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AVIATION IN CANADA
AVIATION
IN CANADA
1917-1918
Being a brief account of the work
of the ROYAL AIR FORCE CANADA
the Aviation Department of the
Imperial Munitions Board and
the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited
[Illustration: (R.A.F. Badge; “PER ARDUA AD ASTRA”)]
COMPILED BY
ALAN SULLIVAN, LT., R.A.F.
PRINTED BY
ROUS & MANN LIMITED
TORONTO CANADA
_While the contents of this volume
present an accurate history of
the R.A.F. Canada, it is to be
understood that the Air Ministry
is not responsible for any statements
made herein._
_Copyright, Canada, 1919,
by Alan Sullivan, Toronto_
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE WESTERN FRONT IN 1916 7
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARIES 16
AVIATION DEPARTMENT, IMPERIAL MUNITIONS BOARD 25
CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED 44
COST OF TRAINING 57
HEADQUARTERS STAFF 61
TRAINING IN GENERAL 76
NORTH TORONTO 85
BEAMSVILLE CAMP 89
INSPECTION 93
THE INSTRUCTOR 100
THE MEDICAL SERVICE 108
WINTER FLYING 125
RECRUITS’ DEPOT 135
RECORDS AND RECRUITING 139
THE CADET WING 155
SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS 162
ARMAMENT SCHOOL 170
AERIAL GUNNERY 180
CAMERA GUNNERY 193
WIRELESS 197
PHOTOGRAPHY 205
ARMOUR HEIGHTS SYSTEM 211
SCHOOL OF SPECIAL FLYING 220
FLYING ACCIDENTS 224
ROYAL FLYING CORPS IN TEXAS 233
ENGINE REPAIR PARK 251
AEROPLANE REPAIR PARK 256
STORES DEPOT 261
PAY OFFICE 266
MECHANICAL TRANSPORT SECTION 275
ASSISTANT PROVOST MARSHAL 279
ROYAL ENGINEER SECTION 280
CAMP BORDEN 284
LONG BRANCH 288
DESERONTO 289
SPORTS 294
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 302
AERIAL CONDITIONS ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1916.
The battle of the Somme in the latter half of 1916 was the principal
factor leading to the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, Canada.
Aerial conditions on the Western Front were at this period of so
tense a nature that they may well be noted before proceeding to the
actual history of the Canadian brigade.
The following sketch makes no pretence of absolute accuracy. The data
available at the moment are not official, but are compiled from the
memories of several flying officers serving on the Western front at
the time. They may, however, be taken as fairly presenting not only
the development of the Royal Flying Corps, but also that of opposing
enemy aircraft at the period under consideration.
The British Expeditionary Force commenced operations in 1914 with
a flying arm of four squadrons or some fifty machines, of which no
less than thirty were destroyed during a severe storm at Christmas
time by the collapse of a large hangar at St. Omer, leaving on the
following day approximately 14 serviceable machines. At this time all
aeroplanes in both forces were unarmed.
It is difficult to say whether British or German made the first
aerial attack on an opposing machine, but it is undoubted that this
type of combat, coming how it may, found both sides unequipped with
the exception of such offensive power as might be secured with
rifle or revolver. British machines had been thus armed for months,
probably in anticipation of forced landings behind the German lines
and, without question, enemy aircraft were similarly provided.
There ensued a series of sporting encounters out of which grew the
necessity of arming aeroplanes with rapid-fire guns mounted mostly
on the top of the centre section so that bullets might clear the
propeller blade. This gun was operated by the pilot, who supplied the
sole method of forward shooting, while the observer, who was at that
time placed in the front seat, fired to the rear. A year and a half
afterwards, the method of shooting practically through the propeller
was evolved, which, gradually developing, has long since reached
mechanical perfection.
In the early summer of 1916, the British strength had grown to
some 28 or 30 squadrons in France. These numbered approximately
450 machines, distributed fairly equally along the entire front.
A view of our aerial equipment as contrasted with enemy aircraft
in the battle of the Somme gives the following data, but it must
be understood that this was a period during which every effort was
strained on either side and type followed type in rapid succession.
BRITISH. GERMAN.
BE2C 2-seater tractor biplane. Fokker Scout tractor monoplane.
1 or 2 Lewis guns. 1 gun shooting through propeller,
Observer in front. with deflectors.
Speed 70 miles. Speed 85 m.p.h.
Climb to 10,000 ft. in 50 mins. Climb 10,000 feet in 17 mins.
Service ceiling 11,000 feet.
FE2B 2-seater pusher biplane. Albatross Scout tractor biplane.
2 Lewis guns. 2 gun synchronized in line of
Observer in front. flight. (First machine thus
Speed 75 miles. equipped.)
Climb to 10,000 feet in 40 mins. Speed 100 m.p.h.
Service ceiling 12,000 feet. Also 2 seater Albatross machine.
Morane 2-seater tractor Roland Scout tractor biplane,
(French) both mono and armed as Albatross but not
biplane. quite as fast.
Same guns as BE2C, but with Also Roland 2-seater fighter,
deflectors. speed 90 m.p.h.
Speed 80 m.p.h. Climb 10,000 feet in 20 mins.
Climb 10,000 feet in 30 mins. Halberstadt Scout tractor biplane,
Service ceiling 15,000 feet. similar to Albatross.
