THE AIR FORCE
WANGANUI'S GIFT MACHINE. The Hon. Arthur Myers, president of tho Overseas Club, has received from the Air Ministry at Home formal acknowledgment of the gift aeroplnno presented to the Il(iy,ul Air Force through the medium of the Overseas Club by Mr. E, R. Jackson, of Wanganui. The aoroplano iu question was one of eight machines presented on Empire Day from overseas patriots, and which brought up tho total number of machines donated by tho Overseas Club at that date to no fowor than 165, at a_ cost of £268,000. "Each aeroplano gifted in this manner," commented Mr. Myers to a reporter yesterday, "carries with it not only much assistance and encouragement to the Royal Flying Corps, but also means additional strength in tho direction of victory. Now Zealand has,now presented six aeroplanes to the Air Service, each one of which, should it bo destroyed or otherwise put out of action, will' at oncn be duplicated by the Imperial authorities, under its original'title, so that, ill peace or war, New Zealand's gift machines will be continuously in'commission, playing their part in the work of Empire-building.
"Tb.e growth of our aerial arm has been swift and dramatic," said Mr. Myers. "In the early days of the war the pioneer Air Force that'left the shores of England for the front consisted of four small squadrons. At tho present time the newly-created Air Ministry at Home, governed by a council comprising the ch'iof heads of the different sections of the Department, controls - many, tens >of thousands of men, and is responsible in its offices in London for the mapping out of the whole strategy of the air war. That' the science of flight is one that is now admitted to be of paramount importance to the continued life and safety of the nation is also indicated by tho fact that there has recently been" established a professorship of aviation at the London University, and which Chair lias been endowed by Sir Basil Zalmrolf to the extent of £25,0001 Another 'sign of the times' is. the establishment of a committee at Home for tho purpose of' inquiring into the development of aerial civil communications between the various parts of tho Empire after the war, and on which committeo the overseas Dominions (including New Zoaland) are fully represented. ','lt is therefore'especially gratifying," remarked Mr. Myers, "to know that Now Zealand is awake to the im-1 portance of the art of aerial navigation. She possesses two thoroughly efficient training schools for pilots, and has sent home dozens of skilled and daring flyers, whose work has been of much value during the war. Amongst the factors that are bringing victory within sight and arc instrumental in preventing the death or incapacitation of thousands of our men at tho front none looms larger than does our intrepid Air Service."
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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 299, 6 September 1918, Page 7
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473THE AIR FORCE Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 299, 6 September 1918, Page 7
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