§ 54. Sir A. V. Harveyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what investment is anticipated by his Department in the new Air College at Hamble.
§ Mr. WatkinsonNone, Sir. The contribution for which I am accountable will, except for the first two years, be limited to £1,000 for each pilot trained. The grant will be somewhat higher for the first two years if, as is expected, the total cost of training while numbers build up exceeds £4,000 per pilot.
§ Sir A. V. HarveyIs my right hon. Friend aware that, while many of us feel that the idea is the right one, nevertheless the airfield selected is the wrong one and that Hamble will be unable to take modern aircraft, whereas at Cranfield in Bedfordshire the Ministry of Education is already subscribing £600,000 a year to support the College of Aeronautics The Air College should be on a modern airfield, and there should be one definite centre for this.
§ Mr. WatkinsonI cannot agree with my hon. Friend. Cranfield serves a quite different purpose, and serves it very well. The purpose of Hamble is to be a college where air pilots of the future will be trained. My advice is that the airfield and general situation is quite adequate for that very necessary purpose.