DH2 Scout pusher biplane. LVG 2-seater tractor.
1 Lewis Gun on line of flight Albatross and Aviatik, reconn.
or swivelled. bombing, and photo.
Speed 90 m.p.h. 1 gun synchronized and 1
Climb 10,000 feet in 18 mins. swivelled.
Service ceiling 16,000 feet. Speed 85 m.p.h.
Climb 10,000 in 25 mins.
Service ceiling 18,000 feet.
FE8 Scout pusher biplane.
1 Lewis Gun swivelled in line
of flight.
Speed 100 m.p.h.
Climb 15,000 feet in 19 mins.
Service ceiling 18,000 feet.
Nieuport Scout tractor (French).
1 Lewis Gun over top of
prop. or swivelled.
Speed 100 m.p.h.
Climb 10,000 feet in 12 mins.
Service ceiling 19,000 feet.
_This was the first allied machine
to have a synchronized Vickers
or Lewis gun in 1916._
Spad Scout tractor biplane.
1 synchronized Vickers gun
firing in line of flight
through propeller.
Speed 120 m.p.h.
Climb 10,000 feet in 9 mins.
Service ceiling 20,000 feet.
In addition the British had a squadron or so of Sopwith 1½ Strutters,
very fast and handy 2-seater tractors with observer in rear. Also
some Bristol Scouts, Vickers pushers and Martynsydes.
[Illustration: ONE LESS HUN!
RICHTHOFEN’S CIRCUS.]
[Illustration: GERMAN “ALBATROSS.”
GERMAN “HALBERSTADT.”]
The German was in 1916 provided with a gun which did fire through the
propeller. This was on the Fokker. The advantage thus held by the
enemy was also increased by the fact that their two-seaters carried
pilots in front, thus affording the observer a better opportunity
of firing to the rear. Our BE2C, for instance, found itself under a
handicap in this respect. The downfall of the Fokker rests with the
DH2, a pusher machine, which gave the forward-seated pilot a clear
field of fire to the front. The DH2, in turn, yielded supremacy to
the German Albatross Scout, a fast and efficient fighting machine.
Thus went the battle, till in December, 1916, the Nieuport, Spad and
Sopwith Scouts were our kings of the air.
In April of this year began a concentration of British aerial force
on the Somme, where artillery observation was for the next three
months carried to the utmost in preparation for the great offensive
staged to commence in July. At first it seemed as though our machines
had the air to themselves, for up till the first week in June our
registration proceeded with practically no counter-battery work. So
quiet was this front, that one pilot reports that he cannot remember
seeing more than two German aeroplanes for six weeks.
In June came greater activity on the part of the enemy, but it is
without question that we held superiority until September, if at
considerable cost. From September, however, to the middle of October,
the Royal Flying Corps had its work cut out to cope with the increase
in numbers and efficiency of German pilots, and the introduction of
two fast and improved fighting scouts, the Halberstadt and Albatross
D3 and D5.
On the Somme front, approximating twenty-five miles, we had about
twenty squadrons, equalling about 300 machines; these constituting
the majority of our aerial force in France. Twelve were disposed for
artillery work, the remainder for photography, reconnaissance and
fighting.
[Illustration: GERMAN PARABELLUM MOUNTING.
FIRST “FOKKER” MONOPLANE WITH SYNCHRONIZED GUN BROUGHT DOWN ON
WESTERN FRONT.]
[Illustration: LOADING POSITION.
LEWIS GUN ON NIEUPORT SCOUT.]
The battle proceeded with unprecedented intensity, and with it a
never-ending aerial warfare. Pilots were rushed from England with
a few hours’ solo work and absolutely no gunnery practice, to find
themselves instantly in the thick of the combat. It is, therefore,
not astonishing that the wastage of our fighting men ran up to
twenty-five per cent. per month.
The filling up of the Royal Flying Corps combatant strength was
made additionally difficult, as the Corps could no longer draw from
regimental officers now needed for the coming offensive by which it
was proposed to relieve the tremendous pressure on the French at
Verdun.
It is true that the strength of the Force was, in anticipation, more
than doubled during the three weeks which preceded the Somme, but
this largely exhausted the available supplies of fighting personnel.
How reasonable, therefore, that the established success of Canadian
pilots, and the fact that in Canada lay an almost untapped reservoir
of future strength, should turn the eyes of the War Office to that
Dominion. Double operations were planned for the Spring of 1917. The
need was instant and imperative.
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARIES.
Authority for the Royal Flying Corps, Canada, was given at the War
Office in December of 1916, and shortly after, on December 21st, an
important meeting took place at Adastral House, the headquarters of
the Air Board. Representatives from various branches of the service
were present, and the situation in Canada was fully discussed with
the following results.
Formation of squadrons was to be pushed at once, and personnel sent
out as opportunity offered. Recruiting offices were authorized,
also one large aircraft park, its location to be fixed later. As to
equipment, Curtiss machines had already been ordered and delivery
would commence almost at once from Buffalo. An establishment of 400
engines with a monthly wastage of 100 was considered reasonable.
The use of other machines was discussed but left in abeyance for
the meantime, and the meeting closed with the opinion that training
could be carried on in Canada the year round except in February, the
weather in that month being doubtful.
