FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1939
1939 - 0063.PDF
JANUARY 12, 1939 FLIGHT. 29 D R.A.F.V.R. : Lt. Col. (Hon. Wing. Cdr.) G. N. Buckland (right) in charge of No. 34 elementary flying school of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, newly opened at Southend and operated by Air Hire, Ltd. With him is Fit. Lt. L. P. Rowley, the chief instructor. The aircraft is a Hind Trainer. The 24-foot tunnel at Farnborough has given good service in the matter of engine-cooling research, but when it was first announced that it was to be built, Flight expressed the view that it was too small, and that while we were about it we ought to have made it at least as large as the American N.A.C.A. 60ft. by 30ft. tunnel. Events appear to have proved us right, and the demand now is for several 30-foot tunnels and at least two of the same size as the large N.A.C.A. These would be devoted to tests which are not possible in the small tunnels, and would not render these superfluous. But whether firms build ten-foot or twelve-foot tunnels is relatively unimportant, provided the necessary ex perience and judgment are applied to the operation of them. At a time when so much money is being spent on production we can surely afford the cost of a few really large Government tunnels to keep us abreast of development abroad. Air Defence Cadets VERY gratifying is the success which has attended the scheme of the. Air League of the British Empire for raising the Air Defence Cadet Corps. The declared object is to raise a body of 20,000, and in the short time since the scheme was launched 43 "squadrons" have been formed and 4,300 cadets enrolled. The aim of the Air League is to form a body analogous to the Sea Cadet Corps for which the Navy League is responsible; in other words, to train a large proportion of the youth of the country in the elements of air know- kdge. The Air Defence Cadets are enrolled between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, after which it is hoped that most of them will serve in the Auxiliary Air Force, the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserve, or in the regular Air Force itself. One great merit of the scheme is that it is not too ambitious. Another is that it is not intended to cost the taxpayer very much. The help promised by the Air Ministry is limited to 3s. 6d. per cadet per annum. The other expenses will partly be met by the Air League and partly, it is hoped, by the generosity of private persons in local areas concerned. No attempt will be made to push a lot of immature youths into the cockpits of aeroplanes so soon as they reach the legal age for an "A" licence. But the cadets are being taught the elementary principles of aircraft engineering and maintenance, the handling of simple tools and instruments, the general theory of flight, the identification of aircraft, the morse code, and other matters. They will be given an insight into various parts of our air defence system, such as the Observer Corps, the Balloon Squadrons, anti-aircraft gunnery and searchlights, and also the working of sound-locators. Last, but perhaps not least, they will be fully trained in A.R.P. This programme of training should go to raise a body which ought to be very useful to the country. In par ticular, the lads should be disabused of the too common theory that ability to fly a training aeroplane is the be-all and end-all of lending a hand to the air defence of the country in time of war. Far too few people have any clear idea of the organisation of our scheme of air defence, and such worthy—in fact, essential—bodies as the Observer Corps have their light very much obscured by a bushel. The Air Defence Cadets, therefore, should prove missionaries in spreading useful knowledge among the people ; while if the training in A.R.P. is as thorough as the promoters of the scheme intend, these cadets may prove a very present help in time of trouble—if trouble should ever come. JACK AND THE SWORDFISH : The Navy gets to work on a Fairey Swordfish torpedo spotter reconnaissance machine at Eastleigh, where units are stationed prior to embarkation in H.M.S. Ark Royal, Great Britain's newest aircraft carrier,
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
