DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1932 91 



equipment was obsolete, and that a major repair to the hull would be false 

 economy. The machine was therefore dismantled and destroyed at the station 

 from which she had been working, namely, Twin Lakes. No other serious 

 mishaps were sustained by the flying equipment during the year. 



In future the requirements for major repairs in the field or at headquarters 

 during the operating season should become a diminishing necessity, since all 

 flying boat equipment of wooden construction has become completely obsolete, 

 and under Federal regulations, has been written off and destroyed. The remain- 

 ing equipment on the strength is of an up-to-date type and structure exactly 

 suited to the work it has to perform. A very large factor in the reduction of the 

 Air Service repair bill will be found in the fact that all the power plants in use 

 are of modern design, and have the latest improvements to enhance reliability 

 and low maintenance costs. 



New Work: 



The only work other than maintenance performed at headquarters base in 

 Sault Ste. Marie during the year 1932, consisted of the building of six small 

 service boats, suitable for the attachment of outboard motors, and some twelve 

 special canoes for the Forestry Branch. The latter are built to a special 

 design, permitting the canoe to be easily carried in our transport aircraft. 



During the year, a lookout tower was constructed on top of the hangar. 

 This tower is a great convenience in making accurate weather observations for 

 the information of incoming and outgoing planes. 



A pigeon loft was also erected on top of the hangar, and a flock of trained 

 homing pigeons can be maintained for the quick dispatch of information from 

 planes operating in remote parts of their districts. During periods of intense 

 fire hazard when the pilot has discovered a fire during his patrol, it will be 

 convenient for him to dispatch a pigeon from his plane with information, thus 

 permitting him to carry on with his patrol uninterrupted. 



Certain minor changes were made within the hangar proper, to promote 

 efficiency in the carrying out of the reconditioning programme. Outside of the 

 hangar, northern shrubs and trees were planted for the general beautification 

 of the grounds. In front of the hangar the road was taken out and grass plots 

 laid down, in order to eliminate the dust nuisance. This change was very 

 important, in that cars passing in front of the hangar raised quantities of abrasive 

 cinder dust, which blew in through the engine shop windows and settled on 

 delicate parts of engines which were necessarily exposed during the process of 

 overhaul. 



It was also necessary to relay and extend the drainage system for the hangar 

 as the original system had become clogged. 



As weather records are an important factor in the operation of aircraft, it 

 was deemed advisable to install certain weather recording instruments in order 

 to build up a reliable daily record of local conditions. Such instruments as have 

 been installed have aided materially in the control and protection of aircraft in 

 periods of very unsettled weather conditions. 



Features from the Statistical Records for the Season 

 Machine Days: 



The Machine Day as a time unit is considered as being one machine for one 

 day between sunrise and sunset. The machine days available for any given 

 machine is taken to mean the total number of days that the machine was on its 

 operating base. The machine days possible is the total number of days that the 



