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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0007.PDF
W AIR( SHf and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2345 Vol. 65. FRIDAY, 1 JANUARY 1954 EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR H. F. KING, M.B.E. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1. Telegrams, Flightpres, Sedist, London. Telephone, Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices: COVENTRY 8-10 Corporation Street. Telegrams, Autocar, Coventry. Telephone, Coventry S210. BIRMINGHAM, 2 King Edward House, New Street. Telegrams, Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone, Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 260 Deansgate. Telegrams, lliffe, Manchester. Telephone, Blackfriars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (,2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2 26b Renfield Street. Telegrams, lliffe, Glasgow. Telephone, Central 1265 (2 lines). SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas: Twelve months £3 3s.0d. U.S.A. and Canada, $10.00. BY AIR: To Canada and U.S.A., six months, $16. IN THIS ISSUE Saab91CSafir - - The Jubilee Dinner The Sopwith Pup - - No. 65 (East India) Squadron - - - Discussing Production Supersonic Shapes - - - 2 - 7 - 8 - 13 - 18 - 20 The Merchant Airman TRADITIONALLY the New Year is a time for good resolutions. We have all personally celebrated Christmas and the coming of the New Year, and as associates of a great industry we have been happy to be able to look back on a year's work well done. Now it is time to look and plan ahead, with peace and goodwill in mind. One matter in which we have taken a special interest, and which, we recall, was the subject of our leading article exactly a year ago, is that of the training of new commercial air pilots. Since that time (and, in fact, since some months earlier, when this subject was first raised in Flight) a number of meetings have been held by interested bodies such as the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators and the British Air Line Pilots' Association. We are told that officially "developments have been closely watched," "avenues have been explored," "possibilities have been (or will be) examined," "means sought" and "sympathetic ears turned"; but ministerial action to date has been precisely nil. In the first place it is doubtful whether anyone who could start the ball rolling yet recognizes the need for a proper training establishment for airline pilots. To say the least, it seems highly illogical to sink millions of pounds in airliners and British airline develop ment without making sure as well that there will be captains to command them and first officers to help fly them. It is not good enough to dodge the issue with a shrug and a "my friend Air Marshal Preston Longago assures me that the supply of redundant Air Force pilots will more than . . ." A great number, the majority in fact, of British airline pilots today are ex-Servicemen, mainly R.A.F.-trained. After the war the best and the worst pilots, with ages ranging from 20 to 50, became available in large numbers. Some wanted to go on flying, others did not. The Corporations, themselves very young and relatively uncomplicated, could pick and choose, and cull after a trial period; finally, after continued training and experience, they could claim with justification to have assembled a first-class pilot team. But all this came about as a result of a once-only set of circumstances. We have encouraged readers to express their opinions on the subject of training schemes in our columns and have applauded the good suggestions and deplored a tendency to get side-tracked into which-is-the-better-pilot arguments between Service and airline protagonists. We have also regretted another distracting influence for which B.E.A. have been in part and perhaps unintentionally responsible. We refer to the "We have plenty of pilots to meet foreseeable needs and increasing traffic will be looked after by larger and faster aircraft and more efficient employment" arguments. This simply puts off till tomorrow and confirms by admission of increasing responsibilities our contention that only the very best of specially trained pilots can be good enough for the airlines. Of course, the biggest single difficulty to the setting-up of any training establishment or scheme is the wherewithal. Who should pay? We believe that it is accepted that British airlines—and not only the State-owned ones—are a national asset. The arguments used to justify the support and existence of the State Corporations apply in the main to the pilots also, although admittedly it is their work rather than themselves that brings in the foreign currency. But any good product has its value, and an operator who took on a fully trained young pilot from, say, a national school might reasonably be expected to contribute towards the cost of his early training as well as to provide additional training and experience after acceptance. To insist that parents also con tribute might bar some of the most promising young men on financial grounds. This would be unfortunate, and a scholarship scheme with competitive examination is probably the better solution. It is to be hoped that botxi the Ministries of Civil Aviation and of Education will act without more delay. Were a start to be made tomorrow no commercially qualified pilot could emerge for three to four years. The right kind of pilots of the right age in the right numbers and at the right time will not just happen to turn up. Neither will it be possible to get them from the Services, colleges, clubs or other airlines. No, it is high time to formulate a comprehensive national training scheme for commercial pilots. It must be based on a realistic appreciation of the value of the merchant air service and particularly of the men in it in years to come, without whom strings of British airliners will remain tied to the aprons on Mother Earth.
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