§ 20. Mr. SMEDLEY CROOKEasked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that in the vicinity of aerodromes devoted to teaching aircraft pilots serious annoyance is caused to residents by pilots not rising to 300 feet within the aerodrome area; and will he in future insist on an undertaking from all pilots that they will set a course at least 300 feet high over all houses, and that when pupils are under instruction the course shall be over open country?
§ Sir P. SASSOONWhilst my Noble Friend is anxious that no avoidable inconvenience should arise to residents in the immediate vicinity of aerodromes, the application of the rules suggested by my hon. Friend would often be impracticable for technical reasons and inadvisable from the point of view of safety in flying. They might, for example, necessitate inexperienced pilots under training making turns at a dangerously low altitude near the boundary of the aerodrome in order to gain height. I may add that my Noble Friend's information is that, in spite of these complaints, new houses are continually being built in the neighbourhood of aerodromes, so that it would seem that the annoyance experienced under existing conditions is not very serious.