“ The Air Force is the eye of the army, and the camera the recording eye of the airman. It is therefore, of prime importance that aerial photography in all its phases be mastered by the would-be pilot. Failure cannot be risked. Too much is involved in sending machines on long photographic reconnaissance. Their results should indicate everything from a narrow path through enemy wire to a camouflaged German aerodrome.
In order to secure the best type of instruction, the R.A.F. has availed itself of the services of officers of experience on all points. Training begins at the School of Aeronautics. ”

“ Prior to the operations of the Corps, it was generally assumed that the obstacles to intensive training in a snow-covered country were almost insuperable, but in the light of last winter’s experience it is difficult to imagine the limit to which the aeroplane may not safely be used in the latitudes of the far north. Its apparent fragility, the exposure of the pilot, the fact that a large percentage of accidents occurred in making landings, and the mental picture of a machine floundering through snowdrifts in an attempt to rise, all seemed to reduce the matter to an impossibility. ”

“ It is advisable that he himself get into the air as soon as feasible, and that the machine which carries him be put through all evolutions, in order to acquaint him with the physical phenomena of flying. No machine must leave the ground unless the medical officer on duty is within reach, nor must the latter leave the aerodrome while there is a machine in the air. A further responsibility is that he must pronounce upon the fitness of all cadets and flying officers to take the air, and, further, without hesitation, prevent any man from going up who is, in his opinion, unfit. ”

“ In the early days of the R.F.C., Canada, the job was not as exacting as in the later months of the R.A.F., Canada. The instructor was then a man who could fly. To-day he is still a man who can fly, but has, to boot, a peculiar and well developed art of infusing his own skill and courage into the pupil by following a certain recognized procedure which has been demonstrated to be the last word in training. There is nothing in this derogatory to the early instructors. ”

“ Early in the year 1918, the instructors at every wing were put under the wing examining officer, whose duty it was to weed out those who got stale, to test the abilities of all new instructors from time to time, and form his own opinion of their instructional capacity. In addition, it was the obligation of this officer, to investigate the log book of every machine which crashed, and demand an explanation of any apparent discrepancies, and also to keep knowledge of all crashes so as to determine whether any one instructor was responsible for an unreasonable number. ”

“ Finally, the pupil engages in aerial combat with another machine piloted by a “hostile” instructor, and each machine attempts to “shoot down” the other. In this contest the pilot or observer who obtains the most accurate pictures is counted the victor. Every principle of aerial fighting as taught both in lectures and in the air, is practised, and upon its completion the results, as inflexibly registered by the camera gun, are subject to the keenest criticism. ”

“ An important duty performed by the School, was the calling in of most of the instructors then in the brigade, in order to thoroughly acquaint them with the new methods involved in tuition as given in the Armour Heights course. This proved entirely justified.
It was found, also, that even in the case of most experienced pilots, who had been flying fast machines overseas, great advantage was secured by taking the course, since it was required that they depend to a much greater extent upon correct flying, far more skill being required to do higher manoeuvres on a low-powered machine. ”

“ The progress in the training of pilots has from time to time demanded new equipment of multitudinous variety. The advanced nature of the work of both aeroplane and engine repair park called for a steady stream of those individual members which when assembled constitute the completed machine. The selection, purchase, and delivery of the technical equipment of the brigade, fell in short to this section, which executed the business transactions involved as required by the Aircraft Equipment Branch at headquarters. ”

“ It is desired to give official and universal thanks of the brigade for the great services rendered by many organizations and individuals during its two years’ work in Canada. From the first it was recognized that while military training was the object of the Corps, there were other phases of the life of the personnel that were of primary importance. That the work of training has been successful is due in no small degree to the fact that all ranks have benefited both temperamentally and socially by the generous thoughtfulness so continually extended. ”

“ The crashes resulting in fatalities showed, under the new Armour Heights system, a notable decrease as evidenced by the chart on page 218. To realize the full significance of this chart, it is necessary to remember that the pilot who is an “Armour Heights graduate” has performed in the air every manoeuvre of which his machine is capable. He has solved all aerial problems. Whatever protective agencies human skill and experience could formulate were put into operation, and the record in respect of fatalities is so low as to be a tribute to the ceaseless care exercised. ”

“ That all have been amply provided in the output of the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited is best evidenced by the fact that not a single one of nearly three thousand aeroplanes turned out has been charged with any accident attributable to any fault in design or manufacture.
From aeroplane to flying boat was a natural transition in an organization so finely balanced and completely equipped, and in April, 1918, the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited undertook to build for the United States navy a fleet of 30 F-5 flying boats, the largest produced to date on this side of the Atlantic. ”