It was decided at the outset that everything of a business nature,
such as the erection of buildings, preparation of aerodromes,
purchase of supplies, etc., was to be handled by the Imperial
Munitions Board, through a Department of Aviation. This conclusion
was largely influenced by the fact that in correspondence with the
Ministry of Munitions, the Imperial Munitions Board had placed
itself at the disposal of the War Office to aid in the formation of
a Canadian training wing. Two engineer officers would be detailed to
act as advisers on buildings and aerodromes.
Such was the formal birth of the Royal Flying Corps, Canada. It may
be asked why it was purposed to recruit and train in Canada by the
agency of an Imperial wing, but it suffices to say that the work of
this unit has been only one of the countless instances of coöperation
between the mother country and the Dominion, that furthermore all
arrangements entered into carried not only the consent and approval
of the Canadian Government, but also the promise of every assistance,
and that the utter fullness of the discharge of this promise is known
best to those who are personally conversant with the various phases
of the history of this unit of the Royal Flying Corps.
At the further meeting of the Air Board, held at Adastral House,
January 1st, 1917, the personnel of the advance party was selected.
The administration section consisted of the Officer Commanding, at
that time lieutenant-colonel; two squadron commanders--a major and
a captain; one flight commander--a captain; one flying officer--a
lieutenant. The supply section consisted of one park commander,
one first-class equipment officer and two second-class equipment
officers; these a major, captain and two lieutenants. Two engineer
officers, both majors--one of whom was of the Canadian Engineers and
the other from the Royal Engineers services--followed a little later.
The recruiting section, composed of a captain and three lieutenants,
completed the party. Mechanical transport of 21 vehicles was also
sent.
At this meeting the general premises governing the future operations
of the wing were outlined, such as the intention to give only lower
training in Canada, and liaison between the unit and the Imperial
Munitions Board. It was further determined to organize twenty
training squadrons. Owing to conditions in England at the moment,
the question of personnel for the formation of the Canadian wing was
difficult of solution, and it was stated quite frankly that the Royal
Flying Corps, Canada, would be obliged to do its utmost to train both
officers, non-commissioned officers and airmen for the various duties
to be performed.
General and personnel equipment was arranged to be sent from England,
but all machines and additional transport were to be obtained
locally. The general purport of the meeting was, in brief, to provide
the skeleton of a training unit, put this scanty personnel under the
direction of the O.C. and trust to their united efforts to provide
for that expanding output of partially trained pilots for which at
the time there was such insistent demand.
Coincident with all this, matters in Canada had already begun to take
shape. There was in Toronto a small aeroplane factory, which for the
past year or two had been turning out machines used at a private
flying school some nine miles from the city. Authority was received
by the Imperial Munitions Board from the Air Board to acquire this
organization, which, although its output was necessarily limited,
afforded an opportunity for future expansion, once suitable premises
were secured. The machinery and equipment of this undertaking were
forthwith moved into much larger buildings leased from a local
engineering works, and took shape as the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited,
an organization owned by the Imperial Government, whose product was
intended primarily to meet the requirements of the new Canadian wing.
Simultaneously there was formed the Aviation Section of the Imperial
Munitions Board, to which section detailed reference is made
elsewhere. Such, in short, were the arrangements which had been
completed when on January 22nd the advance party of the Royal Flying
Corps, Canada, arrived in Toronto.
[Illustration: OBSERVERS’ GUN MOUNTING.
GERMAN GUN MOUNTINGS.]
[Illustration: R.A.F. CAN.--FLYING DUTY OF MACHINES.]
A word about local conditions will not be amiss. The country was,
of course, deep in snow, and the winter period in its most trying
phase. Recruiting, for which methods had still to be formulated, was
complicated by the fact that no Military Service Act was in force in
Canada, and the country had been apparently combed bare of those who
desired to enlist voluntarily. It is true that the Royal Naval Air
Service had for months been drawing excellent material from Canada,
but this unit offered the inducement of a commission on enlistment,
while the R.F.C. held no commissions in its outstretched hands, but
merely the promise of months of arduous work before qualifying for
the distinction. That the Corps was authorized to recruit in Canada
was due to an Order in Council passed by the Canadian Government.
Application was also made to the Department of Militia and Defence
that the unit might be rationed, clothed and medically attended to by
that Department.
An excerpt taken from an early report on Canadian conditions to the
Air Board notes that the Royal Flying Corps, Canada, was an Imperial
unit, paid for by the Imperial Treasury and wholly independent of
local military command. Also that instructions in the first instance
were very indefinite regarding a host of important details, but that
this fact was in the long run a blessing in disguise.
A credit of four millions sterling had been established with the
Imperial Munitions Board for the purposes of the wing, and it now
remained to take action as quickly as possible.
That no time was lost may be gathered from the fact that the large
C.E.F. Camp at Borden, some seventy miles north of Toronto, was
inspected on January 26th, and on the following day a contract was
let under supervision of the Aviation Department of the Board for the
construction of the first Canadian aerodrome on an outlying portion
of this area. It was to comprise fifteen flight sheds, with all
necessary buildings and equipment. Simultaneously, recruiting got
under way. Ground was also provided by the Department of Militia and
Defence at Long Branch, some nine miles west of Toronto, where was
formed the first flying unit of the Royal Flying Corps, Canada.
