§ 5. Mr. Beswickasked the Secretary of State for Air what action he proposes to take to ensure that the pilots of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force shall have continued opportunity to keep in flying practice.
§ Mr. BeswickDoes the Secretary of State realise that that Answer means that he is literally throwing down the drain £3 million worth of experience and training by taking these people away from flying duties? Does he not propose to do something about that? If the objection to putting these pilots on to Regular airfields for their weekend training is that the airfields are not open at the weekend, does he really mean to tell the House that there is no fighter station throughout the country in preparedness on Saturdays and Sundays?
§ Mr. BeswickAnswer the question.
Mr. WardI propose to do so. The hon. Gentleman was talking about using airfields for weekend flying by Auxiliary pilots. Leaving aside the cost of conversion to Hunters—and remember that there are only 15 auxiliary pilots already converted—it costs £175 an hour to fly a Hunter, including repairs, spares and P.O.L. If we are to give the pilots 120 hours flying a year, which is what we 1246 reckon they ought to have to be operationally efficient, that means that the cost would be £21,000 per pilot per year; and with 300 pilots that means £6 million, which is more than the Auxiliary pilots are costing us now.