Training Agricultural Pilots

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30169, 28 June 1963, Page 10

Training Agricultural Pilots

The Cabinet’s approval of a Government - financed scheme for training agricultural pilots promises to solve the major difficulty facing the aerial farming industry. The war-time pilots who took up aerial top-dressing work are now retiring; and there is no influx of experienced ser-vice-trained men to replace them. The newly-licensed commercial pilot does not have the experience pceded to carry the heavy burdens that agricultural aviation imposes on him. Some of the agricultural aviation companies have been able to give some hours of specialised instruction to pilots who have graduated from the aero clubs with commercial licences; but not all have sufficient resources. Ways and means of improving both the standard of training and the supply of pilots have been examined for several years; but only six months ago the aerial work division of the Aviation Industry Association reported that it had “ almost “ abandoned hope ” of reach-: ing with the Civil Aviation Administration alone a satisfactory plan for training pilots. Yet this form of training merits Government interest and financial support as surely as the bursaries that are given without question for other activities beneficial to the nation.

Although agricultural aviation is a comparatively new adjunct to the age-old activity of farming, in New Zealand it' has become an essential element in an efficient farming economy. Last year, for instance, the area of grassland top-dressed from the air exceeded six million acres. Additional services such as seed sowing, spraying, and supply-drop-

ping were also provided. Authorities believe that the further development of any considerable acreage under cultivation must depend upon service from the air. The scheme approved by the Cabinet will provide a specialised training course of 30 hours for 20 pilots a year, and will be undertaken by the commercial pilots’ training school operated by the Wanganui Aero Club. Pilots taking the course must already have obtained a commercial pilot’s licence at their own expense. On the face of it, the proposed scheme does not appear unduly generous to the men concerned, or likely to impose heavy burdens on the State. Some drastic revisions may be necessary when the operation of the scheme is reviewed in 12 months, as the Minister of Civil Aviation promises. But it is satisfactory that a beginning has been made.