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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0514.PDF
42t FLIGHT APRIL 151H, Service Aviation club opened two years ago it has trainedabout 150 pilots. Last year its members Hew 1,115 hours. One of the membersis the Chief of the Air Staff, Lord Tedder, who visited the club and paid hismembership fee during a recent visit to Germany. Education Officers NeededT O help recruiting for the R.A.F. Edu-cation Branch, which is still seri- ously short of officers, it has beendecided that a substantial number of direct appointments to permanent com-missions will be made immediately. The grant of permanent commissions direct,instead of after a period of a short ser- vice commission, is an exceptionalmeasure, which applies to men in civil life as well as to serving R.A.F. officersand airmen. Candidates should be at least 23 and have a first or second-classhonours degree, and some teaching or other experience—such as research work—of value to R.A.F. education. The chief requirement is for officers withengineering, science or mathematics qualifications, but appointments are alsoavailable for those with qualifications in arts subjects. The upper age limit is 33,but this may be extended for candidates who have previous mobilized service. Short service commissions may now begranted to those who do not necessarily hold a university degree, but who are recognized as qualified teachers by theMinistry of Education, the Scottish Edu- cation Blanch, or the Ministry of Educa-tion for Northern Ireland. All'Weather Flying Research STEPS" to achieve an "All-weather"Air Force taken by the Air Ministry include the formation of an AssistantDirectorate of Training (All-Weather Flying) at the Ministry, and an All-Weather Research Squadron as an in- tegral part of the Empire Flying School,R.A.F., Hullavington, Wilts" The main function of the newAssistant Directorate (under the direc- tion of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff(Training), is to promote more rapid progress in all-weather flying by actingas a focal point where questions of train- ing and equipment development, and thespecific problems of Home and Overseas Commands in all-weather training, mayreceive particular consideration. Close liaison will be maintained with otherorganizations carrying out research on instruments and radio aids to all-weatherflying, such as the Ministry of Supply and the civil airways Corporations. Thiswill help to ensure that training keeps in step with technical developments.Another important function will he to assess the relationship between equip-ment requirements to flying personnel and equipment limitations. For example,physical tests can produce precise figures relating to, say, an instrument landing •system,. but it is equally important tfind out how the system will work prat tically, in the hands of service pilots flving in actual bad weather conditions The human element will always be morevariable than the equipment itself. The All-Weather Research Squadronwill use Avro Lancastrians in the first instance, and will make these practicaltests. It will also obtain information 011 any particular aspect of bad-weather fly-ing, and try new equipment and airfield lighting systems, or cockpit instrumentlighting arrangements. Another task will lie to establish what is the best in-strument landing system for use by pilots who have reached -a satisfactory standardof instrument flying and make recom- mendations accordingly. For Servicepurposes the most desirable system might be described as that giving the most consistent and accurate results for the leas; effort on the part of the average flkt. Problems arising from the squa'S^n bwork and other matters will be reviewed monthly by an All-Weather Panel, meet-ing at the Air Ministry. This will in- clude repp-Hfiilatives of various branche.-,such as Navigation, Operational Require- ments, Meteorology, Signals and AviationMedicine. Wing Commander A. J. Shrlfoon,A.F.C., a Canadian in the R.A.F., has been appointed Assistant Director oiTraining 1 All-Weather Flying). The All-Weather Research Squadron will Wcommanded by Squadron Leader P. A. H MacKeand, D.S.O., D.F.C. Rugby Honours Even THE R.A.F. were this year unable torepeat their 1947 victory over the Army at Twickenham on April 3rd.Thus in 1948 each Service has won one match and- lost cine. The Royal Air Force defeated the Royal Navy by 16 to n points.The Royal Navy defeated the Army by 9 to 8 points.The Army defeated the Royal Air Force by 15 to 8 points. To meet the Army there were fivechanges in the team