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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0581.PDF
FLIGHT, 7 March 1952 263 ABOUT THE AIR ESTIMATES R.A.F. Housekeeping, as Revealed for the Taxpayer s Enlightenment CONSTITUTING a substantial book (published at 6s 6d by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in London) Air Estimates, 1952-53 is similar in format to its pre decessors of recent years. At first glance most of it appears to consist of rather dreary lists of votes, tables of figures, and explanatory notes and enlargement under a great number of headings. We venture to suggest, even so, that almost any ordinary person who sits down to examine these Estimates for half an hour will find a great deal of factual information of interest, together with enough detail in the break-down of the administration, provisioning, and expenses of a great fighting Service to occasion wonder and surprise. Air Estimates for 1952-53, figures for which are tabulated (right) under main headings, are based on an estimated number of officers, airmen and airwomen of 315,000. The break-down of this figure is also given in tabulated form below. It will be noted that the Estimates are submitted under 11 main headings, or Votes. As might be expected at a time of expansion and rising prices, nearly all the Votes show a marked increase over the previous 12-month period. Vote 1, for example, which is concerned with Pay, is £10,250,000 up on the 1951-52 period. This is mainly due to higher average strengths of officers and airmen, and increased rates of local overseas allowance, and outfit and tropical kit allowances. It is interesting to note that an increase in the figure for Appro priations in Aid (i.e., incoming moneys and other credits to be set against gross estimates of expenditure to give the net estimate figure) of £2,520,000 is due to the higher number of personnel on loan or serving with international defence organizations whose services are paid for (or repaid) by the Ministry of Defence. Details of kit and other allowances are contained in.one of the explanatory notes dealing with Vote r, and the total figure is £825,000 compared with £330,000 for the previous period. Reserve and Auxiliary Forces are dealt with in Vote 2, and here again there is a small net increase of £410,000. £98,000 was paid to personnel called up for training under the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces Training Act of 1951, and indirectly this accounts for the fact that one of the few decreases—£4,000—is to be found under the heading of "Pay for R.A.F.V.R. Personnel." Vote 3 is concerned with Air Ministry expenses, and the total estimate of £3,900,000 is an increase of £722,000 on the previous period. It covers salaries and wages of the Air Council and their personal staff (the Secretary of State, incidentally, is one of the Ministers who had his salary reduced by £1,000 to £4,000 when the new Government came into power), and the salaries of all the departments of the Chief of the Air Staff and of Air Members, and so on. One example of the less well known services covered by the Air Ministry's expenses is the headquarters of the Meteoro logical Office. The work of the Meteorological Office includes the provision of services for Royal Air Force, Army, civil aviation, Government departments, local authorities, and others. It also includes the administration of British ocean weather ships and research in meteorological and geo-physical subjects. Salaries for this H.Q. total £197,000 in the Estimates. To obtain a full picture of the meteorological services it is necessary to turn on to Vote 4, concerned with civilians at out stations, for some 2,032 meteorological staff are in this category, compared with 295 at headquarters, both figures being for the I952_53 period. Their salary figure is estimated as £1,184,000. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF OFFICERS. AIRMEN AND AIRWOMEN Royal Air Force Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Women's Royal Air Force Local forces abroad Other Common weal t h air forces Total 1952-53 Officers 32,100 450 700 50 400 33,700 Airmen and Air- women 263,600 10,650 5,700 1,350 281,300 Total 295,700 450 11,350 5,750 1,750 315,000 1951-52 Officers 24,500 350 600 50 300 25,800 Airmen and Air women 229,300 10,300 3,450 1,150 244,200 Total 253,800 350 10,900 3,500 1.450 270,000 ABSTRACT OF AIR ESTIMATES, 1952-53 Vote A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Service Max. number of Officers, Airmen and Airwomen to be maintained for Air Force Service Pay, and etc. of the Air Force Reserves and Auxi liary Services Air Ministry Civilians at Out- stations ... Movements Supplies ... Aircraft and Stores Works and Lands Miscellaneous Effective Services Non-Effective Ser vices Additional Married Quarters Totals Estimates 1952-53 .315,000 Net Estimate £ 87,250,000 1,979,900 3,900,000 26,120,000 11,900.000 66,200,000 191,000,000 73,440,000 2,130,000 3,720,000 100 467,640,000 Estimates 1951-52 270,000 Net Estimate £ 77,000,000 1,569,900 3,178,000 22,422,000 8,650,000 40,105,000 132,790.000 37,500,000 1.490,000 4,045,000 100 328,750,000 Differences of Net Estimates Increase 45,000 Increase £ 10,250,000 410,000 722,000 3,698,000 3.250.000 26,095.000 58,210,000 35,940,000 640,000 138,215,000 Decrease £ 325,000 325.000 Under Vote 5, devoted to Movements, the net estimate is £11,900,000, an increase of £3,250,000 over the previous period. This figure provides for the movement of personnel and stores by means other than by Service aircraft and vehicles. The increase in the gross total is mainly due to higher strengths of officers and airmen, increases in rail fares, passage rates, and freight charges, and a greater volume of stores and supplies to be moved by rail and sea. The figure in Appropriations in Aid is reduced this year mainly (according to the explanatory notes) because of the dis continuance of recovery from other Defence departments for passages in R.A.F. aircraft other than for special flights. Conveyance of personnel, travelling allowance, and expenses are sub-divided into rail and short sea journeys, road journeys, sea passages, and air passages. The term "short sea journeys" means to islands around the U.K. mainland and Ireland. In the current year £700,000 is allowed for air passages as com pared with £460,000 for 1951-52. These passages cover Service personnel and civilians required to travel on urgent duty journeys. They may either be conveyed by civil airlines at commercial rates, or civil aircraft may be chartered at competitive rates for trooping movements and for conveyance of families, or in the case of rela tives visiting Service personnel or civilian staff dangerously ill abroad, outward air passages may be provided at public expense. Under the heading Conveyance of Stores, it may be noted that an allowance for air freight for the current year of £50,000 is £30,000 less than for the previous period. Presumably this indicates that-fewer stores and less official mail is expected to be conveyed in civil aircraft (chargeable at commercial rates) in the coming 12 months. Among the Appropriations in Aid concerned in Vote 5 it may also be noted that recoveries for conveyance in R.A.F. aircraft are estimated at only £100,000 compared with £385,000 in 1951-52. This sum covers in the main charges for flights specially provided for other Defence departments. A somewhat remarkable increase is noted in Vote 6 for supplies. Under Section C, Liquid Fuels, Lubricants, etc., the estimate for I952"53 is £45J75°,OOO as compared with £25,165,000 for the previous 12-month period. Thus the increase is £20,585,000. The explanatory note indicates that the overall increase under the Supplies Vote, namely, £26,095,000, "is mainly due to higher strengths of air force personnel; higher costs of supplies generally; increased requirements of liquid fuel for current consumption; and increased provision for duty payable on aviation fuel (including duty on a new fuel to be used in place of a non-dutiable fuel)." Not only aircraft but mechanical transport vehicles, marine craft, weather ships, auxiliary vessels, station plant, heating, lighting and cooking, are included under the Liquid Fuels, Lubricants, heading. Also included is the provision for the cost of producing aviation fuel from heavy oil at a plant in the U.K. The fuel is produced under an Air Ministry contract and is pur chased from the Air Ministry by oil companies for distribution. To many readers of Flight, Vote 7, for Aircraft and Stores, will be the most interesting. Comparative figures showing increases
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