ROYAL AIR FORCE

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 103, 4 May 1931, Page 9

ROYAL AIR FORCE

fHE YEAR'S ESTIMATES

PROGRESS IN DESKSfi

DEFENCE OF LONDON

,' (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON", 20th March. Dealing -with the Air Estimates in the Committee of Supply, Mr. Montague, Under-Seeretary for Air, said the estimated expenditure for 1931 showed a net total of £18,10(1,000, 'which was an increase of £250,000 on the current rear's figure. There was a somewhat larger rise in the gross estimate than in the net, the gross increase teing £273.400. This was accounted for by an increase in Approprintions-in-Aid of £23,400, but as the Appropria-tions-in-Aid included the provision of the necessary funds for a British entry in tho Schneider Trophy contest this year it was evident that there would otherwise have been a decline under this item. Gross estimates formed the most accurate standard of comparison iri considering national expenditure on Air Services from one year to another, and on this basis air expenditure was substantially lower to-day than six years ago. Onlj' by tho most rigid economy consistent with efficient administration of the service had it been possible to keep the figures of estimated expenditure as low as those he had given. The rise- of £250,000 actually concealed a considerable measure of economy over tho wholo field of air expenditure. All concerned had given unremitting attention to the**nced of effecting savings wherever possible without endangering safety or reducing efficiency. The increase was very well considering ,tho addition duo to be made to the strength of the Air Force. DEFENCE SCHEME. When, the scheme for the air defence of this country was inaugurated it was contemplated that a force of 52 squadrons would have been completed by 1930. In the past financial year one cadre squadron had been added, bringing the Homo Defence Force to date up to 39 squadrons, equalling approximately 452 aircraft, It. should bo remembered that 13 of those 39 squadrons existed on a nontegular or a cadre basis. Eight t.of them belonged to the Auxiliary Air Force, and the entire personnel of the Auxiliary Air Force- —except for , a small number of regular personnel and ■the instructional staff —was in entirely ] the same position as tho Territorial .Army and would only be called out I for service in the event of a major ; war. This applied to a substantial ;■ proportion \ef the personnel serving ;in the five cadre squadrons. When J.the three new squadrons were added, |we should have 42 squadrons, with an 'approximate first-line strength of about 490 aircraft, only two-thirds of which would belong to the units, of the Regular Air Force. In other words, in 1931 there would be 10 squadrons fewer than the original •liheme authorised for completion by ■J330. He had no desire to strike a note ti alarm in referring to the first-line strengths of foreign countries, in comparison with tho, first-line strength of Shis country, but rather to emphasise the point that this country, while it insisted on maintaining a force of high quality and technical efficiency of the first order, had no desire: —even if it were practicable —to indulge in a race in air .'i armaments, but looked rather for sub- ! stantial results to that international I understanding which every friend of I humanity and progress hoped would khe the outcome of the Disarmament -'Conference. It was a fact, however, j.that -this country stood fifth, among the , air Powers of the world. Moreover, v in our. case, our smaller . strength was • much, more widely distributed and had .to bear, a bigger burden in regard to air defence abroad. NEW MACHINES. .- Constant, efforts wore being mafic -ito improve the Air Force in aircraft design and fighting efficiency, and the only two types still designated as beJng of "wur-timo design"—although very considerably modified since their .inception—weru 'tlio D.IL9A and the i Bristol Fighter. There wore now no iD.H.9A }8 in the squadrons, and by f the completion' of tho 1931 programme 'f.the Bristol Fighter would have, dis'i appeared entirely from squadrons. j? More modern machines were, of course, | ■'being introduced into service as rapidu.ly as possible, including the Fury inIt'erceptor—an aircraft designed prirriI'arily for the defence of London, the | special characteristic of which was a » very high rate of climb. The stand- | ard fighter for all' purposes was the f Bulldog, and the Siskin was now obsolescent. A naval edition of the land £Fury aircraft was tho Nimrod, which if had :a. .speed of about 60 m.p.h. more than'the present type, and a, new fight-' cr reconnaissance, aircraft for naval purposes was tho Osprey, which was ■'a suitable adaptation for naval purposes of a new day-bombing machine called the Hart. This machine had a better all-round, performance than any previous aircraft of this class. A number of general purpose lIIF. machines . were being introduced into _ service •'- this year with air-cooled engines. Four years ago the change ifrom ; wood to" metal aircraft construction I; was inaugurated, and this year no \ wooden aircraft were ordered for '(■ squadrons, and only a few of comI posite- construction. Excluding tram- ■; mc and subsidiary units, there wero '■■■ at°present only 12* per cent, of wooden 'structure in the service. These would, ! before very long, be wholly replaced iby all-metal machines. INDIAN FRONTIER. This country was responsible for tho ! defence of India. It was not a ques- ' tipn of the Constitution of India; an ' Indian Government, of whatever kind :of construction, would have to defend the North-west Frontier or leave that area at, least to forces of anarchy. There could be no doubt that in these border operations air action was less an agent of slaughter than any other medium of warfare. During those operations the Royal Air Force enr- ■ riod out a total of 1153 aircraft at- : -tacks, flew a total of 5:130 hours, and in no case did a forced landing take place in enemy territory. That reflcct'cd the greatest credit upon the officers and men of the squadrons concerned. Mr. Montague went on to speak of t'.ie research work in progress. Experiments had been made with one of the most.difficult and, at the same time, important problems of air navigation—namely, the question of landing in adverse weather, especially fog. The particular experiment he had in mind was that of fixing the approximate position of an aerodrome by means of a captive balloon let up above a fog bank. Once this approximate position was determined tho pilot was able to reach the ground purely by means of indicating instruments upon the machine. Tho experiments had been carried out with great skill and determination under novel and difficult conditions, and it was hoped that the knowledge gained would bo of value in increasing the safety- of flight under adverse weather conditions. Another problem, affecting

civil aviation principally, and of importance to passengers in transport aircraft, was that of noise. Experiments begun last year had been actively continued. Comparisons had been made with two similar machines, ono having geared and tho other ungeared engines, with a view to discovering which type was the quieter, and in investigations of this character noise was measured with an instrument called the audiometer, in which a unit of measurement was used which was the smallest difference of strength between two Rounds thai could be'perceived by the human ear. Tests had been proceeding on engine silencers in order1 to reduce the noise of exhausts, and there had been made a sound-proof cabinet in which different materials wero being tested to show ways in which tho noiso in the cabins of air liners could be reduced by having suitable soundproof walls. AUTOMATIC SLOTS. One of the most important problems in the research programme was that of spinning. The present-position was that, although the main factors responsible for the behaviour of au aircraft in a spin wore known, there was not yet sufficient knowledge of tho aero-dynamic forces involved to justify any certain or close prediction whether a design would prove satisfactory in this respect. The high speed flight during the past year had been engaged on research into the efficiency of airscrews, and much scientific information had been obtained from the machines themselves. Of the 35 types of aircraft at present in service, 15 were now fitted with automatic slots, and four other types wero on the point of completion. Slots were being tried out experimentally with flying-boats and high-perform--j rinec aircraft of the single-seater fighting type, and, under a recent decision, training aircraft now made use of slots. Taking the proportion of machines so fitted,°Bo per cent, of the service was cither equipped or on the point of equipment with slotted aircraft. In addition, as another important measure of safety, a parachute was available for every officer and. man in the air, and by the end of this year all types of aircraft in the service would have been designed or modified to permit of their carriage and use. . This applied to the Fleet Air Arm, and the possibility of doing this for sea-going aircraft was due to the success of the new quick-release gear.