§ 43. Sir Lindsay Everardasked the Secretary of State for Air whether he has considered the suitability for Royal Air Force use of any types of civil aircraft in current production?
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Air (Captain Harold Balfour)Yes, Sir. I am glad to be able to inform the House that this matter has recently been reviewed and as a result my Department is placing an order for a number of De Havilland "Flamingo" type civil liners adapted to fulfil part of the transport requirements of the Royal Air Force. I hope that this departure will have the effect of giving encouragement to designers and manufacturers of civil transport aircraft. It is the intention to keep in view available types of civil air liners which are suitable for transport purposes when placing Royal Air Force orders to meet this requirement in future.
§ Captain BalfourIt would not be in the public interest to give any information as to the size of their order.