ROYAL AIR FORCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 25, 29 July 1939, Page 11

ROYAL AIR FORCE

TRAINING OF PILOTS

NEW ZEALANDERS KEEN

MANY CANDIDATES

Applications called recently for candidates for appointment to short-ser-vice commissions in the Royal Air Force, and also for appointment to commissions in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (pilots' section)- had met with a very gratifying response, said the, Minister of Defence (the Hon. F. Jones) in an interview yesterday-

Applications were invited early in July for a number of vacancies by an advertisement inserted in the principal newspapers throughout the Dominion, the Minister said, and within a period which ended on July 21, no fewer than 600 inquiries were received at the Air Department from applicants wishing to obtain commissions in either the Royal Air Force or the Royal New Zealand Air Force Reserve.

The response received was very] gratifying indeed, and of the 600 New Zealanders who had made preliminary .inquiries, 250 had already completed their applications. Further applications were expected to be received in the next few days. "The Air Department already has a large waiting list of candidates who were interviewed in March, and it is expected that the majority of these candidates will be required to start their flying training in October, when more than fifty will be reporting to aero clubs for their' ab initio training," said the Minister. "A further fifty : candidates are required for February, and a similar number will be required in March. Thereafter candidates will report approximately every three . months." ! : PRELIMINARY TRAINING. Formerly candidates were sent to England direct in batches of twelve and eighteen approximately every four to six weeks, and fifty a year received their preliminary training in New Zealand before proceeding to.England. v Under the new arrangement entered into with the Air, Ministry, all candi- . dates now receive their preliminary training in New Zealand, and the necessary provision has been made for the expansion of the Flying Training School, Wigram, in order tha' addi- ■ tional candidates may be trained. .The new Flying Training School, Blen- " heim, will soon be established to make '' provision for the increased number of candidates to be trained as pilots. A number of vacancies for short-ser-vice commissions in the Royal Air Force is allocated to" the Dominion each year by the Air Ministry. Candidates must be between the ages of 17& and 28, unmarried, and must have .. passed either the University Entrance Examination, or the school certificate examination, or have reached an equivalent standard. Physics, or elementary science, and mathematics are. ; essential subjects. • J-V-" : NECESSARY QUALITIES. , , As pilots are trained with a view . -to appointment to commissions, they . must show that, not only are they '^"likely to become efficient Air Force >v pilots and are competent to pass all ;■ >the necessary examinations, but also that they possess the qualities of leadership and the sense of responsibility necessary in ah officer. The instruction of any candidates found unsuitable in any of these respects may be terminated at any time during the course. a Successful candxlates are required in the first instance to undergo a course of instruction in elementary flying and ground duties with a selected aero club for .apprbximately .. two months. They are subsequently posted to a flying training school for a course of flying on service types of aircraft and more advanced ground training, and at the end of this course leave for England, where, as soon as possible after arrival, they are posted to R.A.F. units. During their period of training candidates are gazetted as acting-pilot officers. a . Candidates are required to give an undertaking to return^ to New Zealand after the completion of their five years' short-service commission in the R.A.F., and to serve for at least five years in the reserve of the E.N.Z.A.F. This condition is waived in the case of officers granted a permanent or medium-service commission in the ; R.A.F. ' ■ ■ •- '