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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0795.PDF
APRIL 3RD, 1941. 257 OJfcTISS AND MESSERSCHMITT DO BATTLE (Continued) meant that he was able to get in many more bursts of gun-fire than his opponent. The advantages of extra speed and rate of climb possessed by the twin-engined machine, however, weigh heavily in an encounter. The machine, which has an excess of speed over the enemy, is able to break off or recommence battle at will and, other things being equal, this advantage should always be decisive. That this is not always so is due to the difference in skill, training and bravery of the individual pilots. It is interesting to learn that despite the repainting in R.A.F. colours of the captured German machines now undergoing tests, it has been found necessary to provide escorts of Hurricanes and Spitfires to save them from the various devices of the Fighter Command. UNITED STATES PLAN : From this picture it is clear that the Mohawk used for the mock fight still had the French armament. The flush-fitting bomb racks under each wing can also be seen. U.S. PILOTS IN THE R.C.A.F. They Pay Their Own Fares to Canada, Too! BETWEEN 1,100 and 1,200 United States citizens havejoined the Royal Canadian Air Force since the beginning of the war, it is officially estimated. More than 700 are train- ing for air crews and over 400 more are members of the various staffs of the British Empire Air Training Scheme. The latter are all experienced fliers with a minimum of 250 hours' flying time to their credit. Canada to-day has a minimum of 10,500 members of air crews training in this country, according to latest official figures, which are a week or two behind actual figures. The percentage of Americans training under the scheme runs as high as seven, it is believed, in addition to the members of the instructional and administrative staffs. Ex- perienced pilots with a background of training derived from service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Naval Air Service or Marine Flying Corps, are usually chosen as instructors for the service flying training schools of the scheme. Pilots with long periods of service with commercial firms are also serving as pilots at bombing and gunnery schools. As pilots of the training aircraft they rank in the same category as ferry pilots who are engaged in the transportation of aircraft from factory to flying station. Texas and California, in that order, have given by far the largest number of their citizens to the Royal Canadian Air Force of the States of the Union. But among the other States Georgia and the Carolinas rank high. Oath of Allegiance ^i All applicants for entry to the R.C.A.F. are ordinarily re- Tf lired to take an oath of allegiance to King George VI. In the \ case of citizens of foreign countries, however, the oath is not required of the applicant if the laws of his country would result in his forfeiting his citizenship by taking it. The only pledge that the successful candidate must make in his applica- tion, if he is a citizen of the United States, is to the effect that the information set forth in the prescribed form is correct "to the best of my knowledge and belief." U.S. citizens must make the journey from their own homes to R.C.A.F. recruiting centres in Canada at their own expense and, if accepted, they must make whatever arrangements they can as to where they will stay until officially notified of their appointment and the date on which to report. Should they return to their own homes in the interval, they must pay their own way back to the Canadian border when they receive their call for service. From the border to the manning depot the expense of transportation is borne by the Dominion Govern- ment. Recruits from the U.S. are not segregated from their Cana- dian colleagues, but occupy the same type of quarters and get the same rations and messing accommodation. In the service all men, whether trained or undergoing instruction, get the ,;ame rates of pay for equivalent rank whether they are Cana- dians or Americans. U.S. pilots serving at the service flying training schools as flying instructors, or as staff pilots at air navigation or other schools, all hold commissions in the R.C.A.F. Those serving as flying instructors at elementary flying training schools do not hold commissions but are enlisted as aircraftmen class 2, promoted to the rank of sergeant-pilot and then released on leave without pay as civilian pilots in the employ of the civilian companies operating the schools, by whom they are paid prevailing civilian rates of pay, averaging about $300 per month. These pilots have first to attend a course of instruction at the central flying school at the R.C.A.F. Station at Trenton, Ontario, to become qualified flying instructors. There are also many United States pilots engaged in flying aircraft at air observer schools, which are also civilian-operated. In this case the pilots are purely civilian and make their own arrangements for employment with the company operating the school under contract to the Government. Besides all these men there are also many U.S. pilots serving in the Royal Air Force, and in the transatlantic ferry service, this latter coming under the control of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. Tribute to MAP. " A BOVE us all, for we are, of course, a controlled firm, AI hovers the Ministry of Aircraft Production, which holds our hand and sees to it, not without an occasional touch of asperity, that there is no backsliding." Thus Sir Harold Snagge, chairman of D. Napier and Son. Ltd., in his speech to shareholders last week. Continuing, Sir Harold added: "Never was a Ministry by its very nature more obviously a target for temperamental criticism by those whom it controls, but I venture to think that our real indebtedness, on balance, to the Minister himself in his appallingly difficult job, and to his lieutenants, is now generally conceded. The aircraft in- dustry has been a very ' close borough ' and a law unto itself; but it has been compelled to accept the new jurisdiction and has done so, on the whole, with "good grace. Its attitude to Lord Beaverbrook himself may, perhaps, be summed up in four short lines which recently occurred to me: ' He's often had us guessing; And we've wondered where we stood. But he has applied the ginger, And it's done a world of good.' " After referring to Lord Beaverbrook's glowing tribute to the Sabre engine, Sir Harold said: "Our warmest congratula- tions are due to Major Halford, our technical director, and his staff on designing and bringing to the stage of production the Sabre engine, which we hope, and have reason to believe, will make aircraft as well as Napier history." Sir Harold also welcomed to the board of directors Mr. W. P. Savage, "who has been an active member of our executive here for some years past. He has had, both on the engine and air- craft side, much experience of men and machines in the in- dustry and is, therefore, well qualified to make a most valuable contribution to cur councils."
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