AIR FORCE PILOTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 228, 27 September 1938, Page 5

AIR FORCE PILOTS.

WORTH £1550 EACH.

REVnEW BY MINISTER.

SPECTACULAR FLIGHTS.

(IV.-.Tol,. K nip| l .-Own Correspondent.) 'MHISTCHUHCH, this day. I",!.rf- worth £750 to the Xew Z« a la,, d Gonirnu.cit How through a cloudles, B ky in H,HM-.,„.t,|„ r formation at Wi-fran. when Mi,. MinUter of Defence, the H(Jn F. .».....-. ...Ml tl.«. C'liU.f of the- Air Staff' Group (•,,.,„ i„ the ll,.„. H. A. Cochrane carried '"•« '< formal m*|H.-etion A Hi-lii -;f Hv« Vil,U.»H.,vt,w. with ea J" , ' | " "' ll - v 1 , . , '„' I- •■*rrl,.,| out format", ami ,„• <lr,l| ,„„,,. th(> (|i I.M-iit..imnt H. .?. Cohen. Their com-..- ..I mtensiv,. training completed. >..nu> ..I them w.1.l ? „ tl( K , l ; »,.*. vo„rtojoi„ the IJ„ y „, Air For^ be | n.l U....0 for each pilot m>nt Homo. lh.it h to envrr the cost of training. Ah ill.- live great bombers circled over J ;""l'-»">.e. instruction* were {rive,, the ~,1..U by r.,,1,,, by the flight leader ■."-•'" '•■"»«••»»»» «<-l-M. The iP.true1. m.,, |, •,..,. through a loud speaker *„ that the "iV.cial |~irt.v could follow even iletail of the flight. '•«jne h.-r more throttle. Xo. 2" came FK'M l-eutenant (..hen's voice through the h,,,. speaker ami \o. 2 machine In the, (Ti-lit moved quickly up in line "? '» ''" ,',"!.'*, rlffht ~ow' - Thnt ' s th« •tuff 11.-1,1 that .... That is very nearly perfect.

"Bags of Throttle." Away in thel,|„«. of the southern skv the machine* flew in squadron V formation, then changed slowly to echelon "(...,,o on. No. .1. Bag, of throttle. Open «[> wide. I hats better." They circled again. "Re-form V." came the instruction and echelon wav gracefully to squadron V formation. Prepare to drop parachutes. Switch No. 12." And three weighted parachutes glided to earth.

Iwo of the machines, under instruction*, drifted away from the flight to leave three in formation. "Prepare to drop bomb*." ordered the commander. Three machine* swooped downward at an imaginary tar.ret. "Drop bomb*." Three smoke bombs hurtled earthwards. eradied on the far side of the flying field and exploded in a cloud of white • moke, which drifted and eddied slowlv a wav.

Once more the five machines linked up together in formation, and came in ■lowly to Innd. "Watch me. keep your eyes on me." instructed the flight leader. "Throttle back hard, harder Xo. 3. Watch me. I'll find the ground." The five machines landed perfectly.

Songratnlations were offered by the wter of Defence. "It was exceedingly Well done." he told Flight-Liewtenant Cohen. Mr. .lone* explained thnt eight months ago the idiots of the Vildebeestes who had-just come down did not know a thing about the intricacies of flying. Minister Explains. "They were trained under the new scheme whereby they spend two months at one of the four main aero club* in the Dominion, and then spend six months at Wigram, said Mr. Jones. "At the end of that time their course is completed and they are ready to go to England. They are trained under exactly the same syllabus a* the Royal Air Force. It is a very strenuous course, with hard swotting."