The Defence Budget The RCAF will rece ive a tot::i,l of $872,000,000 as its share of the defence budget which was passed by Commons yc:1r, 01· ,cn ·icc \\' i1li the Regular f orce, te n of which wt:re in the rank o,f Air Vice Mars·hal and Air Ma rshaJ (acting), was made at his personal request. Since his ret ire ment, he has joined Collins Radio Co. o.f Canada Ltd. In ex,plaining his somewhat p re mature retirement, A/ V j,M Plant noted that ... "[ n order to ensure for the RCAF a solid rank and age structure, a system of regular retirement of sen ior officers is essential, if necessa ry before they reach the age limit or maximum pensionable service . . . This policy has been in effect for some time and must continue fo r some years, otherwise che RCAF will face a period of stagnation wirh respect to promo tion, fol!QJwed by an unduly high rate 0£ retirement o•f key personnel due to the fact that sizable group of senior officers will reach retirement age with- 111 a relati vely short period. "I have completed more than 25 years service with the RCAF and at least ten of these have been in the rank of Air Vice Marshal. For me to serve a furt,her eight to ten years would be in violation of rhe .policy which I was instrumental in establishing while .. . . \ir Member fo r Personnel." In retiring voluntar i-ly at this time, .\ / V /M :Plant had to accept a 20% red uction ~n his earned pension . It will be recalled that in 1955 fol lowing a widely-q uoted speech in which he suggested the disbandment of the Army, A/ V /M Plant was "de moted" from his post o.f Air :V[ember for Technical Sen·ices to AOC of Air \fateriel Command. L'ntil the time of this speech, he had been considered LIGHTW EIGHT CONTENDE R: The Fia t G.9 1 lightwe ight jet figh t e r made its fir st fl igh t in Ita ly , Augu,t 9. The G .91 wa s chose n by NATO to assess whet he r or not t he muc h-p ub licized lightweight fo rmula co rr es pond s to a ny act ua l o pe rat iona l need . Three prototypes a nd 27 pre-prod uctio n airpl a nes have bee n ordere d fo r t hi s purpose. Powe r is by a Bristo l Orph eus rated at 4 ,850 lb. / st ./th. for t ake-off. 65 SMOOTH SEAMASTER: Now undergoin g test flights is the USN 's second Marl in XPbM-1 SeoMoster je t-powered flying boot. It wi:I be recalled tha t the fir st Seo Moste r wa s lost lo st December in on a ccid e nt wh 'ch ho s si nce bee n blam ed on a control system malfun ction . Powered by four I 0,000 lb. th. Alli son J-71 's, th e aircraft con fly a t over 600 mph . It is in t ended for mine laying and photo reconnaissance . a likely successor to Air Marsh al C. R. Siemon as C hief of the Air Staff. \Veighing especially heaYy in hi s fayor in this regard was his brilliant record at the headq uarters of NAT O "s Al lied Air Forces Central Europe, where he ser\' ed latterly as Chief of Staff, with the rank of Air .i'vlarsh aL Change in Roles Beginning th is monuh the former RCAF pilot weapons school at M::ic Donald , Man., ·has been re-des ignated as an Ad\'anced Flyin,g Schoo•! fo r T-33 training. Opened du ring ·world War II as a flying training station, MacDona•ld was reac ti1·a ted in 195 1 as a pilot weapons school. This course wil-l now be given at the Operational Training Unit level at the two fighter OTU bases at Cold Lake, Alta., and Chatham, N .B. RCAF Station MacDon::ild is u nder the command of Group Captain J. D. Somerville. Jan. 1 for Mid-Canada C:1n:1

The Airborne Services - 1956 Sep

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