Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 6, 2019 23:06:11 GMT 12
SERIOUS STATE OF RNZAF
No First-line Aircraft And Few Trained Men
Aviation Correspondent
What does New Zealand possess in the way of modern fighting aircraft and trained operational personnel? The answer, in the light of the present-day international position, is disturbing. There are no first-line aircraft and very few fully-trained men. Nor is there any immediate prospect of that position being changed.
There is, it is true, still a substantial pool of war-trained men who could be called on. But five years have elapsed since the end of the war and age will have taken many of the pilots beyond the limit deemed safe for efficient flying of fast aircraft. With the coming of the jet age in the air, that maximum age limit has shrunk still further and pilots in the late twenties are regarded as “old men” in jet flying. Even the existing RNZAF permanent staff is shrinking fast. A Press Association message this week stated that of 417 officers and other ranks who end their engagements in March, only 20 have said that they will remain in the service. Since last April, there have been 322 resignations. With its present strength at only 3400, the air force indeed faces an alarming and critical situation.
The position is, however, that the RNZAF exists primarily as a training and administrative cadre rather than as an operational force. The personnel for operational flying, in the initial stage of any further conflict, would be sought from the Territorial Air Force squadrons. The TAF squadrons should, at least in theory, be able to enter service almost immediately as fully operational units. This is the policy followed in other air forces, and was the view advanced by RAF experts who visited New Zealand recently As they are at present, however, the TAF squadrons would be little past the first level of training.
Advanced Training
The TAF squadrons exist solely, because of the enthusiasm of their personnel and their morale is therefore extremely high. They are looking forward to being equipped with Vampire jet fighters in due course, but there is a feeling among TAF personnel throughout the country that the Vampires are too far away. They want something more advanced than Harvard trainers as squadron equipment, to permit the advanced training which is at present lacking and to make the squadrons ready for some kind of limited operational work if an emergency arose.
According to reports, some 30 Mustang fighters are available in the country and could be allocated to TAF squadrons almost immediately. The Mustangs are stated to be stored unassembled, but otherwise in perfect condition. Minor engine parts would require replacement, but it is thought that such parts could be obtained from Australia or America from surplus stocks. The Mustang is now out of production, but it has proved one of the best ground support aircraft in the fighting in Korea, where Australian and American units are equipped with them. With their range, and presuming that they were rocket equipped, they would make excellent aircraft for coastal patrol and defence work in New Zealand. In addition, they would be suitable aircraft for the advanced fighter tuition which would seem to be necessary as an intermediary step between Harvards and Vampires.
Already the air force is facing a serious position in regard to technicians. Although there is a constant intake of airmen through the compulsory military service scheme and other sources, few remain long enough to become competent technicians. The air force estimate is that about two years are needed to train a technician, although this time could probably be shortened in an emergency. The fact, remains, however, that the air force is already facing the problem of how to keep the Vampires in operational condition when they do get them. For this reason, many former RNZAF men are inclined to think that the purchase of the Vampires has been an unwise move.
They point, to the unhappy record of the purchase of obsolescent Mosquito fighter-bombers shortly after the war. After the difficulties experienced in getting the aircraft to New Zealand, the majority of the Mosquitoes were placed in storage and it is unlikely that any of these will ever take the air again. They were outmoded aircraft when they were bought, and by the time they were received, the air force had neither the men to maintain them nor the men to fly them. Will the same story be repeated with the jets? This is a question which is being asked by former air force personnel.
It is recognised that some jets should be in the country for training purposes, but there the virtue of spending a tremendous sum of money on too many obsolescent aircraft—for jet progress has already gone far beyond Vampires, is debatable.
Reasonable Efficiency
Aircraft which were obtained under lease-lend during the war were supposed to have been returned or destroyed at the end of hostilities. The prudent storage of many of the best of these aircraft, however, has meant that there are reasonably efficient planes available at little or no cost within the country. It is thought that, in view of the present international position, the United States would be only too glad to waive the provisions of lease-lend and to permit the use of such aircraft. The position would seem to be that TAF squadrons could assume to some degree their proper role as first-line defence units if they were given some Mustangs in addition to their training planes. A limited number of jet planes would then be sufficient to provide advanced tuition at a central school.
Former air force personnel with experience on war-time aircraft do exist and it is considered that sufficient numbers of them might be attracted into service with the Territorial Air Force if the urgency was stressed and interest given by useful aircraft. But an entirely new staff of technicians would be required to handle Vampires or other jet aircraft. In addition, few airfields in the country could handle jets. There is no easy solution to the problem of re-equipping the air force in a time when aerial developments, as well as international relations, are in a state of flux. But expediency does seem to dictate that equipment already on hand might be utilised to the full until such time as the factors on which the initial problem is predicated have clarified themselves one way or another.