which had beaten the Royal Navy: Mclver joined the out-sides in place of Watson; Lumsden in place of Plumb (who was injured); andBrythe, Stirling and Exley entered the pack in place of Steel, Whittington andBeamish. The Army fielded seven Inter- nationals to the Air Force's two. This last Inter-Service match of theseason was less exciting than the earlier two, but there were nevertheless somebright moments. The Army's goal, dropped goal, penalty goal and try com-pared with a goal and a try by the R.A.F.; both teams, therefore, crossedtheir opponent's line twice. For the first twenty minutes, during which M. JeanLabrune, the French referee, gave several penalties, there were few good movementsoutside. From an early kick Coutts scored a good goal to put the Army inthe lead, but a short time later Smailes missed the first of two difficult anglepenalty shots for goal awarded to the R.A.F. The heavy Army forwards weregetting the better of both loose and tight scrums, although the R.A.F. were pack-ing lower. On the few occasions that the ball did emerge on the R.A.F. side boththe heeling and the service from the scrum was sluggish. The muddled field-ing and defence kicking, partially accounted for by the strong, gusty wind, •gave R.A.F. supporters anxious moments.. Nearing half time, with the Army playing a steadier game, except for a fewwild passes in the centre, of which the Air Force took little advantage, the ballwent out to Matthews, the Welsh Inter- national, on the left wing, and he racedover the line handing off his opposite number and the full back on the way.Matthews played a forceful game throughout., and.made the most of oppor-tunities. . By this time the Army halves were beginning to shine and Glyn Davieswas playing at his best, taking the occa- sional "long-range cannon-ball" fromWilson at full speed. The .R.A.F. were missing Plumb, who, unfortunately,sprained an ankle prior to the game. Lumsden moved in ajid Crerar came intothe team on the wing. Douglas, the very big wing, looked themost dangerous of the R.A.F. outsides, running fast and very hard indeed if everthe ball came his way. just before half time he covered well to save a certaintry following a neat kick ahead by Mat- thews, by diving on the ball as it crossedthe R.A.F. line. The Army led six-nil when they turned to face the- wind. The R.A.F. Score With a few minutes of play recom-mencing, a good movement in which Cannell and Mclver showed a fine turnof speed, was rounded off by Douglas who dashed over the line for the R.A.F.'sfirst try. Outside plav was now improv- ing, but the R.A.F. still seemed to lackinspiration as a team, and were getting less than their share of the ball. A quickreply from the Army came when a fine"" break-through and pass by Matthews,who unexpectedly moved iirto the Army centre, gave Jackson plenty of room torun round and place the ball under the posts. Coutts converted this try to makethe sceire 11-3 to the Army. It now became obvious that unless theR.A.F. rallied in a big way they had little hope of a win. Army pressure con-tinued but the R.A.F. countered with one or two dangerous movements whichthey could not quite finish off. Exley w-as conspicuous as a fast and active tor-ward, just before a rainstorm, which altered the game considerably, Camerondropped a slick straight-from-the-book goal which put the Army in an almostunassailable position with a score of ij points to 3 and nearing no side. Top late the R.A.F. took the initia-tive as the rain ceased, and did, in fact, score a well-deserved goal—throughDouglas again—aided by Cannell ami Horsfall, a fast and energetJc.-,j£biTwar<]who did some excellent backing^B§r • The try was well converted by Smailes. Fromthen until the final whistle the R.A.F. had plenty of the ball and the forward?learned to heel cleanly for the first time in the game. However, there were 110further alterations to the score. Since 1920, and omitting the war yearsui 1940 to 1945, the Army has won 15 matches, the Royal Air Force 7, and oatmatch was drawn. In the same period the Navy won 16 matches to the RentalAir Force's 5, and two were drawn. Oiv April 10th the British Army team playthe French Army at Twickenham. The Royal Air Force Team were.:F/L. A. A. Siiiaili's; A/C. Crerar; FjO. L. li. ('(imirll* ; F jL. E. C. K. Douglas;FiO. 1. /. .1/. Lumsden; F/L. W. T. H. Hay; SjL. A. C. Blyth?; SjL. F. W.Higginsott; F/L. IV. E. Thompson; F/L. R. Stirling; L.A/C. A. H. Bur-cow be; F'L. E. L. Horsfall; F j L. R. G. II. Weighing Capt.); P/O. B.B.Exley. ^International.) M. A. S.
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