CLEARING THE AIR

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23966, 5 June 1943, Page 4

CLEARING THE AIR

* [By WHIM WHAM.] Disused Royal Air Force Napier Lion aeroplane engines, which when new cost nearly £2OOO, are being sold in London for £lO each, complete In working order. "The Times” quotes a scrap metal merchant as saying that he bought them for breaking, -for which he found there was insufficient labour, so he was now selling them to aeronautical enthusiasts who thought they would build their own aeroplanes after the war,—Cable news Item. If Aero-engines can be sold Like This, it rather looks As if we had begun to turn Our Spears to Pruning-hooks, In Preparation for that Time When War is done away with, And All its Engines are but Toys For Amateurs to play with. Some of the Implements of War, Their grimmer Duties ended, May find in Years of Peace to come Their Usefulness extended. The Tank, perhaps, could pull the Plough, Thus fruitfully applied To cultivate, not devastate, A grateful Countryside. But What do we propose to do With All these Aeroplanes? When Each of us has One to fly, The Surplus that remains Will far exceed the simple Needs / That Peace with Order brings. No Doubt, to clear the Air a Bit, WeTl have to clip our Wings!