“ Here also was practice in aerial photography, vertical and oblique, and bomb dropping by wireless, in which the pilot signalled the release of an imaginary bomb, the message being received by an observer in a camera obscura hut, who noted also the position of the machine at the instant of release. Formation and fifty-mile cross-country flights were practised, the former as in active service, the latter giving opportunity for map reading in the air, and the actual collection of a variety of information which paralleled the duty to be performed at the front. ”

“ This is demanded of all instructors. Deprived of the tremendous incentive of contact with the enemy, isolated, as it were, in a daily repetition of duties that afford little variety, constantly speeding off others to that thrilling destination where they fain would be—others who owe to them their fitness to go—such is the every-day grind.
And yet how tremendously it has all counted! A large part of the work of the brigade was in preparing cadets to a point at which they were deemed worthy of flying instruction. ”

“ They were confronted very often with questions which would have confused many who laid definite claim to higher attainments, but it has not yet been found that any one of them was lacking either in the technical qualification or the power of self expression which was necessary for the satisfactory discharge of their duties. The marked improvement in the all-round ability of cadets arriving at the various flying wings after the School of Aeronautics had had time to finally find itself, is due to the excellent work done by officers and non-commissioned officers alike at this unit. ”

“ An exhaustive study of the ideal pilot established the fact that he should have an acute and correct sense [113] of equilibrium. This does not appear so essential for an observer, who if he is fairly safe in the air and does not become giddy in stunting, may prove acceptable.
The “rotation tests,” described in detail below, have proved that as regards a great number of successful pilots—referring to those who have flown 100 hours and more,—in no case has a man been discovered who has not conformed to the above standards laid down for admission to the brigade. ”

“ At the School of Aerial Fighting came the last step in the development of the pilot. Armed with Vickers and Lewis guns he went through a final course of ground gunnery which demonstrated the problems and mechanics of the art of shooting to the last degree. Taking to the air, first with another pilot, he shot at full-sized silhouettes anchored in Lake Ontario a mile from shore. Later, armed with a camera gun loaded with film, he undertook aerial practice on a brother cadet, the developed film showing the accuracy of his aim. ”

“ To the instructor, for instance, there is always interest in the never-ending tide of cadets, their personalities, their characteristics as developed in the air and their progress. A cadet’s [104] first solo flight brings, if successful, a peculiar pride to the man who taught him to fly, but if not successful a self-searching to determine what link in the armour of tuition has been weak—for the instructor is held responsible for the crash. ”

“ Early machines were tricky compared to their successors. They lacked present efficiency, reliability and simplicity. The sum total of the powers of the pilot were busy meeting mechanical difficulties, and there was little opportunity for excursions into the psychology of the new art. The honour of service is equal, but the pilots sent overseas by the R.A.F., Can., in 1918, have in comparison with the pilots of 1914 a vastly superior technical and mental training. They have advanced step by step with the world’s knowledge of the air. ”

“ To make the matter perfectly clear, the Royal Air Force, Canada, must be considered as a unit operating outside the boundaries of the usual activities of the Air Ministry, and endowed with special authority and freedom of action, but handicapped, nevertheless, by certain limitations, which, although greatly alleviated by the helpful attitude of the Canadian authorities, made it imperative that extreme care should be used both in policy and action. ”

“ It is quite obvious that the mechanical condition of the power plant of an aeroplane is of paramount importance, and, in consequence, no expense or trouble was spared to put the Engine Repair Park on the best possible basis. The equipment, which in the winter of 1917, promised to be ample, soon proved insufficient, and in September, 1918, the Park moved into large and most completely fitted shops in rented premises on King Street. In this building four floors presented a scene of extreme activity, the work being so arranged as to be progressive, finishing with the final tests before shipment. ”

“ Equally important is the imponderable but undoubted benefit which has accrued to our men from instruction by and association with officers and men who have had practical experience, at the front, with the conditions which we are preparing to meet. This contact, so desired by all our forces and so particularly influential in the training of a wholly new arm of the service, would, but for your assistance, have been denied to all the men training for the Air Service in this country. ”

“ If it be asked why the pilot does not receive as well as send wireless messages while in the air, it may be stated that up to the present the difficulties of receiving on a trailing aerial have been such that what might be termed a graphic ground method has proved preferable. Large ground strips are, on active service, an invitation for bombardment by the enemy and are being aided by the Popham Panneau, a method of signalling consisting of the rapid forming up of small, symmetrical, rectangular figures, by arrangements of white bands capable of rapid variation. ”