§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War how many B.E. aeroplanes have actually been built at the Royal Aircraft Factory; how many of them have been booked as replacements of old numbers; and how many have been issued as new machines?
§ Mr. H. BAKERSixteen, of which seven, were issued as new machines, and the rest were reconstructions of other types.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under Secretary for War whether he has forbidden for the present the use of the B.E. machines; and what machines are now being flown by the various squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe use of the B.E. aeroplane was temporarily suspended, but 1375W they are now being flown. The other machines in use are Avros, Bleriots, Henri Farmans, Maurice Farmans, and R.E.'s.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked how many officers in the military wing of the Royal Flying Corps holding the rank of flying officer have flown Service machines since the 1st January, 1914; and how many have made cross-country flights on such machines?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe answer to the two parts of the question are, respectively, fifty-one and forty-three.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, having regard to the statement that aeroplane B.E. 205 was originally a Howard Wright bi-plane, reconstructed at the Royal Aircraft Factory, he will state what portions, if any, of the original machine were contained in the new bi-plane; and, with regard to the statement that B.E. 204 was originally a Bristol bi-plane, he will state what portions, if any, of the original machine were contained in the reconstructed machine?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe two aeroplanes mentioned retained, as originally reconstructed, nothing of importance except the engines.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in testing the new R.E. machines, the elevator flaps of several bent while being flown, in other cases the rudders bent while the machines were being flown, and in one case it broke off owing to a gust of wind hitting it while it was standing on the ground?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked whether the alleged reconstruction of old aeroplanes in the Royal Aircraft Factory is in fact a fiction to disguise the actual building of new machines at the factory which are merely substituted for the numbers of the old, smashed, or discarded machines?
§ Mr. H. BAKERSeriously damaged aeroplanes are, under present practice, struck off charge and replaced by new ones with new numbers. Formerly it was customary to class as reconstruction the practical rebuilding of an aeroplane, if the original engine remained available.