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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0006.PDF
FLIGHT JANUARY 3RD, 1940 should be officers. There does not now seem to have been any valid reason for that decision; but at the time it seemed to simplify matters. One must remember that in those days an aircraft usually carried only one or two persons. The principle did not entirely continue all through the 1914-18 war, and a few sergeant pilots and many " other ranks'' air gunners were employed. With the advent of the big bomber in the second world war the numbers in an aircrew were increased. By that time airmen pilots had become common. One man, almost invariably the pilot, was appointed captain of the aircraft. Very often he was a N.C.O., while one or more of his crew held commissions. While in the air the captain was supFeme, and the officers in his crew had to obey his orders. This was a necessary provision, but it produced an anomaly. Incidentally, if the crew landed or had to take to dinghies, the senior officer then naturally took command over all other ranks. AH- the airmen in an aircrew were N.C.O.s, presumably to give them good pay and prestige. This not infrequently caused difficulties in relation to senior N.C.O.s in ground trades, who were usually older and had much longer service. "Flying" RanksW HEN one comes to consider the matter, the duty of a commissioned officer or a non- commissioned officer is to lead and command, not to do things himself. In single-seater fighters, for instance, airmen pilots deserve great prestige and good pay; but there is no logical reason why they should hold the rank of sergeant, for they command nobody. The White Paper does not mention the case of fighters, but it deals drastically with that of crews in bombers and large flying boats. They will no longer be known as warrant officers, sergeants, etc., but will become and be addressed as Pilot, Navigator, Sig- naller, Engineer and Gunner. Instead of chevrons, they will wear special badges. The difference in rank will be indicated by five classes, the lowest being Pilot (etc.) IV, and the highest being Master Pilot, etc. These ranks CONTENTS The Outlook - 1866 ... and all That - Here and There - Short Seaford - ... Armstrong-Siddeley Cougar Combustion Research - The Folland E.28/40 Geodetic Variations ... Rates of Pay .... American Newsletter - Civil Aviation News .... Correspondence - Service Aviation - 1 3 6 8 11 12 14 16 18 19 20 22 24 will be related to the well-known ranks in ground trades A Master Pilot will correspond to Warrant Officer, ana , Pilot IV to Corporal. These airmen will be eligible for commissions, either permanent or short-service; but the White Paper does not define an officer's position in an aircrew. We should suggest that the captain of an aircraft should usually be an officer, whether he be Master Pilot or Master Navigator. Permanent commissioned officers will be provided, as in the past, by Cranwell, the universities, and promo- tions from other ranks. There will still be some short- service commissions; but they will all be provided by promotions from other ranks. That, we consider, is a great improvement; though at present we cannot picture what the future career of the officer will be when his short service comes to an end. Obviously he cannot revert to a non-commissioned rank, and it seems that he will have to leave the Service. He might do better to stick to his old position, as, say, Master Engineer. Pilots and Navigators will in any case be short-service men, as they are to be enlisted from civil life on an engagement of five years' active service and four on the Reserve. Signallers, Engineers and Gunners will be selected from related ground trades, and at the end of five years will normally revert to their trade. SUNDERLAND REPLACEMENT : The Short Seaford flying boat which scales nearly twice the weight of the original Sunderland A description of the civil Seaford appears on pages 8 and 9.
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