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REPORT OF THE ACTING CONTROLLER OF CIVIL AVIATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 1946 The Hon. the Minister of Defence. I have the honour to submit the following report on civil aviation for the year ended 31st March, 1946. SECTION I.—ADMINISTRATION 1. Organization On 31st March, 194J3, the staff of the Branch numbered 46, mostly comprised of personnel seconded from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. One of the primary functions of the Civil Aviation Branch will be the study of practices and techniques developed during six years of war. Many of these will find ready application to civil operations, and consideration will be given to those which will aid the safety of aerial navigation both on domestic and international air routes. One wartime feature which will remain is the Air Traffic Control Organization, which as a service responsibility has become well established throughout New Zealand and the more important Pacific Islands. Prior to the war the only control organization was that provided at Auckland (Mechanics Bay) for the Trans-Tasman and the Pan-American Airways Pacific services. With the increase in commercial, club, and private flying which can be anticipated, an efficient air Traffic Control service constitutes an essential step in the safety of the air lanes. Advances which must be further studied are those made in communications and radio aids to navigation, and planning in these matters is already well under way. New conceptions in operational procedures have also resulted from the intensive flying carried out by the Allied Air Forces Transport Commands, and operators are fully alive to the advantages to be gained in adopting those suitable to local conditions. One of the problems which will require early attention is the training of civilian personnel in modern techniques, particularly instrument flying and navigation. It would obviously be impracticable to provide a purely civilian organization to handle such work, and the only workable scheme would appear to be a combined school charged with the responsibility of training both civilian and R.N.Z.A.F. personnel. 2. Legislation At the twenty-eighth session of the International Commission for Air Navigation the provisions of Annex D to the Convention were modified to include modern conceptions of aerodrome and air route traffic control, and the Annex was made obligatory in respect of all States signatory to the Convention. The new Annex was examined by the Branch's technical Officers, and, after minor modification, it was adopted in amended form for incorporation in the Air Navigation Regulations 1933, in substitution of the existing Schedule IY. An amendment has also been prepared to cover the new requirements for the issue of Aircraft Engineers' Licences. Both amendments will be promulgated during 1946.

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