engined aeroplane in the medium-size class was proved a year or more ago when the now almost forgotten, but still flying, Autoplane was brought out. It is possible that pro duction might be seriously considered again if it could be hoped that a sufficient number would be sold. The idea of a twin, fitted with two good and reliable engines, still has possibilities, and basic training in a type having all the usual twin-engine characteristics, but costing little to run, might be very valuable. Instruction JUST recently there has been a good deal of fuss about the possibility that "A" licensed pilots might be roped in to help with C.A.G. instruction. Curiously enough, too, everybody seems to have discovered quite suddenly that the question of the supply of instructors is even more important and less likely to be satisfied within the next six months than that of machine production. This problem seemed to me to be the most obvious and important one from the very start—perhaps because I know that even now not-so-good instructors are already being employed because all the best ones have been signed up. Aftei searching through vast quantities of His Majesty's Statutory Rules and Orders, I have been unable to find any statement which might suggest that an " A " licensee is not allowed to instruct. Even the payment side of the contract does not seem to matter where the machine in question belongs to a club of which both the instructor and the pupil are members. In this case the pupil is not apparently considered as an item carried for hire or reward. It I were a pupil 1 should not be particularly disturbed at the thought that my instructor only held an " A " licence. 1 know a number of such pilots who are a good deal better than those who have passed the not-too-difficult tests and examinations required for a "B" licence. The 250-hour instructor's minimum will, in any case, guarantee a certain adequate experience, but instead of this hourage rule it might, be sensible if all amateur instructors had to have reasonable experience of a certain number of different types. Even 1,000 hours in, say, a Gipsy I Moth does not make a pilot competent to fly one of these modern low-wing aeroplanes with flaps and all that. In fact, it is probable that the pilot with a small experience is better able and more quick to grasp the essential difference in technique than one who has for years been crawling around the sky in some biplane trainer. INDICATOR. P.S.—A flying insurance cover at the rate of £7 per £1,000 may seen fairly reasonable until you start using the £1,000. At 3 per cent, this large sum produces the lively income of £30 per annum, and you are, therefore, paying £7 a year to be insured for £30. The insurance companies think that the risk of neck breakage is 4.3 to 1. Dear me ; if I thought that flying was as dangerous as all that I'd give it up.
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