AUSTRALIAN PLANES ARE OBSOLETE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 103, 22 July 1927, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN PLANES ARE OBSOLETE

GRAVE DEFENCE DANGER GUARDING AGAINST INVASION Captain G. F. Hughes, president of the Sydney Aero Club, in an address on “Aviation” before members of the Legacy Club, criticised the inadequacy of the means available for the aerial defence of Australia, He asserted that practically the whole of the machines in use by the Australian Air Force were obsolete, being of the 1918 type. the point of view of defence, said Captain Hughes. aviation was of vital importance to Austr-alia. He was not one of those “cranks” who believed that aviation was the only means of defence for Australia, but it was an important adjunct to the other forces. Aviation, developed with startling rapidity in 1918, compared with w hat it was in the early days of the war, when a couple of men flew alongside one another, each trying to shoot the other down with automatic pistols. But since 1918 there had been considerable development, and in the next war aviation would be used altogether differently. By the use of wireless telephony huge flights of airplanes would be controlled and directed, much on the lines of a battalion of infantry. Starved For Funds For the defence of Australia, airplanes were needed as much as they were in the defence of any other country, proceeded Captain Hughes, but, like every other branch of Australia’s defence force, the air branch was starved of fLinds, and it was impossible to form the nucleus of an adequate air force. An efficient air force could be classified into three sections—for defence against aerial invasion, for co-operation with the naval forces, and for co-operation with the military forces. With regard to the first heading, he considered the statement that an enemy could land in the middle of Australia a fleet of planes which could destroy the capital cities was alarmist. Defence against aerial invasion was necessary, and the only real form of defence was offence—to go into the enemy’s own bases and smash their planes in their own country. For this work, fast single-seater machines were necessary, to- shoot down enemy machines should they attempt to attack Australia. For co-operation with the naval forces, machines were necessary for scouting and spotting, convoy work, long sea patrols, and torpedo planes. Machines were necessary for co-opera-tion with the army for artillery spotting, photography, infantry co-opera-tion, bombing, offensive fighters, day and night bombers, and strategical reconnaissance. At present, added Captain Hughes, Australia had practically nothing but obsolete machines of a type produced 10 years ago, which would be absolutely useless for modern warfare. Although experimental work was being carried on in Australia, an airplane and its engine could not be produced there because of the lack of technical equipment. The whole thing was unorganised. Insufficient Personnel In addition, there was insufficient personnel to make Australia’s aerial defence as efficient as it should be. If the need arose to-day, Australia probably could not muster more than 40 serviceable machines. He doubted whether a squadron of 18 machines, fully equipped for warfare, could be mustered. It was only by bringing pressure to bear upon Parliaments and Governments that this state of affairs could be remedied. Captain Hughes said that one way of assisting to make the country safe was by building up an industry capable of producing aircraft and engines.