GROUND ENGINEERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 134, 8 June 1937, Page 8

GROUND ENGINEERS

(To the Editor.) .. Sir,—l have keenly followed the Government's actions regarding air defence and with your kind permission would like to comment thereon. Conspicuous by its absence among the various, schemes adopted by the Government is that of a scheme for training ground- engineers. We hear of nothing but training for pilots. Surely it is realised that ttiese pilots, when trained, will be useless in an emergency if there are not sufficient ground engineers to maintain their machines. The vital point to consider is that a pilot's training does not occupy a third of the time necessary to train a ground engineer. New Zealand is losing young men for the want of training facilities of this type. A young man keen on ground engineering has to travel to some other country to learn, and the shortage of trained men in all countries will be responsible for his employment there. A suggestion on which some practical scheme could be built is that of State schools, which would provide tne Government with a means of procuring sufficient trained men when the need arose. I am not suggesting that the Government should provide free training for all who care to avail themselves of it. The schools suggested need not be run at a loss; fees could be fixed and a proviso, as in the pilots' civil reserve scheme, could be made.— l am, etc., PUZZLED.