HIGH STANDARD FOR PILOTS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14571, 15 January 1948, Page 6

HIGH STANDARD FOR PILOTS

MINOR REVOLUTION

IN R.A.F.

EVERYTHING REQUIRED IN

ALL WEATHERS

A revolution is taking place in the R.A.F. and Dominions Air Forces, a peaceful revolution aimed at making every pilot capable of taking off, flying and landing in all weathers. This centre-of the revolution is the Empire Flying School at Hullavington in Wiltshire and Charles Gardner, the 8.8.C.'s Air Correspondent, recently visited it for the benefit of the 8.8.C.'s "Radio News Reel"'listeners.

The school is representative of many parts of the Empire, its commandant is English, its flying instructor South African, his, predecessor Canadian, the ground instructor a New Zealander. The pupils, said Gardner, "must be able to take off and land blind, using not only one, but every known form of radio and radar aid, and do it with full technical knowledge of how and why the system works and where it can go wrong. They must be able to fly anywhere in any weather, including thunder storms and icing, and navigate themselves exactly using again instruments and every sort cf aid.

During the actual flights they have to cope with engine failures, sudden manoeuvres, recovery from stalls or spins, or any other such unpleasant occurrence which may never happen, but just might happen one day, and when they can do all this, and a lot of other technical things appertaining to them, only then can they go out to the squadrons here at home or back in their own countries, and spread the learning." The standard set by the school is exceptionally high and it will take time to get every single pilot in the Commonwealth forces up to it, perhaps as much as five years, but when they have reached this high pitch of training they should be the most effective air forces the world has ever known, and above that, the safest. "Even during the war," said the 8.8.C.'s correspondent, "only key men in certain squadrons were anywhere near up to this level —yet now it is going to be a 'must' required cf every man with wings."