16. Captain BALFOURasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the total number of staff employed in the civil aviation branch of the Air Ministry on inspection of civil aircraft and 1086 engines, and on certification of airworthiness and testing of civil aircraft; and the total number of registered British civil aircraft?
§ Sir P. SASSOONAs regards the first part of the question, the inspection of civil aircraft and engines and the testing of civil aircraft are not carried out by the Directorate of Civil Aviation, but by technical brandies and experimental establishments which arc primarily maintained for Royal Air Force purposes. A precise estimate of the total time spent on purely civil inspection and testing would involve a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour, and would not in any case afford a reliable indication of the numbers required for this work, if it were divorced from the work of the Royal Air Force. The preparation and issue of certificates of airworthiness is one of the duties of a branch of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, consisting of six officials. As regards the second part of the question, the total number of registered British civil aircraft was 984 on 30th April last.