During the last week of the month, a contract was let for the
construction of a large factory for the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited,
supplies of engines and machines were secured from the Curtiss
Manufacturing Company at Buffalo, and sites for additional groups of
squadrons were selected at Leaside, three miles north of Toronto;
Armour Heights, four miles still farther north; Rathbun and Mohawk,
130 miles east of Toronto.
Such was the record for nine days’ work. Thus the first of February
found the unit with all major features of its programme settled,
and on the threshold of a development which, as it progressed, was
destined to realize every anticipation.
[Illustration: TRENCH SYSTEM ON WESTERN FRONT.]
[Illustration: G. A. MORROW, ESQ., O.B.E.,
DIRECTOR OF AVIATION, IMPERIAL MUNITIONS BOARD.
SIR JOSEPH FLAVELLE, BART.,
CHAIRMAN, IMPERIAL MUNITIONS BOARD.
SIR FRANK BAILLIE, K.B.E.,
PRESIDENT, CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED.]
AVIATION DEPARTMENT--IMPERIAL MUNITIONS BOARD
This Department formed a many-sided organization, by means of which
the physical and financial wants of the Royal Air Force, Can., were
provided. It secured funds from the War Office, spent and accounted
for them; designed, built, and equipped innumerable structures;
purchased all supplies from the sailmaker’s needle to the aeroplane
and bought materials from countless sources for a vast variety of
needs.
It delved into electrical and mechanical problems, sowed grass,
bored wells, built railways, leased land, secured labour of all
descriptions, engaged lawyers and advanced money. If the Royal Air
Force was an Imperial brigade, this section of the “I.M.B.” was no
less a Canadian civilian battalion, composed of members representing
an officer commanding, paymasters, quartermasters, engineers and
sappers, etc., and maintaining a constant and helpful liaison,
without which a certain history of mutual accomplishments would be
the acme of brevity.
The Department, for purposes of efficiency, was subdivided into the
following sections: Executive, Purchasing, Construction, Transport,
and Aeronautical Supply--all responsible to the Director of Aviation,
and through him to the Imperial Munitions Board proper. The officers
were:
Director of Aviation G. A. MORROW, ESQ., O.B.E.
Secretary MR. GEO. E. WISHART.
Chief Engineer MR. J. B. CARSWELL.
Asst. Chief Engineer MR. J. R. HAGELIN.
Purchasing Agent MR. A. H. MULCAHEY.
Asst. Purchasing Agent MR. A. S. MCNINCH.
Supt. Aero. Supplies MR. W. B. CLELAND.
The first section, composed of the Secretary and accountants, was
responsible for all expenditures, and made weekly detailed returns
to the Auditor of the Board in Ottawa. They dealt in millions, and
submitted vouchers for all disbursements, as well as reporting all
executive transactions. The advantage of this coöperation with the
parent organization which dealt in hundreds of millions, is obvious.
The Purchasing Section was manned by expert buyers in various
branches, and furnished the entire needs of the brigade with the
exception of rations, pay and medical service. Machinery, tools,
boots, oil--there were some ten thousand articles in Stores
Depot--all of which were secured by this section of the Department.
The Construction Section, since the autumn of 1917, erected all
buildings used by the brigade, and overhauled and remodelled other
premises secured for their use. At the outset of operations, various
contractors were employed--but, this practice terminated, the
Construction Section was organized under careful supervision of
competent engineers of the Aviation Department to perform these and
added duties. It purchased its own supplies and was responsible for
prices and quantities, as well as for a Commissary Department which
supplied employees with meals and accommodation.
Transportation--always a problem and especially so in wartime--was
entrusted to an expert railwayman, skilled in harassing railway
companies into good delivery. The moving of thousands of men to and
from Texas, with hundreds of carloads of supplies, came under this
section with most creditable results.
Aeronautical supplies were in charge of an expert in aeroplanes and
their parts, who stood between the aeroplane factory and the aircraft
equipment section of the brigade. Through him were followed up all
machines, engines and spares ordered by the Purchasing Section.
Contact was maintained hereby with American factories, to which
periodical visits were made when the brigade was dependent on these
extraneous sources of supply.
[Illustration: OFFICERS, AVIATION DEPARTMENT, IMPERIAL MUNITIONS BOARD
J. B. CARSWELL, B.Sc., CHIEF ENGINEER.
GEO. E. WISHART, SECRETARY.
J. R. HAGELIN, ASST. CHIEF ENGINEER
G. A. MORROW, O.B.E., DIRECTOR OF AVIATION
W. B. CLELAND, SUPT. AERONAUTICAL SUPPLIES.
A. S. McNINCH, ASST. PURCHASING AGENT
A. H. MULCAHEY, PURCHASING AGENT]
[Illustration: FLYING BOAT HULL CONSTRUCTION--CANADIAN AEROPLANES
LIMITED.]
Such in brief are the fundamentals, but without further detail the
service given by the Aviation Department could not be realized. The
following notes therefore, should prove of interest.
Accounts were under the immediate direction of the Secretary. So
speedily was the Department organized that time did not afford to
investigate either the system to be adopted or the number of accounts
to be opened. Flexibility was in consequence desirable, and when in
October, 1918, a new set of ledger headings were called for by the
Air Ministry, there was neither difficulty nor delay in remodelling
the existing accounts to the new form.