From the OTAGO DAILY TIMES, 30 NOVEMBER 1950
No First-line Aircraft And Few Trained Men
Aviation Correspondent
What does New Zealand possess in the way of modern fighting aircraft and trained operational personnel? The answer, in the light of the present-day international position, is disturbing. There are no first-line aircraft and very few fully-trained men. Nor is there any immediate prospect of that position being changed.
There is, it is true, still a substantial pool of war-trained men who could be called on. But five years have elapsed since the end of the war and age will have taken many of the pilots beyond the limit deemed safe for efficient flying of fast aircraft. With the coming of the jet age in the air, that maximum age limit has shrunk still further and pilots in the late twenties are regarded as “old men” in jet flying. Even the existing RNZAF permanent staff is shrinking fast. A Press Association message this week stated that of 417 officers and other ranks who end their engagements in March, only 20 have said that they will remain in the service. Since last April, there have been 322 resignations. With its present strength at only 3400, the air force indeed faces an alarming and critical situation.
The position is, however, that the RNZAF exists primarily as a training and administrative cadre rather than as an operational force. The personnel for operational flying, in the initial stage of any further conflict, would be sought from the Territorial Air Force squadrons. The TAF squadrons should, at least in theory, be able to enter service almost immediately as fully operational units. This is the policy followed in other air forces, and was the view advanced by RAF experts who visited New Zealand recently As they are at present, however, the TAF squadrons would be little past the first level of training.
Advanced Training
The TAF squadrons exist solely, because of the enthusiasm of their personnel and their morale is therefore extremely high. They are looking forward to being equipped with Vampire jet fighters in due course, but there is a feeling among TAF personnel throughout the country that the Vampires are too far away. They want something more advanced than Harvard trainers as squadron equipment, to permit the advanced training which is at present lacking and to make the squadrons ready for some kind of limited operational work if an emergency arose.
According to reports, some 30 Mustang fighters are available in the country and could be allocated to TAF squadrons almost immediately. The Mustangs are stated to be stored unassembled, but otherwise in perfect condition. Minor engine parts would require replacement, but it is thought that such parts could be obtained from Australia or America from surplus stocks. The Mustang is now out of production, but it has proved one of the best ground support aircraft in the fighting in Korea, where Australian and American units are equipped with them. With their range, and presuming that they were rocket equipped, they would make excellent aircraft for coastal patrol and defence work in New Zealand. In addition, they would be suitable aircraft for the advanced fighter tuition which would seem to be necessary as an intermediary step between Harvards and Vampires.
Already the air force is facing a serious position in regard to technicians. Although there is a constant intake of airmen through the compulsory military service scheme and other sources, few remain long enough to become competent technicians. The air force estimate is that about two years are needed to train a technician, although this time could probably be shortened in an emergency. The fact, remains, however, that the air force is already facing the problem of how to keep the Vampires in operational condition when they do get them. For this reason, many former RNZAF men are inclined to think that the purchase of the Vampires has been an unwise move.
They point, to the unhappy record of the purchase of obsolescent Mosquito fighter-bombers shortly after the war. After the difficulties experienced in getting the aircraft to New Zealand, the majority of the Mosquitoes were placed in storage and it is unlikely that any of these will ever take the air again. They were outmoded aircraft when they were bought, and by the time they were received, the air force had neither the men to maintain them nor the men to fly them. Will the same story be repeated with the jets? This is a question which is being asked by former air force personnel.
It is recognised that some jets should be in the country for training purposes, but there the virtue of spending a tremendous sum of money on too many obsolescent aircraft—for jet progress has already gone far beyond Vampires, is debatable.
Reasonable Efficiency
Aircraft which were obtained under lease-lend during the war were supposed to have been returned or destroyed at the end of hostilities. The prudent storage of many of the best of these aircraft, however, has meant that there are reasonably efficient planes available at little or no cost within the country. It is thought that, in view of the present international position, the United States would be only too glad to waive the provisions of lease-lend and to permit the use of such aircraft. The position would seem to be that TAF squadrons could assume to some degree their proper role as first-line defence units if they were given some Mustangs in addition to their training planes. A limited number of jet planes would then be sufficient to provide advanced tuition at a central school.
Former air force personnel with experience on war-time aircraft do exist and it is considered that sufficient numbers of them might be attracted into service with the Territorial Air Force if the urgency was stressed and interest given by useful aircraft. But an entirely new staff of technicians would be required to handle Vampires or other jet aircraft. In addition, few airfields in the country could handle jets. There is no easy solution to the problem of re-equipping the air force in a time when aerial developments, as well as international relations, are in a state of flux. But expediency does seem to dictate that equipment already on hand might be utilised to the full until such time as the factors on which the initial problem is predicated have clarified themselves one way or another.
From the OTAGO DAILY TIMES, 30 NOVEMBER 1950
