AIR FORCE EXPANSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1939, Page 10

AIR FORCE EXPANSION

REMARKABLE FIGURES

MACHINES, MEN, AND BASES

1 The expansion started from the ' scratch mark, for prior to 1935 the : greatest claim which the air arm had !to public interest was its sounding title, the Royal New Zealand Air 1 Force. The personnel was small. machines and equipment were inade--1 quate, and advanced training was consequently virtually , impossible. • When the policy of Air Force expansion was laid down a first step was to , place the Air Department upon its own feet with a separate annual .vote. In January, 1937, the plan of expansion recommended by the former Chief of Air Staff, Group Captain the Hon. R. A. Cochrane, was adopted by the Government. The first two years of expansion went by in high-pressure work of organisation of staff and methods for the building and control of a real Air Force, in gradual increase in personnel and training, the modernising of the former air bases, and the creation of new and larger bases and depots, the creation of an effective Territorial Air Force, and the planning and building of reserves. Only now is the scheme getting into step along ito full service lines, and, as the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, stated in the Address-in-Reply debate! last week, further developments are ahead again. EXPANSION IN FIGURES. The Royal New Zealand Air Force as ] it was in 1935. its advance to date, and I the steps ahead can be compared (summarising the Minister's summaries still further) like .this: — March. 1935. Total personnel (Regular, Territorial, and Reserves) 202 Civil Emergency Reserve — Machines * 24 Ammunition and bombs Practically , ■ nil Bases and depots .... Hobsonville, Wigram Territorial centres ... -— i More vital than the figures—fifteenfold in personnel, twentyf old in ; machine equipment, nothing to half a million in armament, and so down the list—is the degree of efficiency, made possible by the provision of modern training and effective service machines, full staff and ground organisation, modern bases, and the scheme of cooperation with other arms, on the New Zealand coasts and far into the Pacific. The aim is high, for particularly to New Zealand, which can be approached only by sea, the highest performance in specialised technique by defending aircraft is essential.

VITAL CHANGE IN TRAINING OF PILOTS. '

The first of the longe-range Vickers Wellington bombers are to be flown from England by New Zealand pilots and officers before the end of the year,' and here will be a really spectacular show, for the flight of 30 bombers 13,000 miles from England will be a real feat in air delivery, though the machines will not come out in one grand formation, but will arrive over a period oi several months.

The commencement of flying at Woodbourne Aerodrome. Blenheim, will be nowise spectacular, yet it will mark a great change in the plan of training pilots who go overseas to the Royal Air Force for service in Britain, Egypt, the East, or wherever it may be, before, in most cases, returning as highly-qualified reservists to New Zealand.

By the 'end of this month 267 New ■Zealanders will have left for England, since June, 1937, for direct entry to the Royal Air Force, and about 100 have gone or are shortly going to the Royal Air Force after receiving their service training in New Zealand.

When the new flying training school at Woodbourne is opened early next year the direct entry system will be dropped and all Air Force officers, whether they are to serve in the New Zealand Air Force or are to join the Royal Air Force, will go through their first intensive training in New Zealand. Wigram, the present Air Force training base, by then greatly enlarged as to quarters, hangars, stores, and facilities} and Woodbourne, will both be needed to keep up the pace set by the agreement between Britain and New Zealand, for it is proposed to dispatch 220 trained pilots each year And this training is over and above the training' of officers and airmen required for the expansion of the New Zealand Air Force itself.

The development of the Royal New Zealand Air Force since 1935 has been fully comparable, having regard to population, with that of overseas forces, and New Zealand has done particularly well in her contribution of officers to the Royal Air Force under the agreement between the British and Dominion Governments. There is a still greater and more rapid expansion immediately ahead, and the Air Department is calling again for applications for vacancies and pending vacancies in practically all branches of the New Zealand service and for commissions in Britain and the Royal Air Force overseas.