The Department was authorized to make disbursements from an imprest
fund when immediate payment was necessary, but this method was only
used when unavoidable, as for instance, outlay in staff payrolls,
initial payments for leases, and in cases where a discount period
had nearly lapsed. For such outlay repayment cheque to the fund was
always subsequently issued.
The standard method of meeting obligations was by sending certified
bills to the Finance Department, Imperial Munitions Board, at Ottawa,
where cheques were issued therefor. These bills were listed in
alphabetical order, and also chronologically under each creditor’s
name. Confusion of any kind was entirely avoided.
During those months when contractors were employed in the erection
of buildings and other work, the Aviation Department was continually
represented at the contractor’s office by an auditing staff. These
officials checked all time worked, and all disbursements of every
nature on the part of the contractor. Such obligations were paid
by the latter, who then forwarded the receipted bills to the
Department. There they were recorded and sent on to Ottawa for
payment.
Extraneous accounting was done in the United States. When a large
part of the brigade went to Texas in November, 1917, the omnipresent
“I.M.B.” accompanied in the person of the Chief Purchasing Agent,
fortified with an imprest fund. This, deposited in the National City
Bank, permitted local payments, which in turn were submitted to
the Toronto Office with the necessary vouchers. In addition to all
the foregoing, the Board at Ottawa was represented by a travelling
auditor who checked all expenditure before it was submitted to
Ottawa. Thus the Chief Auditor was kept constantly informed, and
enabled to make regular reports to the Ministry of Munitions in
England of all disbursements by the Aviation Department.
On page 58 will be found a monthly total of these amounts, as
apart from expenditure by the brigade. It is impossible to make
comparisons, but it is nevertheless believed that in no section of
any military organization has better value been secured for the
amount involved.
The Purchasing Section, up to January 1st, 1919, issued 15,700 orders
and handled 37,300 invoices. Business of this magnitude demands
system, and in this case got it. On page 35 is a diagram showing not
only the procedure of purchase, but also the history of invoices when
received, reflecting the coöperation between consumer and purchaser
to secure assurance of the delivery of what has been ordered, before
payment.
Mention has been made of the variety of the purchases arranged by
this section, and to this might be added the fact that extremely
large quantities were involved.
[Illustration: BARRACK BLOCKS--CAMP MOHAWK.]
[Illustration: TAPPING A SPRUCE FOR AEROPLANE TIMBER.
(Note axe swinging from belt).]
[Illustration: IN FLIGHT.
FLYING BOAT HULL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.]
[Illustration: GETTING IT OUT.]
(Procedure of Purchase)
INDENTS FROM UNITS
|
STORES DEPOT
INDENTS COLLECTED INTO REQUISITIONS
|
HEADQUARTERS
(APPROVED BY O. I/C A.E.)
|
PURCHASING DEPARTMENT I.M.B.
|
RECORDED IN FILE ROOM AS TO DATE OF RECEIPT
|
DISTRIBUTED TO PURCHASING STAFF
|
TENDERS ASKED BY MAIL, WIRE OR TELEPHONE
ACCORDING TO URGENCY
|
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
ORDERS GIVEN REQUISITIONS FILED
(6 COPIES MADE) CONSECUTIVELY
+-------------+-------------------+------------------------+
| | | |
CONTRACTOR PERMANENT FILE FOR CHECKING OF INVOICES 3 COPIES TO
STORES DEPOT
Orders show quantities, prices, delivery dates, etc.
(History of Invoices)
INVOICES
|
FILE ROOM, INVOICE DEPT.
(DATED AND ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY)
|
RECORDED IN INVOICE LEDGER
|
CHECKED AGAINST ORDERS
|
+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| | | |
FILE STORES DEPOT STORES DEPOT STORES DEPOT
| |
RETURNED RETURNED
(INSPECTION NOTE (INSPECTION NOTE
ATTACHED) ATTACHED)
| |
FILE ACCOUNTING DEPT.
|
PAYMENT
Fuel requirements for the current year, for instance, were estimated
at nearly 30,000 tons, and, in spite of certain official privileges
extended to the Department, shipments of this magnitude called for
very special attention, particularly at a time when great public
anxiety was felt in securing fuel supply.
Gasoline requirements comprised about 16,000 gallons per month, and
this, owing to the limited storage capacity at the various wings, was
very carefully watched and traced in transit. It speaks well for the
Department that during a period when the railway system was congested
with freight, flying was not at any time interfered with owing to
shortage of this supply.
The Transportation Section was indebted to the wonderful coöperation
of contractors and railway companies for assistance in overcoming
delays due to this congestion, as well as to the great shortage of
raw material.
Business between the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation and the
British Ministry of Munitions was carried in the Section’s purchasing
ledgers, as well as records of all shipments from the Canadian
Aeroplanes Limited to the Signal Service of the U.S. Government. The
amount of material shipped to Texas in 1917 from the factory amounted
to not less than four and a half million dollars. This was a mutually
acceptable arrangement by which training in the U.S. was carried
out most successfully and the output of the factory maintained at a
satisfactory point.
