Caspar John tests procurement against night-flying needs

Caspar John accompanied the Weir Mission as the Fleet Air Arm representative while Britain studied American aircraft production and procurement. The delegation admired the rugged aircraft it saw but questioned complicated controls and the absence of survival equipment expected for long over-water flights. John's own experience pioneering naval night flying gave those criticisms direct operational weight. John and Lister belonged to a wider cohort of naval aviators associated with Henderson and Cunningham, whose experience and professional sponsorship gave the field influence before the war. Procurement depended on the intended mission as well as headline performance: cockpit workload, life preservers and rafts all affected whether an aircraft suited carrier service.