QUALIFIED AS PILOTS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19690, 6 August 1929, Page 3

QUALIFIED AS PILOTS.

TWO AERO CLUB MEMBERS. I MISS A. CLIFFORDS SUCCESS. I Miss Aroiia Clifford is the first lady member of an aero club in New Zealand to qualify for her pilot's certificate. This she did at the Wigraiu Aerodrome yesterday morning, flying & Moth to the satisfaction of the examiner, Major 1.. M. lsitt, of the | New Zealand Air Force. | Mr R. W . Noruian, another member of the Canterbury Aero Club, also passed the examination for his ticket, these two being the first members of a New Zealand Aero Club to do so. Major Isitt said lie was quite satisfied with the performances of the two pupils. The day was not an ideal one for Hying, a tricky, variable wind making conditions difficult, so that the resource of the pupils was well tested. In one of hci landings Miss Clifford was unlucky iu that the wind changed just as the machine reached the ground. She handled the machine well, however, and brought it to a stop without mishap. The test for each pupil lasted about an hour and a quarter. It did not include "stunting," as only service pilots are required to pass a test in this. Besides the practical test, in which the pupils were alone in the machine, each had to answer an oral examination regarding the rules as to lights and signals and a.s to the rule of the road in the air. Questions were also asked regarding the special rules which deal with flying in the vicinity of aerodromes open to public use. The practical tests were as follows: i'a) Test for Altitude and Gliding Flight.—A flight without landing during which the pilot shall attain a minimum altitude of 6000 feet above the point of departure. The descent shall finish with a glide, the engine cut off at 4500 feet above the landing ground The landing shall be made without restarting the engine and within 150 yards or less of a point fixed beforehand by the official examiners of the test.

(hi Tests of Skill.—A flight without landing around two marks situated 500 yards apart, making a series of five figure-of-eight turns, each turn reaching one of the two posts. This flight shall be made at an altitude of not more than 600 feet above the ground without touching the ground. The landing shall be effected by: (1) Finally shutting off the engine or engines at latest when the aircraft touches the ground: (2) finally stopping the flying machine within a distance of 50 yards from a point fixed by the candidate before starting. On completing their tests, each pupil was congratulated by the examiner, who also congratulated Captain J. Mercer, who prepared the pupils for their examination Prior to the examination, each rmpil had approximately twenty hours' tuition in the ai The only other lady to qualify as a pilot in New Zealand Ls Mrs Gladys Sandford, who passed her test at the Wigram Aerodrome some years ago, before the beginning of aero clubs.