Conjointly with the Purchasing Section, there must be considered its
kindred bureau, the Traffic Branch. This body traced and delivered
all materials to their proper destination, checked all freight and
express bills, and applied them against their proper invoices and
orders. Investigation of conditions governing freight rates was a
special study, and in one instance the Traffic Branch was able to
prove to the Canadian Freight Association that the minimum carload
weight previously required on shipments of aeroplanes and spares was
in point of fact unjustified considering the light nature of the
material. This was subsequently increased, resulting in a marked
saving in the transportation of such material to and from the
various camps. The Texas movement involved 375 cars and 5,000 men.
This was an admirably managed undertaking, so successful that within
five days from the date of leaving Canada our machines were climbing
into the air above Texas aerodromes.
[Illustration: CONSTRUCTION OF SWIMMING POOL, CAMP BORDEN.
(Under Direction of Aviation Department.)]
[Illustration: RANGES CONSTRUCTED BY AVIATION DEPARTMENT AT
BEAMSVILLE.]
The Section of Aeronautical Supply, as has been stated, maintained
liaison between the Aircraft Equipment Branch of the brigade and the
factory; also it acted as a buffer state between the brigade and
the manufacturer of such technical equipment as cameras, wireless
instruments, machine guns, etc., and the tremendous number of spare
parts involved.
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.
Liaison between the two has been admirable, and the result,
therefore, eminently satisfactory.
The Construction Section has, in the course of its strenuous
existence, carried out the following work:
6½ miles of railways.
22½ miles of roadways.
18 miles of water mains.
10 miles of sewers.
27 miles of aerodrome drainage.
300 miles of telephone and power lines.
26 individual steam heating plants.
6 central steam heating plants.
400 buildings using 18 million feet of lumber.
It had, furthermore, put in five thousand plumbing fixtures; cleaned,
rolled and seeded nearly four thousand acres of land for flying
purposes, and done a commissary business which touched forty thousand
meals a week.
In these activities it spent five and a half million dollars.
From all of which it may be seen that what was accomplished equals
the building of a modern town with streets, sanitation of every
description and every physical equipment.
Had it been a town the work had been easier, but as it was there were
many areas, with two hundred miles between extreme points.
In dispensing with contractors and assuming itself all obligations
the Department was swayed by but one fact. The requirements of the
brigade were so varying and so subject to training considerations,
that it seemed impossible to adequately provide for all contingencies
by contract. The change took place in the autumn of 1917, and in
the months that followed the Munitions Board profited by unity of
control, by the opportunity of large bulk purchases of material, and
by every consequent advantage accruing to a single organization which
directs many scattered operations.
[Illustration: R.A.F. CAN.--EMPLOYES ON CONSTRUCTION WORK
SUPERINTENDED BY I.M.B.]
[Illustration: CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED--MONTHLY VALUE OF OUTPUT
GRAND TOTAL $13,577.000.00]
The Chief Engineer of this section directed executive work, his
assistant supervised construction. With them were the heads of
the draughting room, the estimating section and the construction
purchasing department, together with the chief electrician,
the plumbing superintendent, the heating superintendent, road
superintendent and the head of the commissary and transport section.
In the section office a staff of fifty was employed, when in the
middle of October, 1918, there were 2,200 men on the payroll. The
following diagram illustrates the organization:--
CHIEF ENGINEER
|
+-----------------------+--+-----------------+-------------+
| | | |
Resident Engineers Assistant Chief Chief Secretary
(Maintenance) Engineer Draughtsmen
| |
| Estimating
|
+---------+--------+---------+-------+------+--------+--------+
| | | | | | | |
Production Chief Plumbing Heating Roads Buyer Commissary Acc-
Clerk Electrician Sup’t. Sup’t. Sup’t. Manager ountant
|
+--------+-------+
| | |
Commissary Stores Transport
The Construction Section was, in fact, pivoted so that it might at
any moment turn its attention to new work without departing from its
main and central programme, and to this flexibility is attributable
the unquestionable success it achieved.
CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED.
This organization saw the light officially in December, 1916, and in
twenty-one months had turned out some 2,900 aeroplanes, valued at
nearly fourteen million dollars. Incidentally, the factory covered
about six acres, and employed something over two thousand hands.
It was some time before Canadians realized that the undertaking was
that of the Imperial Government acting through the Imperial Munitions
Board, more familiarly known as the “I.M.B.” The primary purpose was
that of supplying aeroplanes for the Royal Flying Corps, but actually
some four and a half millions’ worth of output went to aid training
in the United States.
The officials of the Company were:--
President SIR FRANK BAILLIE, K.B.E.
Vice-president MR. FRANK P. WOOD.
Director MR. W. PARKYN MURRAY.
Manager MR. E. T. MUSSON.
Secretary MR. P. H. BROOKS.
Chief Engineer MR. M. R. RIDDELL.
Work commenced in leased premises, where the plant of a small factory
which had a year or so before turned out a few experimental machines
was for three months utilized. This, admittedly a makeshift, expanded
in April into permanent premises on Dufferin Street, covering
ultimately some six acres of floor space, with innumerable mechanical
appliances specially designed for the work. The building of this
factory proved something of an achievement, being completed in about
two and one-half months, a notable record even in a country where
quick construction was the rule of the day. The site, carefully
chosen, lay surrounded by the homes of large numbers of technical
tradesmen, and this helped in no small degree to ensure at all times
a full force of highly skilled employees.
