H.—id.

2. AIR SERVICES. (a) N.Z. Permanent Air Force. The strength of the New Zealand Permanent Air Force remains at nine officers and forty-four other ranks. This establishment is barely sufficient for the maintenance of the two N.Z. Air Force aerodromes and equipment, and for the administrative and inspectional demands of civil aviation. Neither the establishment of personnel nor the equipment is sufficient, however, to permit the formation of the smallest Air Force unit, and it must be emphasized that this branch of the service is quite incapable of providing sustained co-operation with the Army or Navy or of acting as a deterrent to sea-borne raids. The expenditure for the year ending March, 1933 (£24,700) is considerably less than it has been for the last seven years, and is definitely below the amount necessary to maintain the minimum organization and equipment capable of carrying out Air Force duties under service conditions. The highly technical nature of Air Force training under modern conditions renders it essential that officers of the Permanent Air Force should be sent abroad for stall and specialist training. It is hoped that provision can be made in the near future for further overseas training of officers. As regards the " other ranks " the steadily increasing maintenance work can only be carried out at the expense of other Air Force duties. Both military training and technical efficiency are seriously impaired by the lack of time and facilities for instruction. The present lack of incentive to promotion militates against technical proficiency and may involve the loss of skilled aircraftmen when the general economic condition returns to normal. Air observation of artillery fire has been provided by D.H. Moth aircraft from the two Air Force stations for most of the Territorial batteries at their annual camps at Rotorua, Waipukurau, and Matarae. In addition, a limited amount of co-operation with other Territorial units has also been carried out. The total flying-time on these duties has been 158 hours. As regards co-operation with H.M. Division of the Royal Navy, the Fairey lIIf seaplane, supplemented by Moth aircraft, have been engaged throughout the year on this duty with excellent results. The exercises have included torpedo observation, sleeve target practices, observation of fall of shot, search and interception exercises, and low-flying attack practices. The total flying-time on this class of work has been sixty-seven hours. During the period under review there has been one accident involving injury to personnel. (b) N.Z. Air Force (Territorial). As explained in my last report, the training of this unit has now reached a stage at which no further progress can be expected without a marked increase in the permanent personnel and equipment. The Territorial branch of the Air Force is still restricted to officers and the absence of " other ranks " in the squadrons, seriously affects efficiency and training. Although there is no dearth of junior civilian pilots eminently suitable for Air Force training, it has not been possible to permit any additional appointments this year. The annual Squadron Refresher Courses were held at Wigram Aerodrome, Christchurch, between January and April, 1933. These courses were attended by sixty-seven officers who carried out an aggregate of 954 hours' flying on the training-machines and Bristol Fighters. The increased flyinghours, which were chiefly devoted to various phases of applied flying training, such as front-gun practices, bombing, and artillery co-operation, led to an appreciable increase in general efficiency in these duties. It is most desirable, however, that the training-period should be very much further extended, partly by increasing the duration of the annual courses, and partly by providing facilities for training during the year, in order to bring the amount of training into fine with that carried out by similar units abroad. The keenness displayed by officers at these courses has been exemplary. (c) Aircraft and Equipment. An additional Fairey lIIf seaplane ordered in November arrived in the Dominion on 23rd May. The number of Service aircraft on charge at the two Air Force stations comprise— Hobsonville : Two Fairey lIIf seaplanes. Wigram : Five Bristol Fighters, two Grebe S.S. Fighters. Both the Bristol Fighters and the Grebes are obsolete. The former have given remarkable, service as training aircraft during the past six years, but they cannot be maintained in a serviceable condition much longer, and their replacement by modern trainer-type aircraft is receiving attention. The other machines comprise a Cutty Sark flying-boat and three D.H. Moths at Hobsonville, and four Hawker Tomtits and three D.H. Moths at Wigram Aerodrome for elementary training and communication purposes. The two Fairey lIIf aircraft represent the nucleus of a coastal reconnaissance and bombing flight. For the last two years a large proportion of the moneys voted for the purchase of aircraft and equipment has not been expended. This has been due to the absence of any means of making progress payments to manufacturers in England.

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