From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Satirical explanation of the origin and purpose of the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate (A.I.D.).
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 142\1\ scan0074 | |
| Date | 21th January 1938 guessed | |
| THE A.{Mr Adams} I. D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} we have just had to speak quite sharply to one of our foremen. We overheard him remarking that he did not quite see the point of the A.I.D. We did not dismiss the man. After all, he can hardly be expected to appreciate the full significance and subtlety of a thing like the A.I.D. We simply took him along to our office and explained. We told him that for years and years British Policy had been based on the maxim that the pen was mightier than the sword, until one day our government woke up and realised that even the most up-to-date self-filling fountain pens were at a disadvantage against long range bombers. So it became necessary to build a lot of aeroplanes. But then, we explained, came the snag. Someone in the Air Ministry pointed out that aeroplanes are dangerous things, and that if we really had a lot of them, the brave lads in the R.A.F. would probably go flying and kill themselves. This put the Air Ministry in a dilemma - until some genius (as a matter of fact it was a cousin of our very own Mr. Fobottle) bethought him of the A.I.D. "Suggest" he wrote, in the type of memorandum which seems to be characteristic of all the Fobottle family, "that since desirable to have programme of rapid R.A.F. expansion, but extremely dangerous and undesirable to give boys aeroplanes, only possible solution carefully organized Inspection Department. If properly trained, Inspectors should be able to ensure against production of aeroplanes despite best efforts of manufacturers". So, we concluded, there you are. (1) | ||