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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0789.PDF
492 FLIGHT AUXILIARIES CALLED UP ... of Regular personnel, headed by an adjutant. Some squad- rons have Regular commanding officers, but Air Ministry policy is to retain Auxiliary command whenever a suitable officer can be found. Most of the pilots have wartime operational experience, but many served in Bomber, Trans- port or Coastal Command, and flew fighters for the first time in the R.Aux.A.F. The majority are commissioned, and numbers of former N.C.O. pilots are to be found wearing the white flashes of officer-cadets, pending promotion. As war-experience pilots grow older, the problem of finding replacements grows more acute—a problem not yet solved by the promised flow of National Service pilots. The Royal Auxiliary Air Force is not, of course, composed entirely of fighter squadrons. There are 26 Auxiliary fighter control units, one radar reporting unit, 12 light anti- aircraft squadrons of the R.Aux.A.F. Regiment, five air observation-post squadrons (equipped with Austers flown by Territorial pilots) and a transport squadron. The trans- port unit—No. 622 Squadron at Blackbushe—is the most recent addition to Auxiliary strength. It is manned almost entirely by members of Airwork, Ltd.; normal charter flights by the company's Vikings provide much of the training required, and specialized military work is practised in Valettas supplied by the R.A.F. Nearly all branches of the R.Aux.A.F. require more recruits. Bounties of up to £35 are paid in addition to normal R.A.F. rates of pay; age-limits depend on trade and branch—18-30 for flying personnel, 17-30 for groundcrew, and 17-45 for fighter-control-unit airmen. The fighter control units have special need of recruits, both men and women; their requirements are greater than those of all the other Auxiliary units put together. The first squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force (the prefix First of the three Scottish squadrons to receive jets was No. 602 (City of Glasgow). One of this unit's Vampire 5s is being refuelled at Renfrew. In the background are Harvards, a Spitfire and a civil Viking. "Royal" was awarded in 1947 for distinguished wartime service) were formed in 1925. These first units (Nos. 600, 601, 602 and 603) were then, as now, composed mainly of part-time airmen. It was uncertain, however, whether "week-end" squadrons were capable of reaching the neces- sary standard of efficiency, and the Auxiliaries were operation- ally combined with Special Reserve units having a 50 : 50 proportion of Regular and Reserve airmen. That early doubt was doubly dispelled by the deeds of the 20-squadron A.A.F. from the outbreak of war and, more recently, by the high standard shown by the post-war R.Aux.A.F. FROM ALL QUARTERS Loss of H.M.S. "Affray" THE loss of H.M. Submarine Affray with 75 men in the EnglishChannel last week provided a tragic reminder of the dangers inseparable even from the peace-time operation of underwatercraft. All those who know something of the daily duties of this branch of the Senior Service—and particularly Naval Aviationand Coastal Command personnel—will echo the expression of sympathy conveyed by the King and Queen. Despite intensive sea and air searches, hope of finding survivorshad to be abandoned on April 19th, 69 hours after the Affray submerged during a practice war-patrol in the Channel. When the search began, all the resources of the R.A.F. wereplaced at the disposal of the Flag Officer, Submarines, who directed operations from a Westland-Sikorsky S-51 helicopter.Both British and French aircraft took part but found no trace of the missing vessel. In addition, patrols were flown by the HandleyPage Hermes II prototype equipped with a magnetometer capable of detecting the presence of a sunken craft. This equip-ment, still in the development stage, was operated by Ministry of Supply technicians engaged on the project, and the aircraftwas flown by a Handley Page test-crew under S/L. Hazelden. Memorial Service to W. G. A. Perring MANY executives of the M.O.S., M.C.A. and the Corpora-tions, together with representatives of the learned societies and senior officers of the Royal Air Force and others representing naval aviation, were present at the memorial service to the late Mr. W. G. A. Perring, C.B., F.R.Ae.S., A.M.I.N.A., held at the Royal Garrison Church, Aldershot, last Saturday. Mr. Perring, who died on April 8th as a result of a sudden illness at the age of 52, was Director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. Addresses were given by Sir Archibald Rowlands, G.C.B., M.B.E. (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Supply) and Sir Frederick Handley-Page, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S. Sir Archibald gave a resume of Mr. Perring's distinguished career in aeronautical science, and then enlarged on the valuable part which he had played in the social and sporting activities of the R.A.E. staff. Sir Frederick paid tribute to Mr. Perring's unfailing ability in finding time, over and above his manifold administrative responsi- bilities as Director, to retain his personal enthusiasm for thescience of aerodynamics and to keep abreast of the latest develop- ments. He had a unique ability, said Sir Frederick, in being ableto penetrate at once to the core of any technical matter; one could always rely on his friendly nature and helpfulness when onerequired assistance with an apparently insuperable technical pro- blem. "We have lost," concluded Sir Frederick, "not only a greataerodynamicist, not only a great administrator, but a great friend as well." The Rev. L. V. Headley, O.B.E., B.A., C.F. (Deputy AssistantChaplain-General, Aldershot District) and three other clergymen officiated, and the R.A.E. Choir and the Farnborough Singerstook part in the service. Tactical Aspects of Jet Aircraft TN a lecture delivered by G/C. E. W. Whitley, D.S.O., D.F.C., *• at the Indian Air Force Staff College, Wellington, Nilgiris, and reported in the Indian Air Force Quarterly, some expert observations were made on tactical aspects of jet aircraft. G/C. Whitley said that there was no reason to suppose that a jet fighter could not do all the things demanded of its forebears (e.g., Typhoon, Tempest, Spitfire and Mustang) and do them better. The Vampire, as a platform t for guns or rockets, he described as "magnificent." Piston-engined types had to be trimmed before going into a dive for the pilot to -fire his front guns or rockets, or drop his bombs. This did not apply to the Vampire which, when put into a dive, would keep perfectly straight on its own. The only thing to guard against was a slight drop when the gun button was pressed. Experience had shown, so far as B.A.P.O. was concerned, that Vampires were far better from a tactical point of view than Tempests. The serviceability was very high, despite intense utilization. On one small-scale exercise Vampire serviceability was as high as 80 per cent, and the daily air effort three to four sorties per aircraft and three sorties per pilot per day. The normal turn-round time, with eight rockets and no gun rearming, was 50 min; the Group Captain was sure that squadrons could be turned round within 30 min. Close-support formation was "loose finger four." Air reconnaissance was of a very high standard and the Vampire pilots were quite successful in locating gun
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