§ 8. Sir A. V. Harveyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in deciding to set up a college of Air Training at Hamble, what consideration he is giving to making use of the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, for this purpose.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. John Hay)After consultation with my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Education, it was decided that ab initio flying training would not harmonise with the post-graduate aeronautical work which is carried on at Cranfield and considerable expense would have been necessary to provide the additional accommodation. Also Cranfield is unsuitable as a base for this sort of flying for Air Traffic Control reasons.
§ Sir A. V. HarveyIs my hon. Friend aware that at present the Ministry of Education is contributing more than £600,000 a year towards the cost of the College of Aeronautics where runways exist and are hardly ever used, while at Hamble there are no runways and the aerodrome has very definite limitations? Why could there not be a really worthwhile centre to cover all these matters?
§ Mr. HayWe examined this matter very carefully and came to the conclusion that the types of training which are carried on at Cranfield and Hamble are so far divergent from each other that it would not have been a practical proposition to do what my hon. Friend suggests. It is important to note that Cranfield carries out scientific and technological 175 and research training, whereas what we intend for the College of Air Training at Hamble is something far more commercial in its purpose.