[Illustration: OFFICIALS AND EXECUTIVE STAFF OF CANADIAN AEROPLANES
LIMITED.
G. A. COOPER H. R. BRISTOW C. E. PEARSON W. E. TREGENZA
CHIEF ASST. SUPT. FINAL SUPT. MASTER MECHANIC.
INSPECTOR. ASSEMBLY AND WOOD MILL.
PANEL DEPTS.
L. W. COLLIER E. ASHWORTH G. N. DUFFY P. H. BROOKS
SUPT. METAL SUPT. FINAL GENERAL SUPT. SECRETARY.
DEPARTMENT. ASSEMBLY AND
PANEL DEPTS.
E. T. MUSSON SIR F. W. BAILLIE, W. P. MURRAY M. R. RIDDELL
MANAGER. K.B.E. PRESIDENT. DIRECTOR. CHIEF ENGINEER.
G. A. AULT D. J. NEWSON H. R. CHOATE G. R. C. MERRIAM
DESPATCH CHIEF DRAUGHTSMAN. ASST. SUPT. CHIEF ACCOUNTANT.
DEPARTMENT. METAL DEPT.
W. B. MACDONALD J. M. WATERMAN A. H. SALTER F. L. SHILLINGTON
PLANT ENGINEER. ASST. CHIEF ASST. SUPT. ASSISTANT
ENGINEER. WOOD MILL. SECRETARY.
]
[Illustration: FUSELAGE ASSEMBLY.
SAILMAKING ON WINGS.]
The machine adopted for use by the Royal Flying Corps was the
Canadian JN4, of simple design and presenting no unusual difficulty
in manufacture. As work progressed, however, it became apparent
that the type could be largely improved by change of design and
fabrication, and there was evolved a machine which, while presenting
the same appearance as its predecessor, contained nevertheless
certain fundamental and radical alterations. Among other points
remodelled were the landing gear--the substitution of the “joy stick”
for the former control wheel, the adoption of split trailing edge
instead of flattened tubing, and, most important, tail units made
principally of metal instead of wood, resulting in an increased
factor of safety, especially in the rudder and vertical stabilizer.
Progress without change is impossible, and thus it proved in this
undertaking.
It will be understood that given soundness of design there remains
to be provided good workmanship and the best and most suitable
materials. The former was procured without much difficulty, but the
supply of the latter involved much thought and experiment, it being
always remembered that the ideal machine combines a maximum strength
with a minimum weight.
Linen for the covering of wings, etc., was imported first from
Ireland, but submarine activity made it imperative that a substitute
be secured. It was found at the Wabasso Cotton Company’s mills in
Three Rivers, Quebec. Here was secured, for the special purpose
required, a cotton fabric of remarkable strength. One inch in width
is able to support some eighty pounds, and this with a weight which
does not exceed four and a half ounces a square yard. Its adoption
was at once successful, and it proved capable, when treated with
“dope”--a waterproof and windproof solution with celluloid-like
finish--of performing the same service as that of the most expensive
Irish linen.
After fabric came wood, the quality of which was required to be
above anything hitherto known in the lumber trade. Free from knots,
of extreme length, with no “wind shakes,” swirly grain or “pitch
pockets,” it seemed at first unprocurable. Ash for the longerons or
longitudinals of the fuselage, and spruce for wing beams, wing edges,
etc., was of imperative necessity. The market was searched, but what
material was available proved to yield but a fraction of its total
in satisfactory timber. Then, driven by urgent need, the “I.M.B.”
organized a department in Vancouver and began to buy for itself on
the shores of the Pacific. That its first purchase was rushed by
express in carloads from the Western Coast will indicate how extreme
was the pressure for sound material. The illustrations on pages 32
and 34 give some idea of the magnitude of the operations required
to produce that exact quality of lumber which the modern aeroplane
demands.
It is interesting to note that even with this admirable supply
secured, it was found that certain members were so long that it
proved necessary to build them up, and, in the building, the Canadian
Aeroplanes Limited evolved a scarfed, saw-toothed splice, since
adopted as standard by Britain and the United States. Repeated tests
proved that greater strength was thus secured than that of solid
lumber of the same dimensions.
The Canadian Aeroplanes Limited propeller is five-ply white oak,
glued, compressed and formed up by machinery that is almost
human--and took its origin from a lathe designed by Peter the Great
to make gun stocks. It is a far cry from Russia to Toronto, but the
principle is identical. No “C.A.L.” propeller has shown manufacturing
or engineering defect. The successor of Peter’s lathe carves them,
four at a time, to one thirty-second of their finished form, and the
final touches and balancing are hand work. To anyone who has seen
a nine-foot propeller running at 1,500 revolutions per minute, its
blade points cutting the air at the rate of eight miles a minute,
it will be apparent how fine a workmanship and accurate a design is
embodied here.
From wood pass to metal. Fuselage and internal wing bracing is with
piano-wire which will stand a pull of a ton, though the members to
which it is anchored weigh but a few pounds. Inter-plane bracing
will live up to a ton and a half, and the control wires will stand
the same test. So accurate are these latter that in process of their
manufacture the heated metal is drawn through a forming die made of
an aperture in a diamond.
