British efforts to increase the Royal Air Force, machines' and personnel, to dimensions commensurate with world conditions since armament began to dominate national en ours, are revealed in the "shadow scheme construction and training now in progress. As result of this scheme, which has brought factories up to much higher production stand= ards "and, at the same time, is producing pilots who may have no attached squadron base but are capable of being drafted. into service when the emergency demands, ying personnel has been more than doubled and Britain has Little to fear in the sphere of aerial warfare, The Air Ministry is reticent on the matter, but the reaction from foreign countries who assess Britain as the leading alr power from a position of fourth or fifth in the world scale a few years ago is as much a compliment to British organization agit isa readiness to ac-Knowledge bald facts in a. rapidly changing world, The "shadow scheme" is by no. means new. "It has been applied to other forms of defence, and particularly the manufactur essential war supplies. It was successful Ing the war when the foundations were laid, and is even more so now when, without any grandiose demonstrations of uniformed might, possible to key up industry to emergencies which might arise, 'The appointment of Sir Bruce Gardner, whos Knighthood Wwa9_announced in the' New Year's Honours List, 0 the post of executive' chairman of the Society of British Alreraft Constructors,.is. another indication of this need for harnessing a nation's energies to a national problem. Sir Bruce's appointment was made from outside the air industry but his duties are to Interpret to the Air Ministry and to the aircraft industry the views and wishes of each and smoother re-Intions tending to higher eflcioney should ensue,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.