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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0041.PDF
JANUARY 6TH, 1949 FLIGHT 29 VS. Jets for Canada SPEAKING in Ottawa on December2,8tn, Mr. Brooke Claxton, CanadianDefence Minister, outlined the Dominion's defence programme for thisyear. Especially significant was his an- nouncement that Canada is negotiatingwith the United States for a '' new type of jet fighter '' to replace the Vampire asthe R.C.A.F.'s standard single-seat fighter. This did not mean that Canadafelt that the U.S. had taken the lead in jet design, added Mr. Claxton; they stillthought that the Vampire was, in many ways, the best jet fighter in the world.There were, however, good reasons for adopting American types and standardiz-ing in every way possible; during the last war there had been difficulty inadapting British types to North Ameri- can manufacturing methods. Produc-tion of the U.S. fighter would be under way in Canada within the next twelvemonths. No hint was given by Mr. Claxton as to the particular designfc. selected, but the very large orders re- F cently placed by the US.A.F. for the670-m.p.h. North American F-86, present world speed record holder, sug-gest this aircraft as a likely choice. Apart from jet fighters, the 1949 pro-gramme, largest in Canadian peacetime history, would lay stress on anti-sub-marine vessels, airborne forces, and Arctic training. Four new air forceestablishments were being opened, and the Arctic base at Churchill was beingcompletely rebuilt. Improved pay and ration scales would be introduced,making the Canadian Services the world's best fed, and among the bestpaid. Intensive recruiting was to con- tinue. "Second Chance" Trade Test A IRMEN who just fail to reach a passn. standard in the tests which follow trade training will in future be granteda provisional pass, and receive about two months' extra training '' on thejob" at an R.A.F. station. After-this period they will receive another test.The object of this new system is to avoid clogging the training machine, and pre-vent potentially useful tradesmen from being relegated to lower trade groups. M.U. Workers Meeting ABOUT 230 representatives of 10,000R.A.F. Maintenance Unit workers throughout Britain met at Swindon(Wilts.) on Sunday, December 12th, and at the end of a three-hour meeting de-cided to organize a national petition to change their status from that of"dilutees" to skilled men. Australian Air Apprentices PHOTOGRAPHS at the foot of thispage show some of the activities of apprentices at the Royal AustralianAir Force School at Wagga, New South Wales. The school is modelled on thelines of the R.A.F. apprentices' school at Halton, and is the first of its kind inthe Dominion Air Forces. The first in- take of recruits—aged between 15 and17—began their three-year course at the school twelve months ago, and on pass-ing-out, the majority will be posted to R.A.A.F. units, although a number ofapprentices will be able to take Univer- sity engineering degrees. It is eventu-ally intended that graduates from the school, which has a capacity of 450, willsupply half the strength of the R.A.A.F. During their training, apprentices re-ceive pocket money only, rising from 5s to 15s weekly. Their entire upkeep ispaid for, including the cost of laundry and toilet gear. They have separatequarters and mess from the remainder of the station. The boys are enteredon a twelve-year engagement, and Australian trade unions have agreed torecognize them as qualified technicians if they leave the Service at the end of thisperiod. "Thor II" 'Far Eastern Tour THE R.A.F. Empire Air ArmamentSchool's Lincoln, Thor II, will leave Manston on January 18th for a five-weektour of R.A.F. units in Egypt, the Sudan, East Africa, Aden, Ceylon andthe Far East. It will carry an inspection team drawn from the Ordnance Boardand Government research and inspection departments. The purpose of the visitis to assess the life that may be ex- pected from various explosives aiterservice storage and handling in tropical climates, and to advise on the suitabilityof explosive stores, components and packages. In addition, it should be ina position to estimate the accuracy of accelerated climatic trials made in theUnited Kingdom. Leader of the Ord- nance Board team will be G/C. F. C.Beresford-Peirse, and the aircraft will be captained by W/C. C. T. Weir, D.F.C.Thor II has flown about roo.ooo miles on liaison flights to various parts of theCommonwealth and in the U.S.A. since it replaced the original Thor. a Lan-caster, in 1946. The coming tour will cover about 20,000 miles. Air Firing Memorial Trophy AN inscribed bronze plaque, to beknown as the Imshi Mason Memorial Prize for Air Firing, has been acceptedby the Air Council from Mrs. Teresa Mason, of Blackpool, for presentation tothe Royal Air Force Mediterranean and Middle East Command in memory of herson, S/L. E. M. Mason, D.F.C., who was killed in action on February 15th,1942, while leading Nos. 94 and 112 Squadrons against the enemy in theMiddle East. The trophy will be com- peted for annually by flying squadronsin the Command and will be awarded to the squadron considered to haveachieved the best results in weapon effi- ciency. The late S/L. Mason, who was knownin the Desert Air Force by his Arabic nickname " Imshi," was awarded theD.F.C. for his gallantry in the desert on January 26th, 1941, when he attackeda formation of nine enemy aircraft about to make an onslaught on our forwardtroops and in seven or eight minutes shot down three of them. Auxiliary Appointment WING COMMANDER L. W. M.MODLEY, O.B.E., G.M., has been appointed to command No. 3513 (Countyof Devon-Plymouth) Fighter Control Unit, R.Aux.A.F., which is located atRaglan Barracks, Plymouth. W/C. Modley began flying with the R.A-F. in RAA.F. "HALTON " : (Left) Apprentices of the R.A.A.F. School at Wagga (see paragraph on this page) find much to interest them in an "exploded" Dement/ turbojet. The Beaufort and Beaufighter "graveyard" (shown on right) is rich in instructional material for the \ appti \ c 31 : gy apprentices.
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