In the autumn of 1918 it was decided to undertake the manufacture
of a faster and more modern type of machine--the Avro--and to
this object the factory diverted its energies. At the date of the
armistice two had been turned out. These machines, equipped with
130 horse-power Clerget engines, promised excellent service, and
underwent all tests to the complete satisfaction of all concerned. No
less than one hundred additional had been fabricated and were ready
for assembly when hostilities ceased.
Design--material--workmanship--inspection! These are the four
cardinal features of the modern machine. 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. The contract involved
competition with two other companies. The latter had been in the
business from two to four years, and had on hand not only ample
material but also a large staff of assembling mechanics. In the race
that followed, the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited finished three weeks
ahead--an illustration of the fact that the best type of organization
is that which is not so wedded to one class of output as to be
unable to adapt its methods and its plant to kindred, if varying,
undertakings. So satisfactory was the work to the U.S. authorities,
that it called forth the following letter from the American admiral
in charge:--
“On account of the excellent workmanship of Canadian Aeroplanes
shown in the construction of navy flying boats, the bureau is
glad to recommend the facilities of your plant, and it is hoped
that additional work in aircraft construction may be secured
elsewhere.”
The feat was not without effort. The thirty boats contracted for
have been delivered, the first being turned out within three months
from receipt of order. The shipments included spares to the extent
of one additional boat in every three, exclusive of hull. It was not
necessary to engage any additional staff, but it was necessary to
give the training required to convert the aeroplane builder into the
boat builder. This construction filled in a period between orders
for machines for the Royal Air Force, but it involved the purchasing
of special material from the United States, in which market the U.S.
competitors of the company were already firmly established.
[Illustration: TEST OF FIRST C.A.L. MACHINE.
FIRST AVRO MACHINE OF C.A.L.]
[Illustration: FINISHING PROPELLERS.]
Boat building was, however, but a side issue of the primary purpose
of the organization. It was formed to supply an Imperial brigade
with ample and satisfactory aeroplanes. That this was done is
unquestionable; but it is questionable whether those responsible
for its organization and those under whose guiding hands it grew so
amazingly foresaw the proportion the business was to assume or the
peculiarly intimate relationship it established with the work of
the brigade. The various reports of the General Officer Commanding on
this subject pay unstinted tribute to the excellence of the service
rendered. More than this, it is due to the qualities of the Canadian
JN4 machine as manufactured in Toronto by the Canadian Aeroplanes
Limited that training in flying by the Royal Air Force was so
advanced that it covered the practice of all aerial manoeuvres and
“stunts” possible on any machine.
In the graphs on pages 54 and 55 will be found certain data of
interest giving the progress of manufacture, etc., but the essential
figures are those not written. They are to be found, if computable,
in the service rendered to the Empire by some three thousand pilots
who first took to the air in machines made by this great national
plant.
[Illustration: CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED--MONTHLY OUTPUT OF MACHINES
IN ADDITION 30 FLYING BOATS FOR U.S. NAVY]
[Illustration: CANADIAN AEROPLANES LIMITED--MONTHLY STRENGTH OF
EMPLOYES]
[Illustration: A WOODLAND SCENE.
A COMFORTABLE CRASH.]
THE COST OF TRAINING
Herewith is given a diagram presenting the net cost of the work of
the brigade in Canada. The disbursements indicated include the total
of all sums paid out both by the Corps and the Aviation Department of
the I.M.B.
This cost, being $9,835 per pilot trained, will, it is estimated,
be reduced to $9,660 when the various assets of the brigade have
been liquidated. It will be seen that no amount has been apportioned
against the complete training of 137 observers, and the partial
training of 3,500 cadets who were on the strength and in various
stages of ground tuition in November, 1918.
From December, 1917 to April, 1918, both brigade and Imperial
Munitions Board expenditures show a decrease. This is due to the fact
that for these months the cost of aeroplanes, engines, spares, etc.,
were met by the U.S. Signal. Service, for whom the Corps trained
a large number of pilots. The amount thus saved by the Corps may
be considered as approximately equal to that spent on the partial
training of 3,500 cadets and included in the gross sum mentioned.
The increase in outlay by the Imperial Munitions Board in the autumn
of 1918 was occasioned by a large building programme, designed to
accommodate the entire brigade in winter quarters, no further move to
Texas being contemplated. When hostilities ceased this accommodation
was practically finished.
It will be noted that the winter of 1918 found the brigade with its
capital expenditure complete, and subject only to such maintenance
charges as rations, pay, repairs, etc. Had training, therefore, been
continued, it is without doubt that pilots would have been turned out
at a cost very much less than that above indicated.
[Illustration: R.A.F. CAN.--MONTHLY DISBURSEMENTS AND TRAINING COSTS]
[Illustration: OFFICERS, 81ST SQUADRON, CAMP RATHBUN.]
[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS OFFICERS AND STAFF.]
HEADQUARTERS STAFF.
The duties undertaken by the headquarters staff of the Corps were, in
many respects, much more onerous than those which fall to the lot of
a similar establishment in Great Britain, and comprised not only the
routine work of the brigade, but also very many functions which under
home conditions would have been assumed by either the War Office or
the Air Ministry.
Looking back at the past two years, it appears that although the
headquarters burden was thus increased, the arrangement proved
distinctly to the advantage of the Corps, resulting as it did in
the centralization of authority and a constant unity of purpose and
procedure which otherwise would have been difficult of achievement.