THE AIR INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3028, 15 March 1917, Page 5

THE AIR INQUIRY

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

PROBLEMS SOLVED

; The final report of the Committee appointed to inquiro into tho administration and command of tho Royal Flv.ing Corps has now been issued, except Sn regard to' certain details which it is tousidorcd desirablo to keop privato for ■tho time being. AVe aro not particularly concerned hero either with tho origin (if tho inquiry or with the general findings of tho report. Homo of tho charges brought against tho T!oval Flying Corps wero almost too absurd to doPerve serious consideration, but whatever one may think of the policy which dictated the charges or of tlio fashion in which tbov wero made, they have resulted in tho issuo of a very able report of singular interest alike from nn air_ warfare and from an engineering point of viow. It is naturally with llhe latter that wo aro chiefly concerned. Among other things, tho report tolls |ns officially what tlio Royal Flying Corps is. It appears that it consists of: (a) Tho superior officers. (b) Tho pilots who fly tho machines. (c 1 ) Tlio observers, and (d) The mechanics who look after the machines.

It is divided into Hights, squadrons, !"°'ngs, .and brigades. The sauadron is 'tho unit. Pilots aro practically all officers. Observers are mostly but not entirely drawn from tho officer ranks bf the Army. Wing Commanders rank fes lieutenant-colonels. 'Major-General H. M. Trencliard. C.8.. D.5.0., is in command of tlio Royal Flying Corps in (France. General Henderson 5s in supreme command. The Royal Flying Corps has multiplied mora than twentyifold since the beginning of the war, fend its growth continues. There is, and always has been sincn ITle war. a ■Waiting list of pilot candidates. The Hifficultv in training them has been "want of instructors and of school machines. The former is Tapidly disanjjearirig; tho latter to some extent still remains. Engines antl Planes, ■ "Aeroplanes have to be built to suit -the available engines, and not engines to suit aeroplanes. It has been found that, for other purposes than fighting, high-powered engines and big aeroplanes are wanted. For long reconnaissance work, for weight carrying, suoh as wireless gear, bombs, and the like, for artillery observation,'and especially for mounting a gun for attacking dirigibles, big aeroplanes and engines are required. In 'the early stages of the war it seemed! that they might be required for fighting purposes also, hut tho view now held is that for fighting purposes what is wanted is a. small, easily manoeuvred, fast machine.

"The position at the outbreak of war was tbat the engines available did not exceed SO h.p. Soon afterwards there was the Canton£inme (Salmson) of 140 h.p All these have since" been discarded. The Royal Flying Corps also got within the first few monUi.> the .90 h.p. R..A.F. and the 120 "h.p. fieard 1 - more—the 90 h.p. R.A.F. is by far the largest numbers. Later the Royal Flying Corps obtained the ICC h.p! Mon'osoppape and 110 h.p. Lo Rhone, the latter in small quantities. Later still the 110 h.p. Clergct, but substantially the highest horse-power engine which the Royal Flying Corps had in quantity for many .months was the "90 h.p. .R.A.F. Quite recently it '«as had the 140 b.p. R.A.F., the 160 Kp. Beardmore (originally known as AustroDaimler. and now sometimes as the Austro-Daimler-Beardmore), and the 350 h.p. Rolls-Royce. So far only a few of these bigh-powered engines have been delivered; but the output is increasing, and thorc are now oilier highpowered engines in sight. The Royal Flying Corps has, in effect, beer, carrying ou with engines the bulk of which ■did not oeseeed 90 h;p., .together with H. few very elßcient 100 to 120 h.p. engines.

"The state of affairs thus disclosed was obviously unsatisfactory until recently,. especially .in view of tho fact that: the Germans have had from the first engines of considerably higher power, notably the Mercedes. The desire of the Royal Flying Corps fcr high-powered engines was well known even before the war, and was the subject of discussion between General Henderson and some o'f the best known engine builders, a few of whom have attempted to design and build such engines, but hitherto without practical result in the matter of - aeroplanes. Some promise well, and in one or two cases where deliveries have been made of high-powered engines attempts have been maxJe to design aeroplanes for them, but so far without success. .It is to be regretted that' General Hen'derson's anticipation of getting highpowered engines from private firms, who knew that they were wanted, was inot earlier realised.

"The R.A.F. has produced many doSigns which havo done admittedly good service. The B.E. 2 type marked a great advance in aeronautics. The fl'.E. type is good. The It.E. 7, too, Jias answered its purpose, but upon the question whether in this war tho'R.A.F. has well served the Royal Flying Corps, [the R.A.F. must be judged by its principal achievement, the B.E. 2o aeroplane combined with the 90-h.p. li.A.F. engine. This is the combination which 'lias been used in far larger numbers ; !than any other, and by it the R.A.F. must, in our judgment, stand or fall. Which is it to do? In answering this iqußstiou we bear in mind that at the time the 11. A.F. engino wag produnid the oc'.J possible alternative engine ot English design was the Green engine, if or which no one has so far produced a satisfactory aeroplane. _ There was sio inherently stable machine of private Resign. Tho B.E. 2c was strong, the ,'desigji was aeronautically sound, the .drawings wero comploto. This Isst circumstance enabled many mannfaojUnrers, entirely now to the trade, jbuild an aeroplano who could not obha»iiwiso havo done so.

Looking at things as tlioy were at I'tlio beginning of tho war, wo adopt the language of 0110 of the witnesses who appeared before us, Mr. A. K. BerriMail, tho chief cngineor of tho Daim•lor Company:— I Tho R.A.F. engine nsrf tho B.K 2c aeroplane hai 0 their defects, but they form a combination filial; has been instrumental in enabling the Flying Corps to perform iuvaln»blo_ servico to tlio Army iu France— Service, wo may add, whioh would in hur view have been impossible without •llhis combination, at any rate for many Critical months. It i s a striking comImenlary oil this ovidcnco that all tho "I hrco airships whtoh wore brought down 311 (lames on tho nights of September a, September 23, and October 1 . last were brought down by pilots flying B.E. 2c machines fitted with R.A.F. engines. It is proper to add that stable machines arc, atlmiLtcd to be essential for night flying, and the only machines that aro Mov.' used for that purpose are the B.K. 2c, a tractor, and tho F.E. 2b. a pusher, both of which aro essentially stable. "The purchase by the Admiralty at tin; outbreak of war of Curtiss machines and engines was a discouraging experience.. Considerable inquiries were, however, mado in America in other directions, but thu reports-were adverse, and the experiment was not repeated. »b think wisely. . .