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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1403.PDF
ana AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD .• FOUNDED WOQ Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices; DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Truditur, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). G-IO, CORPORATION ST.. COVENTRY. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone; Coventry 5210. GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, 2. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 29 7 1 (S lines). 260, DEANSGATE, MANCHESTER, 3. Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone: Blackfriars 4412. 26 B, RENFIEL D ST., GLASGOW, C.2. Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: No. 1696. Vol. XXXIX. Home and Abroad : Year, £3 10. 6 months, £1 10 6. Registered at the G.P.Q. as a Newspaper. JUNE 26th, 1941. 3 months, 15s. 3d. Thursdays, One Shilling. The Outlooks StrawsW E all accept without question the old saw, Si vis pacem, para helium, even if we do not always follow the advice. We are less inclined to see the-need for preparing for peace in time of war. Yet in many ways it is every bit as necessary. We have referred on several occasions recently to the question of civil aviation after this war, and certain events have occurred lately which lend point to our contention that Great Britain cannot afford to neglect civil aviation as it has been neglected since September 3rd, 1939. In the United States Mr. J. Parker Van Zandt, who ;> technical and economic consultant to the Civil Aero- nautics Board, has impressed upon his countrymen, through a talk to the South-West Aviation Conference, the need for a strong national air policy. In Canada, according to our contemporary, American Aviation, the Canadian Pacific Railroad is digging itself in and, it is averred, preparing to make Montreal rather than London the hub of post-war empire aviation. Mr. Juan Trippe, president of Pan American Airways, has delivered the Wilbur Wright lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society, and has given an indication not only of the very thorough and excellent work done by that company on the Atlantic route, but also of its determination to im- prove that service. Summaries of the two last-mentioned subjects are published on another page of this issue." Time for ActionT HESE various "straws which show which way the wind is blowing" should give Great Britain food for thought. Sir Kingsley Wood once said, while he was Air Minister, that first things must come first. That still applies so far as actual production is concerned. No one would suggest that the country could afford to let any of our aircraft constructors divert their productive capacity from military to civil types, but it is becoming quite evident that it is high time we began to plan. The removal of a few picked men from war- time activities to long-range planning for post-war development could make no appreciable difference to the country's war effort. As a first step it would appear that a committee of enquiry might be set up to examine the main policy of British post-war civil aviation. We believe that ^Lt. Col. Sir Francis Shelmerdine is retiring this autumn from the post of Director-General of Civil Aviation. It may be that in present circumstances no successor will be appointed, but the services of Sir Francis could be very usefully employed on such a committee. It should obviously work in close co-operation with the Ministry of Reconstruction, and representatives of all sections of the Empire should be included. It might also be neces- sary to ascertain the views of those foreign governments which are now operating in this country. When the committee had formed certain conclusions as to fundamental policy, a pool of designers should be formed to take in hand the work of prepafing the designs for such types of commercial aircraft as the general policy had indicated to be desirable. The great aim should, of course, be to avoid any unnecessary time lag between the signing of peace or an armistice and the putting into operation the new commercial types. That there must be a gap is inevitable, even if all detail draw- ings were prepared beforehand, since it would Lake time to get into production. That gap could probably be filled, not too efficiently, perhaps, but fairly effec-
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