Page 6 Advertisements Column 5

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1931, Page 6

USELESS AIR STUXTS. During the last .twelve months tlh're have been twelve collisions between Uoyal Air Force aeroplanes in mid-air. involving eleven deaths and also the loss of aircraft to the, value oT £50,000. A large number of the.A? coll's : ons' are due to close formation fly'ng. and there is often an increase in the number of accidents at the time when prvdjsjng for the R.A.F. Displays ' begins. The view is widely held among engaged in. aeronautics that owing to 'he exceptionally high casualty rah? in the iB.A.F. this year, close fornmt?o-> as it is done at present should he stopped. It is argued that it is a n-relv ‘parade-ground’ manoeuvre without value on active service, and that its risks outweigh any flving tr-'ni’-g value it may possess. Aircraft : n cl- se formation cannot, fivht or we'D-h the.: sky for hostile machines. F>r tlrs reason the close format’on is the most ■ vulnerable. In add'+ion f+ forms an excellent mark for anti-a.irrraf 4 - guns.” —The Aeronautical correspondent of the “Morning Post.”