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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0141.PDF
and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2192. Vol. LIX. THURSDAY, 25 IANUARY 1951 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR • G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. ED/TOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C ASSISTANT EDITOR ; H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON, B.A. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, ^ ''• LONDON. S.E.I. ""•• ..' Telegrams : Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices : COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegram* ; Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2. ; -.- King Edward Horn*. ... \ New Street. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3. " '."•• ,:.'••"•;. 260, Deansgate. Telegroms : Miffe, Manchester. Telephone : Blackfrian +412 (3 lines). Deonsgote 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b, Renfield Street. ; Telegrams : Wifle, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas t-Twelve months £3 3s. Od. U.S.A. and Canada, $10.00 BY AIR: To Canada and U.S.A.. six months, $16. I ii <liis issue: visiting Giants Canberra Named - Princess and Proteus Journey East Fitness for Duty - Fighter Armament - 90 - 95 - 97 - 98 - 104 - 108 Virtue Unrewarded TEST pilots are not given to worrying over-much about their jobs, nor, in spiteof the glamour which inevitably surrounds much of their work, are they imbuedwith the Hollywood outlook. On occasions, theirs is the world's biggest stage, with ali the heavens their backdrop. No ballerina shows finer poise and no juggler or acrobat has need of closer timing or better judgment. Yet Danny Kaye reputedly earns as much in a six-week London " season" as many British test pilots receive in six years. Should one induce a test pilot to talk of these matters he will probably remark, " Always do with a bit more, old boy "; and if pressed he may tell you that what worries him much more than the present is the matter of providing for his wife and children after he has been retired from a few short years of active test-flying. Of the two main branches of test flying—for the industry and for the Services— what do we usually hear the aircraft manufacturers say? That the pilots are paid highly for their age; that their insurance is heavy; and that the cost of sending one on the Empire Test Pilots' course is terrific, quite apart from the fact that he must be paid while on it, and a substitute employed in his place for the ten months. Yet these men, " expensive " or not, are no luxury which can be given up in hard times; they are a vital part of the aircraft industry. It is they who are responsible for making ordinary designs into outstanding aircraft or, on occasions, turning theoretical data into accomplished fact, or again, investigating mysterious faults or phenomena for the greater safety of their fellow aviators. Turning to the second group of test pilots—those employed in that capacity while living as serving officers—we see them as capable, experienced, but otherwise ordinary Service pilots. Over and above this, however, they share with their civilian brothers the gift of an enquiring mind allied to that bright spark of enthusiasm and dash which is the mark of the born test pilot. Yet does the Sew/ice appreciate the spirit and the courage (beyond the normal call of duty) so often displayed by these officers? The answer is almost certainly in the negative. No credit is given officially for a period spent as test pilot, promotion may even suffer, a balanced Service career is considered to have been upset. There are cases of pilots completing a period of test flying, at Boscombe Down for example (and therefore among the most " clued " on such subjects as handling and the capabilities of new aircraft and armament) and then being posted for personnel duties, or equally inappropriate jobs, at some such place as Shaibah. Apart from being soul-destroying for the man concerned, this sort of thing is a very real waste. What, then, can be done about these matters? The aircraft industry has not been ungenerous to several of its veteran test pilots, and some have even gone on to receive well-deserved directorships; but it is for the majority of others, with more limited experience and qualifications, that congenial employment may be hard to find. it seems likely that nearly all test flying—of prototypes in particular—will in the future be undertaken by Service pilots who have in the first place volunteered for the job. Maiden flights of all-important military, research and even some civil prototypes may be made by staff pilots of the Ministry of Supply, as, in fact, some already are. Pilots may be seconded to manufacturers from the R.A.F., and after a tour of duty revert to a normal Service career. Such arrangements must, however, depend upon the proper recognition of the status of test pilots within the Service, otherwise very few men with the requisite qualifications will offer themselves. As a start, a symbol should be authorized at once, admissible in retrospect, for all who have passed the course of that unique establishment, the Empire Test Pilots School. In addition, an assurance should be given that a three-year tour as test pilot (four, with the training period) would be properly integrated into the pilot's planned Service career. As a rider, we may suggest that a retiring test pilot should next be employed where his knowledge is likely to be most valuable—by a unit such as C.F.E. or C.B.E., at the Flying or Staff Colleges, C.F.S., or even in the department of the Director of Operational Requirements.
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