AVIATION SCHOOL

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1934, Page 18

AVIATION SCHOOL

THE COURSES AT HAMBLE

A CHOICE OF FIFTEEN

(From ''The;-. Post's" Representative.) .. .•. LONDON, Juno 14. Britain's "air university," founded in 1031 by Sir John Siddeley at Hamblo, Southampton Water, goes from strength to strength.. There are now 55 civilian pupils in residence, compared with 19 in 1932 and 24 in 1933.. Twenty-five pupils are going through the "long" course.devised for students who wish to make a career of " aviation. The first batch of pupils entering for this course are completing their training, and an interesting fact-is that they are songht for immediate subsequent employment by leading air transport companies here and abroad. The "constant increase in flying hours has made necessary the , provision of more ' aircraft. In May the club machines flew in the aggregate* 830 Tiours. Two more Avro "Cadet" training biplanes Vere';-added to the- fleet, ]>ringing the total of- the school fleet up to twenty-five machines, of which "Cadets" comprise thirteen. Several of the pilots who-w-ill.;-bo taking part in the London-Melbourne air races are entering the school for special naviga-tion-courses. There -is high tribute to the .standard'of British .firing-training in the'fact that someof ""them are well-known1-foreign aviators. The school offers a choice'of fifteen I sqgarate eourse^ ganging ;tJic

simple and straightforward course Of instruction up to tho stage of qualification for tho "A," or amateur pilot's, licence, to the long "university" course.. Costs range from £60 to £1111, excluding some of the special courses, such as the "blind" or instrument flying courses, which costs £45, and a special wireless course, for £50. Study of tho syllabuses reveals that the value given for money is remarkable. The long course includes no less than 300 hours'.flying. This reckoning on the usual level, of flying school rates cannot cost the organisation much less than £600, leaving just over £500 to moot the cost of lectures and instruction in the many branches of practical and theoretical airmanship that the student absorbs during his throe years' stay. How comprehensive is the train ing is strikingly illustrated in the fact that the long-course student qualifies on ten different types of aeroplane. Seaplanes as well as land machines make up the school fleet, which also includes a multi-engined. monoplane similar in flying characteristics to the modern air-line machine and amphibious craft. Last year the club machines flew 6428 hours, an increase of 2048 hours over 1932. Nationals of twelve countries wero among the • students, ono of them a wealthy young American who had considered the claims of the leading schools in the United State's aud on the Continent of Europe before deciding 1 hat tho best of them all was the Air Service -Training '■'. establishment at Humble1. "Britain teaches the world's pilots and builds tho world's aeroplanes"—the slogan1 i=- justified by facts.

(,'iiiirt bottles shaped like thoso used for cliampagne and made of amber aro to be used by; London brewers for beer.