is pointed out that a British expeditionary
force might have to operate as a detached force, and that to such a
force information is all-important. The need for haste appears in many
of the recommendations of the committee. For the supply of trained
flyers to the army and the navy, and for the formation of a reserve, the
first necessity was to start work at the Central Flying School, for
which a site had been chosen on the Upavon Downs of Salisbury Plain,
north of the Upavon-Everley road. The buildings necessary for this
school could not be ready till the end of June, so the committee
recommended that the work of the school should, in the meantime, be
carried on in canvas tents and sheds.

Some problems of wide import forced themselves on the attention of the
committee, and were of necessity settled with a view to immediate
results and immediate efficiency. When shelter is needed from a pitiless
storm, the leisurely plans of the architect must give way. One of these
problems was the rank of pilots. Should every pilot be an officer, or
should we follow the example of France, and train some mechanics to the
work of piloting? From the first, Mr. Churchill was in favour of
admitting to the State school of aviation not only a proportion of
officers of both services, but also petty officers, non-commissioned
officers and men, as well as civilians. In the report of the technical
sub-committee the war establishment for an expeditionary force is
planned on these lines. The Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps was
to contain seven aeroplane squadrons, each squadron to number twelve
machines, with an additional machine for the commanding officer. Two
pilots were allowed for each aeroplane, and, in addition, to provide for
the wastage of war, an equal number in reserve. The war establishment,
calculated on this basis for the purposes of the expeditionary force,
required the services of three hundred and sixty-four trained pilots, of
whom, it was suggested, one hundred and eighty-two should be officers,
and one hundred and eighty-two non-commissioned officers.

This part of the scheme cannot be said to have failed in practice: it
never reached the test of practice. The surest and readiest way to
obtain the services of skilled flyers was to offer them commissions in
the Flying Corps, and it was felt to be invidious that some pilots
should enter the corps as officers, while others, of equal skill, should
enter in the non-commissio