§ Mr. SANDYSasked whether it is proposed to provide winter accommodation on Salisbury Plain for the officers and men of the Air Battalion?
§ Colonel SEELYThe answer is in the affirmative.
§ Mr. SANDYSWill the right hon. and gallant Gentleman state of what character this accommodation is going to be?
§ Colonel SEELYI cannot exactly say. It will be suitable accommodation.
§ Mr. SANDYSasked why, when it was officially announced that the Bristol biplanes were, to be delivered by the company in April, two of these machines were on the 7th instant still in the sheds of the Bristol Company on Salisbury Plain awaiting the fitting of the engines; what was the cause of the two months' delay; and whether the biplanes in question have since been delivered to the War Office authorities?
§ Colonel SEELYTwo of these aeroplanes have not yet been delivered owing to the great difficulty which the Bristol Company have experienced in obtaining the Renault engines with which the machines are to be fitted. The engines have now been delivered to the company, and it is hoped that, the aeroplanes will be ready in a few days.
§ Mr. SANDYSIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the fitting of Renault engines to Bristol biplanes is in the nature of an experiment, and that the others are mostly fitted with the Gnome engine?
§ Colonel SEELYI saw the manager of the Bristol company about the matter today, and I do not think there will be any further difficulty about it.
§ Mr. SANDYSasked how many of the officers belonging to the Air Battalion are actually engaged in aeroplane work and, of such officers, how many are provided with Government aeroplanes and how many are employing machines purchased at their own expense?
§ Colonel SEELYFive officers of the Air Battalion are at present actually engaged in aeroplane work on Salisbury Plain. Government aeroplanes are provided for all.