The Aviation Historian No.21 Magazine

[hesham]

Hi,

this issue is very delicious one,like a dream,I can't born what in it,I advise everyone
to purchase it.

 

[circle-5]

... except they weren't hard enough on Duncan Sandys, who deserves infinite contempt.

 

[CJGibson]

I disagree.

Sandys was Macmillan's Rosa Klebb.

Sandys cleared the decks in period of great flux and once the strategic situation had settled (UK withdrawal from Empire and more focused on NATO northern flank) Sandys' (or Macmillan's) cancellations made the implementation of RV Jones' recommendations much easier. Think dinosaurs/fissure eruptions/asteroids/mammals rather than pretty designs.

I'll be in the stocks at 4, Hamilton Place on the 24th if anyone fancies chucking tomatoes at me.

Chris

 

[Schneiderman]

Its been a very imformative series of articles written by guys who have taken the time to go through the archives. Far better than just following the popular myth without question.

 

[alertken]

Sandys was the Saviour of UK Aero.
On his watch (MoD/MoA) were initiated at our expense, i.a Concorde, VC10, Harrier, TSR.2, Blue Water, and Blue Streak was sustained (maybe they should not have been, but I am responding to him being traduced as destroyer).

What did he chop? Fairey F.155T. Who here stands champion for that?
Avro 730? Use a medium to discuss >60,000ft. with Gary Powers.
SR.177? Liquid fuelled rocket motors in a combat zone?
So, P.1121 (which he did not chop because it had not been sought by RAF). We took free Hunters and hung hard points on them. Saving vast sums.

Cascades of Korean War $ funded the RAF that failed at Suez. They could not find targets where seniors had been billetted a few months earlier. Sandys went to Defence after MSP $ had dried up. On our own. We had decided to do a solo UK Deterrent. This he did. Then secured access to US Art and Article.

Praise him.

 

[fightingirish]

Here another interesting article in the issue. B)

Fairey’s Commercial Break
Using company brochures, Fairey Aviation specialist Bill Harrison traces the history of the company’s commercial designs, from pre-war FC.1 to double-deck Fairey Queen.

Link: http://www.theaviationhistorian.com/preview.htm

 

[TsrJoe]

just ordered

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

For anyone interested in the 1957 White Paper : https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,29377.0.html

 

[Schneiderman]

And you can always go here and download (free) many official Government documents on the subject.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/defence-policy-1945-1977.htm#Sandys%20defence%20review%201957

 

[circle-5]

I disagree.

Sandys was Macmillan's Rosa Kleb.

Sandys cleared the decks in period of great flux and once the strategic situation had settled (UK withdrawal from Empire and more focused on NATO northern flank) Sandys' (or Macmillan's) cancellations made the implementation of RV Jones' recommendations much easier. Think dinosaurs/fissure eruptions/asteroids/mammals rather than pretty designs.

I'll be in the stocks at 4, Hamilton Place on the 24th if anyone fancies chucking tomatoes at me.

Chris

Let's agree to disagree on Duncan Sandys - he's your guy, after all. But if you decide to similarly praise Robert McNamara, I'll be looking around for some really large American tomatoes (which are usually flavorless, I might add!)

In all seriousness, thank you for another great article!

 

[CNH]

A lot of the thinking that went into the aviation side of the 57 White Paper predated Sandys - a lot of it was Brundrett's. Sandys picked up the ball and ran with it.

So - what did Sandys get wrong then?

 

[CJGibson]

Certainly not my guy!

Quite correct CNH, Brundrett chaired the DPRC from around '54 so would have influenced Macmillan's thinking when he was looking for economies.

Anyone think I was too hard on Shorts in that article?

Chris

 

[Hood]

Sandys was indeed following in other's footsteps. Aubrey Jones was the architect of the industry's rationalisation policy, indeed Macmillan planned that both men would work in tandem in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Supply to attack the problem of the high price of defence procurement. Eventually Macmillan felt Jones was too "nice, sincere, shy – not fitted for the rough and tumble of politics and industry," so he replaced him with Sandys as Minister of Aviation, but by then Jones' policies were already bearing fruit.

Let's not forget Sandys' earlier stint as Minister of Supply during 1950-54 lacks much of his later zeal for cutting state support, indeed during his tenure the government spent £106 million on capital facilities for the industry and some aircraft companies had received state-owned capital equal to, or greater than, their private capital.

Rationalisation goes back even further, the Minister of Supply George Strauss suggested trimming the industry to thirteen companies as production units and issuing only three or four operational requirements a year to sustain nine or ten design teams as far back as June 1950. It could be argued had the Korean War rearmament programme not appeared with all its conequences for the economy and military procurement that the industry would already have shrunk by 1957.

Sandys wasn't picked because of his ideas, he was picked by Macmillian to see the job through whatever the obstacles and he had the experience of the political background for the better part of two decades which probably made him more suitable than other possible hatchet men to get the job done. Looking back from today its hard to say he did anything dreadful or that subsequent history would have been any different.

 

[CJGibson]

'...probably made him more suitable than other possible hatchet men to get the job done.'

Hence comparison with Rosa Klebb in my Conclusion to Vulcan's Hammer.

Chris

 

[circle-5]

Thanks for the perspective, Hood. My opinion of a one-man wrecking ball stemmed from the inaccurate impression that Sandys worked much more in isolation than he apparently did. That's a view from across the pond. In that context, Rosa Klebb now seems like a very good analogy. While I do not plan on joining the Duncan Sandys fan club anytime soon, I hope I did not upset anyone's sensitivities!

 

[JC Carbonel]

Remind never to tackle the Front Populaire's nationalisation of French Armement (Aircraft) Industry during the thirties. Or the agglomeration of Sud and North into Aerospatiale, another touchy subject on my side of the Channel.

JCC