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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 2047.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 July 1952 109 (Left) Sir Walter Monckton with the Lord Mayor of Derby and Mr. C. Birch, Derby works manager. (Right) Lord Hives, Rolls-Royce chairman, hands the key of the building to Sir Walter; behind are Mr. A. G. Elliott, joint managing director, and the Lord Mayor. BUILDING for the FUTURE Official Opening of the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Training School THE increasing responsibility which firms are nowadays pre pared to accept for the training of apprentices—and draughts men and graduate engineers also—is extremely encouraging, and should prove an effective long-term insurance against future short age of skilled manpower. Already this year several more concerns have announced details of apprenticeship schemes, but we may predict that nowhere will the aspiring engineer receive sounder basic instruction than in the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Training School at Derby, opened by Sir Walter Monckton, the Minister of Labour, last Friday, July 18th. Apprentices have, of course, been trained at Rolls-Royce for nearly fifty years; in fact, there are many present employees of the company who originally learnt their trade under the aegis of the great Sir Henry Royce himself. But the company has expanded to a vast extent since 1906 and provision for training apprentices has necessarily grown in like manner. A major step forward was taken in 1936, when all aspects of engineering training were placed under the control of a special department. Three grades of apprentice were established: the trade apprentice, arriving from school at the age of 14 or 15; the engineering apprentice, some two years older; and the engineering pupil, of graduate or equivalent standard. These three grades were correlated, and the way was thus opened for the humblest trade apprentice to reach the highest technical positions in the company. But the transition period between school and factory was traditionally rather haphazard; the time-honoured practice of using the "new boy" as a messenger until he was familiar with his place of work was considered to be rather a waste of valuable time, especially when, in the post-war years, the raised school-leaving age began to influence the maturity of the annual intake. So it was that plans were formulated for the establishment of a comprehensive training school to ease the schoolboy into industry and transform him, gradually, into a Rolls-Royce crafts man—which implies, perhaps, the pinnacle of engineering ability. And the company has made good use of the present school build ing, which is fully equipped for its great task. That this is so reflects great credit on the R-R. apprentice-training committee, all young engineers who have risen to responsible positions aided, in most cases, by their own apprenticeship with the company. The school has actually been in use for some ten months, during which time the apprentices taught there have produced equipment to the value of some £10,000 for use within the Derby factory. Nothing the student does is a mere exercise, although he will normally pass into the works only after a full "academic year" at the school. To some extent, therefore, the institution is doing work previously undertaken by the Derby Technical College. But this present school is itself only a "pilot" establishment, for it is the ultimate aim to house all branches of training—including the schools for draughtsmen and aero-engine servicing—under one roof and, further, to develop a vocational training and adult- education scheme for the use of the entire Rolls-Royce organiza tion. When restrictions on building and shortages of equipment are less marked than they are at present we will hope for develop ments at Derby which will set a standard of engineering training at which the rest of the industry can aim. THE MINISTER OF SUPPLY KEEPS IN TOUCH Mr. Duncan Sandys, Minister of Supply, had a busy two days in the West Country last Friday and Saturday, when he visited the Bristol, Westland, Rotol and Gloster factories. Flown from Filton to Yeovil in a Bristol 171, he went on to Staverton in a Westland S-55 after seeing the type in pro duction at the Westland factory (Left) Mr. Sandys is strapped into a Meteor 7 at Moreton Valence by Gloster test pilot Jim Cooksey; Bill Waterton is the pilot. (Right) By the Type 173 prototype at Bristol (/.to r.): Mr. H. J. Larrard, M.o.S Regional Controller; Mr. Raoul Hafner chief helicopter designer- Mr. Sandys -Mr. A.E. Russell (director and chief designer); Mr. W. R. Verdor,Smith jo.nt managing director; Mr. C F. Uwins, aircraft divisional managing director; Mr. Brian Davidson, commercial manager; and Mr. R. S. Brown, aircraft dmsion genera/ manager.
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