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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1312.PDF
<5o FLIGHT, 6 July 1950 During recruit training the benefits from physical instruc-tion are reflected in a noticeable increase in height and weight. In the mental sphere, education and citizenship classes areincluded in the syllabus, and the arts and crafts are encouraged. In the spiritual sphere the padres of the variousdenominations conduct "padre's hours" in which the ele- ments of the Christian ethic are developed on the discussion-group principle. The regular volunteer, when he has finished his recruit training, proceeds to his appropriate trade school,where his balanced training continues. The National Service Act entrant is handled in very muchthe same way, with the exception that he cannot be given complete freedom of choice of trade. He must do his serviceand he must fit into the R.A.F. structure. Special efforts are made, however, to fit round pegs into round holes. At eachN.S.A. Recruit Training Centre there is a " technical informa- tion room " where recruits can see some of the duties and re-sponsibilities of all the trades open to them in the R.A.F. and discuss them with experts. The recruits are gradually led totake an interest in that group of trades for which their original aptitude tests would seem to suit them. They are notrequired to make a choice of trade until the fifth week of recruit training. When they make their choice they are askedto list five trades in order of preference and every effort is made to put the man to his trade of first choice. Special arrangements are made for civilian apprentices whosecall-up has been deferred. Most of them are able to enter the highest-skilled trades with little if any trade training inthe service. A feature of the Command is the School of Train- ing Organization and Method for instructor tuition. The successful discharge of the Command's responsibilitiesdepends on the efficiency and devotion of the large number of instructors. The work is not glamorous, but it is vital, andthere are many young men in the country today who owe a great debt of gratitude to the instructors who handled themin the early days of their service^n thgR.A.F. -3, v-v*. - MAINTENANCE COMMAND From Air Marshal T. A. Warna-Browne, C.B., C.B.E., DSC, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief YOU will see Maintenance Command pilots in action in the Royal Air Force Display,but you will not see the Command in action in its normal supply role. It has, never-theless, played an important part in making the Display possible. Naturally, one thinks of the work of the Royal Air Force in terms of the fighting efficiency of the Opera- tional Commands. My Command is charged with the important task of supplying the machines and equipment that are needed to attain that efficiency. It is our duty to receive from industry the material requirements of the Royal Air Force and to distribute these to all units or formations, whether at home or overseas. Maintenance Command is proud of its task. By comparison with that of other Commands our work is not glamorous, but it may not be realized that we do a great deal of flying. We are responsible for the collection and delivery of aircraft and for the vital job of flight testing after repair or refit. Our badge is the raven and our motto is " Service.'' These symbolize our duty to supply the Royal Air Force wherever it is at work—for Maintenance Command provides the material lifeblood of our Service. The Royal Air Force cannot operate unless Maintenance Command fulfils its role of chief supplier. This responsibility is our privilege. We realize that if we fail in our task we may ground all the other Royal Air Force Commands. We are thus inspired to live up to our motto—" Service." This we amplify to mean : " to provide the right thing, at the right place, at the right time and in the right condition." If we do less we are dissatisfied. We are proud of our job and conscious of our responsibility. ON Maintenance Command rests the responsibility for thereceipt from manufacturers and storage and distribu-tion of all the equipment and stores needed by the R.A.F. The equipment ranges from ordinary domestic articlesto complete aircraft and consists of some 700,000 separate items. For example; roughly 6,000 different items are heldas spare parts for each Spitfire or similar type of single-engined aircraft. The division of personnel in the Command is, broadly, halfcivilian and half airmen. By employing civilians, service manpower is saved and greater continuity is obtained in routineivork. with a consequent increase in efficiency. Although Maintenance Command holds and issues all equip-nent required by the R.A.F. it should not be thought of as a 'super Woolworths." In addition to handling individualirticles and spares it stores and issues complete aircraft, vehicles and marine craft, and is responsible for their repairand modification. Aircraft are air-tested and collected from manufacturers and delivered to home units by MaintenanceCommand pilots. The necessity for war readiness further complicates the task.It would be comparatively simple to hold all items of one type in one place, but the risk of the loss of "all the eggs inone basket" through sabotage or direct enemy action cannot, of course, be accepted. In the last war dispersal varied betweenthree and seven separate holdings of each individual item. To obtain greater efficiency and economy some closing-up hasnow been possible; strategical considerations, however, prevent the ideal administrative arrangement of putting everythingof one sort under one roof. The Command is at present organized in four Groups, theroles of which are described briefly below. No. 40 Group is the main equipment-holding formation andcontrols l.irur depots for the receipt, storage and issue of all equipment and stores excluding complete aircraft, explosives,compressed gases, rations (foodstuffs), petrol, oil, and lubri- cants. Items have to be suitably preserved and packed toensure that they are serviceable when they reach their destina- tion. Packaging varies from simple preservation by oil toelaborate humidity-control packs for delicate and fragile items. For repacking and for treatment of equipment not packed onreceipt, each large depot has an equipment-preservation plant and packaging section. A saving in the labour required for handling equipment instore has been made by introducing mechanical methods, e.g., pallets and fork-lift trucks. These enable equipment tobe stored in easily handled quantities on wood or metal plat- forms. Apart from reducing the time taken to load, move andstack equipment, these methods economize storage area as stores can be stacked to a greater height than was possibleby use ol the old methods. The units of No. 40 Group maintain the records of stocks,receipts and issues and forward to the Air Ministry the data required to determine the orders to be given to manufacturers.It is also the responsibility of No. 40 Group to plan where different stocks should be held, the type of storage requiredand the storage space which each item will need. Planning for reception of new stocks has to be linked with the disposalof obsolete stocks; this is one of the most complicated aspects of provisioning. No. 41 Group receives and stores complete aircraft and maintains and modifies them (in conformity with progressive modifications to the particular type) while they are in storage —a job entailing a number of intricate operations. No. 42 Group is responsible for the sometimes dangerous :ask of receiving, storing and issuing all explosives stores to the R.A.F. and for performing similar functions in respect of 1 (impressed gases, e.g., oxygen, nitrogen and acetylene. It
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