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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0084.PDF
82 FLIGHT, 16 January 1953 THE REDUNDANT INSTRUCTORS Air Ministry will "Consider Sympathetically'' Applications to Re-join R.A.F. AN official statement issued last Monday, referring to the recent L decision to close several civilian schools engaged in service flying-training and testing, said that "The Air Ministry have felt bound ... to reject a claim advanced by the British Air Line Pilots Association and other representative organizations for financial compensation; but they will consider promptly and sympathetically all applications received for re-entry into the R.A.F. either for flying or for ground duties, either in commis sioned or in non-commissioned rank. . . . Wherever an applicant is accepted as suitable the vacancy will be reserved for him until he has completed his work with his civil employers. A number of instructors have, it is stated, already enquired about the possibility of re-entry into the R.A.F. Arrangements are being made for early examinations of Service records and interviews for all applicants, not only for aircrew but from all classes of personnel employed by the civil schools. Full details of the required qualifications and conditions of service may be obtained from the Air Ministry (S.14), Adastral House, Kings- way, London, W.C.2. Although the Air Ministry announcement means that hardship will in many cases be alleviated, there is no doubt that hardship remains—particularly among the more experienced instructors whose age will disqualify them from re-entry to the R.A.F. Many instructors would, of course, have rejoined the R.A.F. long before the schools were to be closed, had they been in a position to do so. Some pertinent comments on the subject were contained in a statement issued by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators on January 9th, which stated that the announcement of the cuts came "as a considerable shock to all concerned with civil flying training in this country and has caused a great deal of anxiety to our members." The statement continued:—' "Some 300 pilot and navigational instructors are affected, many of whom will be thrown out of work almost immediately. Although some of them may be able to transfer to other branches of the flying profession, such as the airlines and charter companies, the big majority, together with their accumulated experience—surely a valuable asset to the nation . . . will be lost to aviation for ever. "These men have been employed by a number of private firms who had engaged them in all good faith on a semi-permanent basis. To learn just before Christmas, as they did, that their services would no longer be required—through no fault of their own, despite their skill and experience and loyalty—seems very cruel. We think that some form of rehabilitation—such as was available to ex-R.A.F. personnel at the end of the war—whereby they can be trained for some other work is the least that should be done for them. But whatever help is forthcoming should come quickly. . . . "The Court of the Guild has already allotted a sum of £2,500 to help those wishing to transfer to ether branches of the flying profession to obtain the necessary qualifications. "We do not question the wisdom nor do we in any way challenge the right of the Air Council in their discretion to decide what is the most effective way of training Royal Air Force pilots of the future. We are, perhaps better fitted than any other body to appreciate the great developments in aviation that are taking place and of the inevitable change in operational technique which results, and it is very clear to us that the crews of, for instance, future bombers (of which we already have a foretaste in the Valiant, the Vulcan and now the Victor), will need to be the finest that the country can produce. The cost of the aircraft itself, the fabulous value of the loads it is destined to carry, and the importance of each individual sortie, will place a big responsibility on the pilot and his crew. "In consequence of these developments it may well be that the value of the Reserves as we knew them in the last war, when thousand-bomber raids were the order of the day, must, through inevitable lack of enough practice and training, be reduced. "None the less, we are seriously perturbed by the effect the closing down of the civilian schools will have on the future devel opment of aviation in this country. How the ever-growing demand for pilots and navigators of the quality required to operate our future airliners is to be met is causing us grave concern. The British airliner is keeping pace with its military counterpart and some types are now classified, along with the latest fighters and bombers, as of super-priority. "We fully appreciate that the high expense of training civil pilots, though they will still form a valuable reserve for the Royal Air Force, should not fall exclusively on Air Ministry funds—as, in effect, is the position today by reason of the transfer of young R.A.F.-trained crew to civil organizations. At present there is no alternative way of getting training and gaining the necessary experience. The Court of the Guild will shortly put forward some constructive proposals in this connection, for it seems to us as important to have the right crews as the right aircraft. The fact that more people visited these islands last year by air than by sea emphasizes the importance of this air business. The great and increasing value of the aircraft export trade is already well known. "We wonder if the Air Council have taken full cognisance of the effect of their action from this point of view and of the lack of confidence in air circles that has been created by the dismissal at short notice of so many of the staff of instructors and navigators and others, at a time when the country is seeking to get the very best of its youth to take to active flying . . ." ANOTHER RESTRICTION ON TRAVEL FUEL companies have been instructed by the Bank of England that they must not accept payment in sterling for supplies of aviation fuel or lubricants lifted outside the sterling area by British-owned aircraft without prior permission of the Exchange Control. Airline and charter companies are not affected by the restriction, which (as might be expected in these days) adversely affects the use of aircraft for private recreational or pleasure purposes. The result is that private owners will be limited to the expenditure of £15 on fuel and oil—a completely inadequate sum. The arbitrary selection of this amount can, as pointed out in this week's leading article, be criticized on several counts. To begin with, there are only 387 business and private aircraft on the current civil register. Since only a minority of their owners use these machines for touring abroad, the amount likely to be saved will be almost insignificant—less than £10,000 annually, according to a Royal Aero Club estimate. There would, of course, be nothing to prevent a private owner from chartering a flight abroad if his personal allowance were insufficient. The value of the £15 is reduced by certain expenses not met by car owners—transport to and from Continental airfields, hangarage, maintenance, landing fees and the proportionately higher.costs of fuel. It is understood that motorists who take part in sporting and competitive events abroad receive an additional allowance, but no such concession has been mentioned for aircraft owners— despite the obvious value of British participation in overseas flying meetings, both from the prestige and export sales viewpoints. The worst result of the order is possibly the lowering of safety standards which might result from the natural desire of the private owner to keep his foreign fuel-uplift to a minimum, despite lack of radio aids and consequent need of good reserves. H.P. ON T.V. THE Handley Page Victor and the effect of super-priority were featured in a recent edition of the B.B.C.'s Television Newsreel. Mr. R. S. Stafford, F.R.Ae.S., chief designer at Cricklewood, was interviewed by Mr. Charles Gardner, B.B.C. Air Corres pondent. Asked about the crescent-wing on the H.P.80, Mr. Stafford explained that the relative advantages of straight-swept, razor-thin, delta and crescent wings had been examined and the latter finally adopted as the best answer for the bomber as it had to "fly very high, carry big loads a long way at very high speeds." Mr. Stafford continued: "We feel that in the crescent wing we have a form in which we meet the high speed requirements and at the same time we have very good control properties at low speeds." S/L. Hazleden, test pilot on the maiden flight, then said that on that occasion his main concern were the safe take-off and safe- landing properties and that as far as these were concerned the aircraft "behaved very well indeed." Sir Frederick Handley-Page, referring to the Victor's super- priority classification, explained that as it was a simple aircraft to construct it would not require any great amount of skilled labour; but that where super-priority would help would be in the supply of materials. Super-priority would definitely enable the R.A.F. "to get deliveries at an earlier date than would otherwise be the case." The granting of super-priority to three civil aircraft, the Comet, Viscount and Britannia, orders for which already total over £150,000,000, was then discussed in an interview with Mr. Verdon Smith of Bristols. In general terms, he said, it meant that the Government was placing the civil aircraft programme on the same level of importance as the defence programme.
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