§ 34. Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will arrange for trials of the Prestwick Pioneer among the Scottish islands.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterNo, Sir. It is not the responsibility of my Department to arrange such trials. But the hon. Member may be interested to know that Scottish Aviation Limited has taken the single-engined version of this aircraft on trials to Iona and Mull. The twin-engined version is still being built.
§ Mr. GrimondIf the trials are a success, may I ask if the Minister can confirm that the twin-engined version, at any rate, will be suitable to replace the existing aircraft in the inter-island services, and in particular the hospital service?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI should not like to speculate about the aircraft at this early stage of development, but the single-engined version which I saw at Farnborough looked very impressive.
§ Sir T. MooreHas not the Prestwick Pioneer already shown spectacular efficiency in Malaya, that is, the small machine, and are not the conditions there geographically much the same as those in the Highlands and Islands?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThough questions of military use are outside my direct knowledge, I believe that it has done pretty well.
§ 35. Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if his attention has been drawn to the successful trips made by a helicopter in Orkney and Shetland during the late summer; and if he will arrange for further experiments to be carried out with a view to reintroducing inter-island services.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterYes, Sir. I am aware of and was much interested in this flight, and I was glad to note the enterprise which prompted it. On the second part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the reply which my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Secretary gave to the hon. Member on 30th June.
§ Mr. GrimondHas the Minister any particulars of any information which may have been gathered on these flights? Is he making any experiments, because surely in the long run the helicopter will prove to be the solution to the problem?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs I think was explained to the hon. Gentleman, the funds available for helicopter development are only sufficient to support the 386 trials being made by the B.E.A.C. helicopter unit.
§ Mr. WoodburnAre not the Government reconsidering this question of the development of helicopters? There are parts of the country where the only type of aircraft suitable for use is the helicopter. Surely that fact will play a big part in the future of Britain and we cannot afford to be behind the rest of the world in developing them.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI do not think that we are behind. In point of fact, public funds are being used to support the B.E.A.C. helicopter unit to which I referred in my previous answer.