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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0003.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER Editorial Director G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.H.E. Editor - -CM. POULSEN Assistant Editor - MAORICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. (WING CDR., R.A.F.V.R.) An Editor - - JOHN YOXALL FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD .• FOUNDED WO9 Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 line:). COVENTRY: BIRMINGHAM, 2: MANCHESTER, 3: GLASGOW, C.2: 8-10, CORPORATION ST. KING EDWARD HOUSE, 260', D E A N S G A T E . 26B R £ N F I E L D ST._, . r NEW STREET. Telegrams : II i ff e, M inch es te r _, Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telegrams. Autopress, Birmingham. Tdepiwne: BlacWriars 4412(3 lines) Telegrams: Iliffe. Glasgow. Telephone: Coventry 5210. Telephone: Midland 7191 (7 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines) Telephone: Central 4857 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Home: Twelve months, £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 10s. id. Overseas: Twelve months. LI 16s. 6d 8Y AIR : To any country in Europe (except Poland). Twelve months, £5 Is. Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d. To Canada and U.S.A. Six months, it* No. 2089. Vol. LV January 6th, 1949 Thursdays, One Shilling cWe Outlook R.A.F, Recruiting iF IRST duty of a Service which is our First Line of Defence is to be always prepared. That task is now officially recognized as belonging to the Royal Air Force. In the old days, the Royal Navy had that honour, and it never let us down. It could always get the equipment it wanted, and sufficient men of the right type. It had the nation behind it, and thus it was easy for successive Governments to get the Navy Estimates through. The people realized the importance of the old wooden walls and their more modern equivalents. But it is quite certain Ihat the full implications of the transfer of responsibility to the R.A.F. are not appreci- ated by the general public. Jlence there is apathy or complete indifference. We have done our best to draw attention to the shortcomings found in the R.A.F. at present, by publishing articles by Sir Philip Joubert, which have been extensively quoted in the daily Press. We follow up this week with an article by Air Commodore Howard-Williams, and a letter on the Correspondence page adds further views on a subject which is vital to the country. Unless public awareness is created, little progress is likely. The Government will need strong prodding if tangible results are to be achieved, and full recognition of the needs of the R.A.F. is to be obtained. To that end we shall continue to devote space to a ventilation of the subject, and to publish views (including some which are not our own) and suggestions. In the meantime, the Air Ministry must also do its share, and indications that this is realized was provided by the announcement that a team of serving officers and civilians is visiting R.A.F. establishments and units at home and overseas with a view to studying condi- tions and obtaining opinions. In due course the team will report to the Secretary of State for Air and, presumably, make recommendations. Rockets to the RescueC ONGRATULATIONS to our American friends on their successful rescue from the Greenland ice-cap of the marooned Air Force men who had spent nineteen days there, including Christmas. Three air- craft are left in the arctic snows, but the men are safe and well, thanks to the dropping of food, fuel and other supplies during their enforced " winterization trial." When the first C-47 (better known in this country as the Dakota) made a forced landing, a B-17 tried to land nearby but itself came to grief. Attempts to rescue the two crews in a glider-snatch pick-up were unsuccessful, owing to the breaking of the tow line, and then there were three aircraft and three crews. It began to look as i( this sort of thing could go on indefinitely, with more and more aircraft piling up on the ice, and the U.S. Navy set off to the rescue with carrier-borne helicopters. That was too much for the Air Force. It would never have been able to hold up its head again if it had allowed the Navy to get the credit for the rescue, and ultimately the Air Force got the men away in another Dakota fitted with skis, and with rockets for assisted take-off. The carrier was still plodding her way towards the Greenland coast, and the helicopters were not brought into use. The whole affair is not without its humorous side, now "that the men are safe, but it might easily have ended differently. The U.S. Navy and Air Force are strongly contesting each other's claims to priority, the Air Force doubting the usefulness of carrier task forces, while the Navy is not impressed by the capabilities of the long- range shore-based bomber. As Mr. Forrestal, the American Secretary of Defence, pointed out in his recent report, both sides hold their opinions quite honestly, and indeed the decision must be a very difficult one to make, if a clear-cut decision is actually necessary. It appears more likely that in the end it will be a case of c 3
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