BRITISH AIR FORCE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 9, 8 December 1926, Page 13

BRITISH AIR FORCE

WONDERFUL FLYING RECORD. .WHY PILOTS CRASH. LONDON. Nov. 29. Tfio astounding fact tnat. the men of the British Royal Air Force, in the course of the year, have flown. 50 per cent more hours than the pilots of the world’s entire civilian and commercial air routes, was revealed in the course of an inquiry regarding the recent accidents. The public is gravely concerned at the increasing number of fatalities, which at present total 81, and are the result of 50 crashes during the year. It is authoritatively stated that the fatalities, in relation to the hours flown, compare somewhat unfavourably with last year’s figures. Otherwise, the period has been the most satisfactory in the peace-time history of the Fair Force. Further, Britain s Air Force fatalities, compared with the hours flown, are below those of any other Great Power. The British fatalities, though numerically appalling, have not affected recruiting. At a recent examination to fill 500 places, 1500 artisan ratings were candidates, though all were required to work upon machines during flight. The only positions which there is any difficulty in filling are those of butchers and bakers. If the ratio of accidents in France and America were taken as a standard, Britain’s record was still more remarkable, because the flying conditions in Britain and her overseas stations were the worst in the world. An example is the north-west frontier of India, where engine failure, or a storm in the Himalayas, necessitating a forced landing, means' a certain crash. Air Force pilots in Britain fly during normal training in fogs and rainstorms, and even snowstorms, which suspend operations elsewhere. DANGEROUS TRICKS.

Members of the Air Force face constant hazards in the thickly populated and cultivated districts over which they fly regularly. . The authorities investigating the crashes are of the opinion that the majority of recent accidents are directly traceable to errors of judgment on the part of even the most experienced pilots. The most recent smash, at Kenley, was due to a. pilot, regarded as one of the safest men in the force, overstepping the limits of safety during a climbing turn, which he had previously performed safely, thousands of times. Another experienced officer, one of the two killed at Farnbqrough, became absorbed in a new instrument, and did not notice that he had lost flying speed. The chiefs of the Air Ministry are rigorously enforcing every possible regulation to check pilots from taking undue risks. Many courts martial have been held for this offence, resulting in the reduction in rank of the pilots concerned. , TOO CONFIDENT. Many of the older pilots are guilty of over-confidence, which is most difficult to combat. Pilots also oppose the introduction of safety devices, particularly the pilots of single-seater fighters, who distrust mechanical devices which are likely at any moment to take charge of the machine. The ability to stall at will, causing the machine to drop like a stone, is one of tho favourito tricks in the fighter’s repertoire, but it is bound to bo fatal sooner or later if it is done at low altitudes. , . ( Similar opposition was shown to the introduction of parachutes, which they are now compelled to carry.