90 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



transport machines must be loaded to capacity, and they can be refuelled at a 

 nearby gas cache for the return trip. 



Headquarters Flight: 



The Flexibility Gained. — The Headquarters Flight during most of 1932 

 consisted of two DeHavilland 61 machines of five hundred horsepower, and 

 one Fairchild 71-C, of four hundred and twenty-five horsepower. These 

 machines were ordinarily allocated to the Port Arthur District, but were 

 requisitioned to other stations as needed, by order of the Deputy Minister. 

 Since all of these machines are in the transport section, they were necessarily 

 moved to the focal point of greatest suppression activity during the hazard 

 season, and when the hazard had subsided at the end of the summer, the 

 machines were employed on transportation of supplies to the various winter 

 bases, and in moving equipment from ranger stations that are usually shut 

 down each winter. 



As a result of this specialization, a greater flexibility is obtained, while the 

 programme of those stations where the remaining transport machines are regularly 

 placed, does not suffer interruptions that detract seriously from the efficiency 

 of the district concerned. During the past year it was only necessary to place 

 the two DeHavilland 61's actually on a roving commission, and their movement 

 was confined to four stations for the most, namely, Port Arthur, Pays Plat, 

 Sioux Lookout and Goose Island. These two machines performed, jointly, 

 some 845 hours, of which 800 were used in actual suppression and transportation 

 work. 



The value of a more or less fixed location for all other machines cannot be 

 too highly stressed, since, when suitable machines are allocated to a given district, 

 and the District Forester in charge becomes familiar with its capabilities, a 

 definite programme of work can be laid out by the District Forester, and the 

 operations properly planned to meet his requirements. Also, where the same 

 piloting and engineering staffs return to the same district year after year, such 

 personnel become thoroughly familiar with the plans and requirements of the 

 District Forester, but more important still from an operational standpoint, 

 the pilots become thoroughly familiar with the eccentricities of the district 

 over which they have to work. This condition makes for cumulative safety 

 and efficiency of personnel and equipment all through the fire-fighting organization. 



Reconditioning and Maintenance 

 Alterations to Equipment: 



During 1932 operations, no major alterations were required in the design 

 or actual structure of the aircraft. After some experience with cracking exhaust 

 manifolds on the Hornet Engines, however, the exhaust manifolds on the 

 Hornet Engines were scrapped and new one's were made up on a different 

 principle, in the Air Service Sheet Metal Section, which proved much more 

 durable and satisfactory. The Sheet Metal Section also made up and inserted 

 strengthening tubular struts inside the hollow stream-lined struts of the latest 

 DeHavilland 61, as the original float undercarriage struts had evidenced weakness 

 under rough water conditions. 



Repairs: 



No major repairs were performed on any of the flying equipment during 

 1932. In the case of the Flying Boat H.S.2.L., G-CAPF, which sustained a 

 badly punctured bottom during a normal take-off, it was considered that the 



