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Royal Air Force

Volume 487: debated on Wednesday 25 April 1951

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Flying Instructors

37.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will determine the minimum amount to be paid to flying instructors at Reserve flying schools.

No, Sir. Flying instructors at Reserve flying schools are employees of private firms working under contract to the Air Ministry and the terms under which they serve is a matter for settlement between employer and employee.

Does not the Under-Secretary of State realise that these contracts go out to tender, and would it not be perfectly easy for his contracts departments to lay down a minimum rate of pay? Does he not realise that these men are receiving little more money than they were receiving before the war, and that by side-tracking the matter he is doing them an injustice?

I think the hon. and gallant Member has been misled in the whole matter. It was really to prevent any Government Department having to determine what are or are not fair wages that the fair wages clause was introduced by the Coalition Government. We are carrying out the policy that clause recommended and we are sticking to it because we are sure that it is only proper to do so.

I shall ask the pilots' unions to press their case as hard as possible to get justice.

Is my hon. Friend not aware that it is a job for the trade unions concerned and that the air pilots have very efficient trade unions for the purpose of settling these grievances?

38.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many officers of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve have volunteered to serve as flying instructors for a maximum period of 18 months.

So far 77 officers and nine N.C.O.s have indicated their willingness to serve as flying instructors.

Am I to understand that the number circulated is 200? How does the Minister propose to get the remainder? Will he offer further inducements to obtain the other 120?

We approached 300 people to start with and out of these 86 responded. We are now approaching the others. We hope we shall get them all as willing volunteers.

Can the Minister assure us that officers who have done some Reserve training will be recalled in a rank which will ensure that they are not penalised for having done this training as compared with officers retired with the same rank, who have done no training?

Does the Minister not think that it is the present rates of pay which are precluding a larger number of men volunteering for the job?

On the contrary, I believe that the civil firms are finding it very difficult to get instructors because the R.A.F. rates of pay are proving more attractive.

Aircrews (Meat Ration)

39.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what scale of meat is issued to aircrew of the Royal Air Force in this country.

The daily scale for aircrew living in is 41/14 ounces. Aircrew who live out, like all other Service personnel in this country who live out, receive the same meat rations as civilians, but may buy meals in their mess or dining room. Both living in and living out aircrew, however, receive an additional 1⅙ ounces a day when doing night flying following normal daily duty.

Does not the Under-Secretary think this is quite an inadequate amount of meat for men who are flying at a speed near that of sound? Why should these men get less than those serving in the Merchant Service or on trawlers? In view of the high casualty rate of aircrew in jet aircraft will he make strenuous efforts to see that the men are properly fed? Is he aware that there is a view held—the Minister of Defence is laughing. Is he laughing at casualties in the Air Force?

Then let him take the smile off his face. Will the Under-Secretary review the matter because there is a widely held view that the ration is inadequate?

We should all like a little more meat and I have made my own inquiries into this matter. As a matter of fact, on the best estimate I can make, aircrews get a little more meat than miners. However, we review their supplies every year and if we can ensure extra supplies for them we will do so.

Is the Under-Secretary aware that in my humble opinion a man needs more meat to march 14 miles than to fly an aircraft?

Is the Minister aware that the merchant seamen's meat allowance is 4 lb. 11 oz. a week? Would it not be a good thing to make these two rations more equal?

The medical authorities in the Air Force are satisfied that the present ration is adequate.

If the medical authorities are satisfied, others are not. I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter again as soon as possible.

Tangmere Aerodrome (Limits)

40.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when he is going to decide the future limits of Tangmere aerodrome.

The limits of the main runway and overshoot at Tangmere have now been settled and have been notified to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport, who is consulting the highway authority on the provision of alternative routes for the highways affected.

Does the hon. Gentleman know that he has held up his right hon. Friend for about a year in this matter? Can he say when he arrived at the decision and whether it was before I put the Question down?

The decision was delayed owing to alterations in the specification on the part of Fighter Command.

Tiger Moth Aircraft

42.

asked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent Royal Air Force pilots are trained on Tiger Moth aircraft.

Tiger Moths are not used for the training of regular Royal Air Force pilots in the United Kingdom or in Canada. They are still used for initial training in Rhodesia but are being replaced by Chipmunks. A few are still used by university air squadrons and a larger number by Reserve flying schools.

In view of that reply, would my hon. Friend make it emphatically clear that pilots training for the Royal Air Force are not trained on Tiger Moth aircraft—a fact which was given publicity in a report in a Sunday newspaper a fortnight ago—and that the only use for Tiger Moths is for people getting their hand in after having had long experience as operational flyers?

Atc Cadets (Scholarships)

43.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is satisfied that the air training scheme promoted by the Association of British Aero Clubs and Centres whereby selected Air Training Corps cadets are granted flying scholarships and trained by civil flying clubs has been instrumental in helping Royal Air Force recruitment; how many such cadets have qualified for a pilot's licence; and to what extent encouragement is proposed for the training of larger numbers.

My right hon. and learned Friend considers that the Air Ministry scheme for the training of selected Air Training Corps cadets at civil flying clubs is a great encouragement to these cadets to enter the Royal Air Force as aircrew and, as he stated in reply to the hon. and learned Member for Chertsey (Mr. Heald) on 18th April, the number of scholarships to be awarded this year is being increased to 300. One hundred and thirty-seven cadets have so far successfully completed their training and have qualified for a private pilot's licence.

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Association stated that the training of 750 cadets a year would be well within the immediate capacity of the clubs, and would he, in particular, give as much practical encouragement as he possibly can to the Leicester Aero Club, which is anxious to play its part in this important work?

I understand that the Leicester Aero Club have no airfield at the moment.

On a point of order. Would you ask the Minister if he will speak into the microphone. Sir, when answering questions put from back benches, so that we may all be able to hear?

Will my hon. Friend do what he can to assist the Leicester Aero Club to obtain a suitable airfield, so that they may be able to carry out the training which they are anxious to carry out?

Bombing Range, Heligoland

44.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is now in a position to fix a date for the final cessation of the bombardment of Heligoland; and when it will be possible to hand over the island to the native Frisian inhabitants.

A survey to find an alternative bombing range to Heligoland is in progress, but I cannot at present say whether it will be possible to bring a new range into use before March, 1952, which is the latest date by which Heligoland will be given up.

Does the hon. Gentleman not recollect the promise given by his right hon. and learned Friend, that if targets were placed at his disposal on other islands, the bombing would cease? I understand that those targets have been placed at his disposal by the German authorities.

No. There has not yet been agreement on any particular target. We hope we shall find one before the end of this year. As soon as we find one we shall stop using Heligoland.

Having regard to recent attempts at the plantation in Heligoland of persons of a persuasion other than that of the native Frisian inhabitants, may it not be necessary to partition Heligoland?

Is the hon. Gentleman not aware that none of those Communists or others had anything whatever to do with Heligoland? Not a single one of them was a Frisian native.