711.00111 Articles or Materials/402
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Aide-Mémoire
The Department of State refers to the aide-mémoire of the British Embassy dated March 14, 1941, in which it is stated that His Majesty’s Government desires that permission be given for British civilian crews to take delivery at the factory of aircraft destined for His Majesty’s Government and to fly them over United States territory en route to British territory, it being understood that as at present title would remain with the American manufacturer until the aircraft crosses the United States frontier.
His Majesty’s Government also desires that permission be given to carry out training flights in the United States with British civilian crews in charge and that such flights be not restricted to the environs of an airport, such flights to be made by British civilian pilots eligible to obtain pilots’ certificates under the Civil Air Regulations of the United States and the flights to be made subject to the observance of such regulations.
The Department of State sees no objection to the flight delivery of planes and the carrying out of training flights in the manner desired by His Majesty’s Government, provided, however, that the regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Authority with reference to flights and the use of airports are met. It is to be understood in this connection that any use of air fields under the jurisdiction of the War and Navy Departments is subject to the consent of these Departments and that the use of other fields would be subject to compliance with the conditions relating to the use of such fields.
In the case of transpacific flights via Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, the Navy Department desires the same general procedure as recently arranged for planes manned by Australian crews, i. e. advance notification regarding each specific flight, to include the names of the crew, the date the flight will commence, and identification data regarding the plane in order that appropriate naval authorities along the route may be properly apprised. It will be necessary for operations at any point under naval jurisdiction to be subject to such security measures as the local commandant may prescribe.