R.A.A.F. PILOTS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 124, 19 February 1941, Page 10

R.A.A.F. PILOTS

Largest Output Yet

A week after it was announced that Australia’s biggest flying training schools had recorded the largest output of pilots in the history of the Royal Australian Air Force, and that training officers had been agreeably surprised by the high graduation standards, six members of the service and three aircraft were lost in a series of weekend era shes.

“This weekend list of air fatalities came as a shock to people becoming accustomed to the comparatively clean accident record of the R.A.A.F..” states the weekly summary of the R.A.A.F. Directorate of Public Relations. “At the same time —as the Minister for Air (Air. J. McEwan) has indicated —the Air Force has grown enormously since the outbreak of the war and thousands of men at scores of training and operational establishments are now flying every day. Experience in every country has. shown that some training accidents are unavoidable.

A 95 per cent, pass was obtained in Canada by Australian pilot trainees who had completed their advanced training there. The second batch recorded only one failure, and the grounds were medical ones. At the end of 1940. Australia was well ahead of air-scheme constructional and training programmes. Development was being continued with all speed in 1941 and it was plain that Australia’s output of trained pilots, air observers and wireless air-gunners would reach the annual peak objective an appreciable time before the date originally estimated.

Besides pushing ap the rate of aircrew output under the Empire Air Scheme. Australia has sent some of its peace-trained squadrons overseas, and was to send another R.A.A.F. army cooperation squadron to the Middle East, the bulletin continues.