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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1158.PDF
JUNE 23RD, 1949 FLIGHT 729 TECHNICAL MAJORITY D.H. Technical School Comes of Age and Gets a New Home . 5y4 LL ex-members of the de Havilland Aeronautical Tecb- V-^ nical School, many of whom now hold eminent positions J- -*- in the aviation world, will be interested to hear that on Satnrday, June 18th, the School celebrated its 21st Anni- versary. The occasion was also used to mark the removal of the School from the wartime premises to a more permanent home at Astwick Manor, on the northern side of the Hatfield aerodrome. . The opening ceremony was performed by the Marquess of "Salisbury, K.G., P.C., who recalled that, many years ago, Astvvick Manor had been occupied by an old gentleman called John Lloyd. He had lived to the age of 94, and all his days had retained an enormous zest for life. Lord Salisbury thought that this formed an excellent precedent for the students and hoped that, in their very different field., they -might be imbued with the same spirit. •--.,:.- r ;-_ Merit and Opportunity In its twenty-one years, the School has turned out some thousands of skilled craftsmen, as well as preparing and qualifying some 1,700 young engineers for technical posts. At the present time there are about 900 apprentices in training, roughly one-third of whom are in the senior category, taking the full course of theoretical tuition in addition to practical instruction in School workshop and factory. Apprentices are drawn from all types of school in this country and from the equivalents of public schools overseas, selection at entry being competitive. Trade apprentices are accepted at about 16 and engineering apprentices at 17 years of age. An excellent feature of the School system is the upgrading of trade and engineering apprentices by yearly selec- tion according to general merit and progress. By this means, opportunity is given to every youngster in an equal chance of rising according to his individual ability and effort. Further- more, ten de Havilland scholarships for the engineering apprentices are awarded each year to new entry. In addition to the apprenticeship schemes, engineering graduates are accepted from the Universities for practical instruction and, too, apprentices can return to the School after the interruption of their technical classes by military service. The duration of the course for engineering and trade apprentices is at present four to five years, depending to some extent upon national service requirements. Apprentices train &ft to right : P £. Gordon Marshall, L. J. T. Brodie, A. S. Butler, W. £. Nixon and G. M. Saul-Brown listen to the Rt. Hon. the Marquess of Salisbury in the opening ceremony. Here shown in the beautiful surroundings, Astwick Manor and the new workshops and drawing offices lie on the northern boundary of Hatfield aerodrome. ' in aircraft, engines or airscrews, there being, in each division,courses aimed at careers on the design, production or main- tenance side. The first year of training, for both grades ofapprentices is basic, and is conducted in the School work- shops, of which there are three, respectively at Hatfield foraircraft, at Edgware for engines, and at Bolton for airscrews. Thereafter, the apprentice is engaged on responsible work inthe main departments of the factories. Lecture and other class-room work for trade and engineer-ing apprentices occupy one or two days per week and, in the later stages, one or two evenings as well. All classes arerecognized by the Ministry of Education. The staff comprises : thirty-one whole-time lecturers and instructors and twenty-fivepart-time lecturers and instructors. After the opening ceremony guests were able to inspect thenew School premises and to view examples of students' work, all of which evoked merited admiration. The afternoon wasconcluded with a contrasting flying display in which Pat Fillingham ably demonstrated the handling qualities of theChipmunk, and was followed by John Cunningham in a pro- duction Vampire. Cunningham flew with the superb precisionfor which he has become noted, his complete absence of flam- boyance seeming to add to the impressiveness of his display. Aircraft on view were a Tiger and a Hornet Moth, a Chip-:munk, Beaver. Dove, Vampire 5 (Swiss) and Mosquito NF36 (Swedish). AERIAL SURVEY AND GEOLOGY AN exhibition recently opened at the Geological Museum,South Kensington, deals with the use of air survey in geological studies, and companies of the Hunting AviationGroup in many parts of the Empire have contributed exhibits; in particular, Hunting Aerosurveys, Ltd., who arranged thefinal display, deserve congratulation on their informative treatment "Of what, to the layman, can be a very complexsubject. The display is shown on twelve screens. The first illustrates(lie methods and equipment used in aerial-survey photography and permits the visitor to study a stereoscopic view; next thepreparation of mosaics—including one covering 5,000 square miles of territory—is shown, and the third display illustratesmethods of mapping from photographs. On the fourth screen is explained the production of a contour model: the methodis to construct the physical form with the aid of photographs and maps and then to secure as realistic visual plan-view bycoating the form with a photographic skin. The remaining exhibits in the display show specific appli-cations of aerial survey to mining and geology. The exhibition is to remain open for several months. IT
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