Volume 6 No 4 - Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies

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26 As World War I progressed, Britain began to match the skill and courage of its pilots with world class aircraft like the Sopwith Camel and the SE5A Sopwith Camel AHB (RAF) his exertions, about 15 miles north of Dublin Hawker’s rubber-soled boot slipped off the rudder bar and, from a height of about 50 feet, his aircraft fell out of control into Lough Shinny. It was completely wrecked but, miraculously, he emerged unhurt; his mechanic was less fortunate and broke an arm and was badly cut. But in the time-honoured British tradition of rewarding glorious failure, and recognising the enthusiasm for flying that Hawker’s exploits had generated — not to mention the extra newspaper sales — the Daily Mail generously presented Hawker with a consolation prize of £1,000. There is more to be said about the importance of competition in aviation later. But first it is worth drawing an early conclusion about those human qualities referred to earlier. The pre-World War I days of aviation in Britain were marked not only by the ingenuity of engineers and the courage of their pilots; they were notable too for the vision and enterprise of those prominent in public life. Lord Northcliffe not only helped aviation to prosper, he also led the public at large to recognise that aircraft were a matter of national importance. Without its founder’s encouragement, and without the Daily Mail’s public-spirited sponsorship, which effectively extended the perceived boundaries of aviation, progress would undoubtedly have been considerably slower. The lead-up to the First World War saw further evidence of the early technical lead the French had established in Europe. By way of illustration, in 1911 the French could muster over 200 aircraft during army manoeuvres, whereas between them the British Army and Navy could manage only 12, together with 3 airships. French influence was also evident in early British aircraft design and nomenclature: hence the BE (Blériot Experimental), the FE (Farman Experimental, after the brothers Henri and Maurice Farman), the SE (Santos Experimental, after the Brazilian, Santos-Dumont, who was the first man to fly in Europe — in France in the autumn of 1906) and the RE (Reconnaissance Experimental). However, with
27 establishment of the Royal Flying Corps on 13 April 1912 and similar recognition of the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, which capitalised on the nation’s inherent technical expertise and industrial strength, Britain at last began to catch up with her continental rivals. Moreover, as World War I progressed Britain began to match the skill and courage of its pilots with world class aircraft like the Sopwith Camel and the SE5A. A contemporary writer on aviation was moved to observe that: ‘A very striking feature of the [Royal Flying] Corps is the extreme youth of the members, many of the most daring fighters in the air being mere boys of 20. The Corps has the very pick of the youth and daring and enterprise of the country.’ (William J Claxton, The Mastery of the Air) The Royal Air Force itself was formed on 1 April 1918. However, its size could not be sustained in the aftermath of World War I. To highlight the nature of this problem, in November 1918 there were 27,500 officers, 264,000 other ranks and 25,000 members of the Woman’s Royal Air Force. There were also more than 22,500 aircraft and about 100 airships. It was Winston Churchill, appointed Secretary State for War and Air in January 1919, who was largely responsible for the salvation of the new Service. He achieved this by inviting Hugh Trenchard back to his old position as Chief of the Air Staff. Then, in a far-sighted move, in April 1920 Trenchard opened the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell in Lincolnshire — a They had been in the air for 16 hours and 28 minutes and had made history. When they reached London they were honoured by a reception at the Royal Aero Club and were immediately knighted. The flight of these two pioneers represents a triumph of engineering and an inspiring example of out and out courage
Page 2 and 3: SEE THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AIR POWER R
Page 4 and 5: FOREWORD The leading article for th
Page 7 and 8: AIR POWER Review Editor Jay Myers P
Page 9 and 10: 1 Air Aspects of Operation Iraqi Fr
Page 11 and 12: 3 Crown Copyright The night of 21/2
Page 13 and 14: 5 A global hawk UAV had been operat
Page 15 and 16: 7 On 13 April, less than 800 sortie
Page 17 and 18: 9 The best measure of the tempo of
Page 19 and 20: DMPIs by Op Cat Qty 11 Counter Air
Page 21 and 22: 13 could train better, having made
Page 23 and 24: As with Operation DESERT STORM, the
Page 25 and 26: Air power can still be employed aut
Page 27 and 28: 19 or non-kinetic. Furthermore, the
Page 29 and 30: 21 60 ‘By the Numbers’. 90 Op c
Page 31 and 32: 23 By Air Marshal ‘Black’ Rober
Page 33: Contestants had to fly British airc
Page 37 and 38: 29 The schneider Trophy was won thr
Page 39 and 40: 31 AHB (RAF) The first flight of a
Page 41 and 42: 33 Probably the most controversial
Page 43 and 44: Dr Paul McReady, claimed the second
Page 45: 37 By way of a postscript on this r
Page 48 and 49: 40 The most promising candidate sys
Page 50 and 51: 42 more detail. The changed environ
Page 52 and 53: 44 One’s passport was dusted off
Page 54 and 55: 46 Advances in computing power and
Page 56 and 57: 48 find and strike precisely target
Page 58 and 59: 50 of JCA in 2012 will provide the
Page 60 and 61: Lt Col Prof Dr Dimitar Nedyalkov al
Page 62 and 63: 54 subsonic Soviet MiG-15s and MiG-
Page 64 and 65: 56 No MiG-21 pilot would forget the
Page 66 and 67: 58 Gaining height after acceleratin
Page 69 and 70: 61 Russian Air Power in Central Asi
Page 71 and 72: 63 Can Moscow find no other way of
Page 73 and 74: 65 Reported structure and aircraft
Page 75 and 76: In case of aggression against Kyrgy
Page 77 and 78: There remain open questions as to e
Page 79 and 80: 71 Afghanistan, and damage to the i
Page 81: the verge of collapse, as no traini
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76 Since 1960 the number of airline
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78 protect our economic security. T
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80 Warfare has changed. Stealth, pr
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82 for all of our air and space ass
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84 It is apparent that US foreign p
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A 3 Squadron Henry Farman 20 comes
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88 The Bleriot of Lieutenant Jouber
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90 The Bleriots were tractor monopl
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92 Captain Allen, Commander of ‘A
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94 3 Squadron aircrew involved in t
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96 their support arrangements. Ther
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98 AIR POWER IN SMALL WARS: FIGHTIN
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100 The Last Escape By John Nichol
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102 marches, and those who were lef
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106 ST. CLEMENT DANES, STRAND, LOND
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Volume 6 No 4 - Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies

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