112 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



2. Development and Promotion Work 



(a) Write-off of Old Equipment: 



Another feature in the operation of the Air Service during the season 

 1933 was the absence of out of date flying equipment. The writing off of the 

 last four H.S.2.L. Flying Boats at the end of the 1932 operating season per- 

 mitted the Air Service to enter the 1933 season with but two main groups of 

 machines. Since each group is especially adapted to the work it is required 

 to perform, it was felt that a considerable step forward was made in the direc- 

 tion of increasing the efficiency of the fleet as a whole. 



(b) Growth of Fleet Under Specialized Demand: 



Since inauguration of the Ontario Provincial Air Service in 1924, its 

 duties have from year to year become more clearly defined. This was a 

 natural corollary of experience gained both by the Air Service and the Forestry 

 Branch, as ever greater demands were made, and met. The result is that 

 such experience indicates that the efficient application of aircraft to the work 

 of forest preservation necessitates two distinct types of aircraft in accordance 

 with the requirement of the Forestry Department to have, first — accurate 

 knowledge of the fire, and second, quick transport of men and fighting equip- 

 ment to the site of the fire. Accordingly a policy of building up a fire detection 

 fleet consisting of light and economical aircraft has been followed vigorously. 

 As for the transport fleet, it is impossible to over-stress the necessity for pro- 

 perly rounding out this group with modern aircraft to replace the obsolescent 

 flying boats written off through fair wear and tear, during the past few years. 



(c) Ability of Fleet to Serve Various Departments: 



The season 1933 being the first in which the two parts of the fleet have 

 been clearly defined, it now becomes apparent that the duties of the fleet 

 could be considerably broadened by serving other Departments of the Govern- 

 ment beside the Forestry Department. It would be possible to do a great 

 deal of such work during the winter months, and also during the summer 

 as well, providing no demands were made that would embarrass the efficiency 

 of suppression flying during periods of high hazard. 



(d) The Advantage of Specialization: 



Specialization of the fleet involves care in replacement of old flying equip- 

 ment with machines more exactly adapted to the particular work they will be 

 called on to perform. Such a policy leads to a substantial increase in fleet 

 efficiency as each new unit is brought into operation. 



(e) The Need for Additional Transport Equipment: 



It will be noticed that the tabular record of the past season's flying indi- 

 cates the necessity for additions to the Transport Division of the Fleet. The 

 experience of the last three seasons in the use and maintenance of light aircraft 

 points plainly to the fact that these machines are being called upon to do work 

 which normally should be performed by freight-carrying machines. This 

 unavoidable necessity for using light aircraft for transport duty tends to break 

 down the efficiency of both the Air Service and the Forestry Branch in the 

 areas concerned. This result may be expected as long as the above tendency 

 exists, — when it is known that from a technical viewpoint, a light machine 

 cannot remain continually in a serviceable condition when it is frequently 

 lled upon to do work tor which it is not suited. 



