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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0091.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER Editorial Director G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Editor - -CM. POULSEN Assistant Editor MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.c. (WING CDR., R.A.F.V.R.) An Editor - JOHN YOXALL FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WDRLD •• FOUNDED 1909 Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (4) tine;) COVENTRY : 8 - 10, CORPORATION ST. Telegrams . Autocar, Coventry. Telephone : Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2: MANCHESTER, 3 : KING EDWARD HOUSE, 260", DEANSGATE. NEW STREET. Tefegrams : Hi ff e, Manchester Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Blackfriars 4412(3 lines) Telephone: Midland 7191 <7 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines) GLASGOW, C.2: 26 B , RENFIELD ST Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone . Central 4857 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Home: Twelve months, £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 IOi 6d. Overseas: Twelve months, £2 13s. 61 BY 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, $16 No. 2091. Vol. LV January 20th, 1949 Thursdays, One Shilling Outlook A Significant Appointment I *A LTHOUGH the principle has been staled often enough, and in spite of the fact that it is now gener- ally agreed that the Royal Air Force has become our first line of defence, there have been few outward signs that correlative measures are being taken to im- . plement that revolutionary change in defence policy. All the more welcome, therefore, is the announcement by the Ministry of Defence last Thursday that an airman is to replace a soldier as Chief Staff Officer to the Ministry of Defence and as Deputy Secretary (Military) of the Cabinet. The importance of the change is obvious. The German war brought out with almost startling clearness the interdependence of the Services, and if one regards Mr. Alexander as having a Navy bias, it is reassuring that the C.S.O. is now to be an Air Marshal. As for the occupant of this important post, it would have been difficult to select a man more suitable than Air Marshal Sir William Elliot. Not only has he had a distinguished career in the Royal Air Force, but he served in the Arm ' during the 1914-18 war and was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps. He is thus no stranger to the Army, although his personal experience in that Service may be somewhat out of date. Previous to taking over Fighter Command from Air ^Marshal Sir James Robb, Sir William was Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Policy), a post in which he obtained experi- 1 ence which will stand him in good stead at the Ministry of Defence. Nor should it be forgotten that from 1945 c., \o 1946 he was Assistant Chief Executive at the Ministry •. "of Aircraft Production, so that we shall now have at the ^Ministry of Defence an officer with knowledge of pro- "* duction problems. During the war Sir William was in charge of night .fighter operations at Fighter Command Headquarters, "and will thus be in a good position to assess modern requirements in jet-propelled fighters. America Looks to Her BombersN EITHER the Democrats nor the Republicans of America have seriously opposed their President's large appropriation for national and international defence, amounting to half the total of what has come to be known as his "cold war Budget." The decision to maintain an Air Force of only 48 Groups—whereas 70 Groups were authorized by the last Congress—has, however, led to widespread protest, and Mr, Vinson, Chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Ser- vices Committee, is convinced that the overwhelming majority of Congress will vote for a 70-Group force to be built up over a period of three or four years. Conjecture has been rife, since the President's Budget speech on January nth, as to the significance of the announcement that orders worth £75 million, for jet fighters, medium and light bombers, helicopters and transports, have been cancelled by the U.S.A.F., and that the money will be devoted to the quick building and improvement of long-range Superfortress and Convair B-36 heavy piston-engined bombers. On this matter Mr. Truman observed in his speech that '' the size of the 'planes counted more than the number of Groups." The transfer of funds will not come altogether as a surprise to those acquainted with the scale and scope of the U.S.A.F. bomber programme. Hundreds of war- time and post-war B-29S are being '' hatched '' from their synthetic cocoons for refurbishing and modification. Of these a proportion are being adapted for aerial refuelling a British technique which, it seems, will find its first practical military application in America. Meantime, Superfortresses of a new and much superior mark are coming off the Boeing production line and being de- livered to Service units, while the Convair B-36S, capable of delivering 10,000 lb of bombs for more than 10,000 miles, are already being flown by squadron personnel. The financial and operational implications of what may
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