MORE FLYING PERSONNEL,

More dying personnel for the Regular New Zealand Air Force, for entry to the R.A.F. in Britain, and for the pilots' section of the New Zealand Air Force Reserve is to be selected within the next few months, and applications are being called now. The entry ages are from 17£ to 28 years, and physical, intellectual, and "leadership" qualifications are high, higher, in fact, than for almost all other forms of national and public service.

The periods of training for all flying personnel are two months of introductory flying training under quali tied aero club instructors, and six months" training as acting-pilot officers at the Air Force Flying Training Schools, before posting to a station or base as members of the Regular Force. Pending the change-over from the R.A.F direct-entry plan candidates for the Royal Air Force sail for England after their initial two months' training. Pupil pilots and acting pilot officers receive pay at the rate of £150] a year, free quarters or quarters allowance, a uniform grant, and flying clothing on loan. EIGHT MONTHS' TRAINING FOR j _ RESERVISTS. i The period of short-service commission is five years, with possible exten-

siohs to ten years or to permanent commissions, but there are many who are keen to serve in the Air Force but who cannot join up for five years— practically six years, having regard to the eight months of training. The Pilots' Reserve meets them more than half-way, for paid training is offered, but "entry to the Reserve entails a minimum of eight months' intensive training, two under a club instructor and six at a flying training school.

The Reservp of Pilots is at present small, but the aim is to build it np at the rate of 150 a year, and, enthusiastic though intending candidates may be, the difficulty of finding eight months for continuous intensive training can in most cases only be met by the granting of leave of absence by employers.

Members of the Civil Service who have faced the medical and selection boards and have come through—not so easy, for the standard is reall: high— have been granted leave for the full period of Reserve training, and a similar arrangement has been made by certain of the banks and some private employers. Certain employers have granted members of their staff' leave for the full period of the short-service commission, giving them the assurance that their jobs will be open to them on their return from service, whether in the New Zealand Air Force or with the R.A.F. abroad.

The plan of training in the Territorial Air Force does not entail continuous application to service duty

March, 1939. 1941. 1199 3146 5000 5000 54 Plus 280 bombers 100 trainers £480,000 to be expended Hobsonville Whenuapai (Ak.) Wigram Ohakea (R'gi'kei.) H'ville. (Auck.) Wigram (Ch.Ch.) ; W'bourne. (Marl.) Harewood (Cant.) "Wellington Auckland Christchurch New Plymouth Auckland Hastings Wellington. • . ; Blenheim f . Christchurch Dunedin . Invercargill

for months on end, for the squadrons are mainly formed of pilots and airmen in their home towns and districts. Nevertheless, the work is intensive and calls for a considerable but very willing sacrifice of time by Territorial members and for the co-operation of employers.

A certain number of members of Territorial Squadrons are drafted to Wigram at intervals for advanced and specialised instruction and training for periods of up. to four and six months' continuous duty, and all members are required to attend annual camos of two weeks. On the occasion of the first camp at Marlborough. some employers were reluctant to <*rant leave, but there is today a full realisation of the value of the work which the Territorial Sauadrons are ioing in the trainirfg of a valuable auxiliary to the Regular Air Force, <md attendances have stood consistently at 80 per cent, and better at camps <md parades. ' GREAT INCREASE IN GROUND PERSONNEL. Not nearly everyone in the Air Force flies; there may be from ten to fifteen men on the ground for each pilot and officer in the air, so the increase on the. ground is still' greater than in flying . personnel. The Air Secretary is calling for 100 flight mechanics and flight riggers. 40 clerks for genera] duties and accounting work, 35 equipment assistants and smaller numbers of machine tool setters, carpenters, and medical orderlies. Within the next year 500 flight mechanics and riggers and a large number of recruits in various trades will be required.! Entry ages are from 18 to 25 years. and »he period of service will be for eight years at one of other of the Regular ! Air Bases and four years in the Air \ Force • Reserve after the completion of service.