39. Mr. RARERasked the Under-Secretary of State to the Air Ministry how many officers are employed in the Air Ministry; how many of them are qualified pilots and/or observers; and whether all the officers attached to the Air Ministry who wear pilots' wings have done not less than 20 hours' solo on service-type machines, and also passed all the usual war tests?
§ Major TRYONThe number of officers of all ranks and classifications in the Air Ministry is 185; this figure includes officers engaged in the Departments of Civil Aviation, Supply and Research, Medical Administration and Stores. Of the total, 82 are qualified pilots or observers. All officers who wear pilots' wings passed all the flying and war tests qualifying them for service in the field at the time at which they earned their wings with the exception of a few officers whose duties were at the time confined to specialist work, and who were granted their wings after passing flying tests. It is unlikely that any individual officer has 237 passed all war tests as these were essentially specialist tests designed to qualify officers for the particular type of duty for which they were selected.