AUSTRALIA'S AIR FORCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 138, 8 December 1937, Page 5

AUSTRALIA'S AIR FORCE

It is expected that by the end of 1938 the Royal Australian Air Force will have a front-line strength of 200 modern fighting machines. The last consignment of the general purpose Avro Anson machines, for which orders were placed in England two years ago, will arrive in Melbourne shortly. Two other types of modern aircraft will be added in 1938. These are the advanced models of the Bristol Blenheim aircraft, which will have a speed of 300 miles an hour and a long cruising range, and the NAI6 training machines, which will be manufactured at Fisherman's Bend, Port Melbourne. The advanced Bristol Blenheim planes will be used for coastal patrol work. They are expected to form an essential part of the equipment of the projected new aircraft and sub-naval base at Darwin. Because of the expansion of the air force, the practice of sending half of the newl^y-trained officers to the Royal Air Force each year will now be abandoned. Forty air cadets graduate at the Point Cooke flying training school on December 15, and only eight graduates instead of 20 will be sent to England. When a further group of officers graduates next July, only seven will be sent to England, whereas in former years 20 would have gone.