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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0518.PDF
•2IO FLIGHT FEBRUARY 25TH, 10,43 Greatest Individual Effort Commonwealth Air Training Plan and Its Importance to Postwar Civil Flying THE post-war value of the Commonwealth AirTraining Plan in providing trained pilots and crewsfor civil air transport was mentioned by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore when he spoke to the Royal Empire Society, in London last week, on his recent visit to Canada during which he made a 12,000-mile coast-to- coast tour of the Dominion's air training schools, travelling mostly by air. Viscount Bennett presided and, stressing the importance of the post-war continuance of close relations between the R.A.F. and the R.C.A.F., expressed the opinion that there was too much thinking on international lines these days ; what was needed was to think on Empire lines, if we hoped to maintain our position as a leading power after the war. Viscount Trenchard, in a vote of thanks to Sir Arthur Longmore, said he felt that the air training scheme was the greatest individual war effort of any nation in the world. The most important point made by Sir Arthur in the course of his address was that the air training scheme now being operated by Canada would ensure that a supply of trained air crews was available after the war to man our airliners; but it was important that we did not have to wait too long for the aircraft. He had crossed the Atlantic both ways in a Liberator, and improvised aircraft did not provide luxurious travel. They flew high to avoid icing and oxygen was necessary ; it was also extremely cold. During his tour he flew mainly in T.C.A. aircraft, which were mostly Lockheed Lodestars. They were centrally heated, had very comfortable, adjustable seats, and most attractive hostesses. Night air travel in comfort, with the thought of a snow-covered wilderness far~~below, was in itself a thrill, and as an example of this Sir Arthur men- tioned that they took off from a floodlit airfield at Toronto at 10.30 p.m. and, after two stops en route, reached Winnipeg 5J hr. later. Unfortunately, he had crossed the Rockies just before daylight-and so had missed seeing dawn over the mountains, which was a most wonderful sight. The schools he had visited during his aerial tour were mostly training air crews and were of two types; those staffed by the R.C.A.F. and those with R.A.F. staffs. In spite of cold and snow, flying instruction went on day and night except when interrupted by blizzards or heavy falls of snow. They had two methods of dealing with snow on the runways, one being to blow it off with special machines and the other to roll it flat and hard, so they were rarely out of action through snow. Snowed-up Runways The station buildings, nearly all wood, were built in an astonishingly short time, and the hangars, which were suffi- cient to accommodate all the aircraft (sometimes over 100), were warm and brilliantly lit so that the maintenance crews could work in comfort both day and night. Flying figures returned at these schools were quite fantastic and in one case reached 1,000 hr. a month. After the war, said Sir Arthur, international air legisla- tion must include the provision that all aircraft, whether service, commercial or private, must have radio equipment, and there must be a common language to talk on it. There could be no question of amateurs without radio cruising at will about the sky to the danger of airliners. But no one could tell, yet, whether the nations would accept "the policy of freedom of the air which was not mentioned in the Atlantic Charter. " It is curious that freedom of the air was not included in Article 7 of the Charter," said Sir Arthur, " which refers specifically to travel on the high seas and the oceans with- out hindrance," and he added that if it came to bargaining for the operation of air transport lines, then Canada was in a strong position vis-a-vis the United States. AVRO AVALANCHE. A particularly impressive view of the production line in a factory turning out Lancaster bombers for R.A.F. The March issue of our associated journal, Aircraft Production, includes the third instalment of a review of the proce employed in Lancaster production. the processes
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