BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

Evening Star, Issue 22025, 10 May 1935, Page 14

BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

'f ' ' [By.Gyi’SV Moth.]

INSTRUCTORS’ COURSE. A flying instructors’ course will be held at Wigrara Aerodrome about the middle of this month and during the three- weeks which tho course will occupy a number of B class (commercial) pilots will take part on lines identical with those followed., by the Royal Air Force in England, ! The number l of ■ pilots likely to engage will be sis, and in the event of there being' fewer, it is -required that the number be even in. oi'der to facilitate the tests. Six pilots who hold the necessary qualifications have* been selected and advised of the opportunity available to them if they - are abje to spend the necessary three weeks at Wigram. '

Th qualifications required of candidates for instructors’' licenses are' that they must ,have been licensed B class (commercial) pilots for 12 months and have had at least 250 hours’ solo flying time. ' A The sequence of the matters required to be taught to. pupils for pilots’ licenses will he explained- in full to the candidates for instructors’ certificates by qualified instructors. The candidates will he. given preliminary instructions as to what is required to, be taught pupils in-theory and practice, and there will demonstrations in tho air,. the qualified instructors taking the place of instructors and the candidates of pupijs. , Th© Secret of much of the success of instructors■ is the use of what is known 'as the “patter,’’ and the “patter” must he learned by heart so that it can be given to pupils through tho telephones. ■ The qualified instructors, in brief, demonstrate to the candidates for instr.uctorship the practical manner In which pupils must be educated in tbo' use of machines- on the groiind, in the .air under all sorts of conditions, and :in theory. What the candidates once learned to practise they must now learn again'in order'jto teach. ' The next stage is for the candidates to act in pairs, practising'the. business of teaching one another all the stages ■of handling an aeroplane both on the ground- and in the air, with the necessary use of the “patter.” The final stage is for the qualified instructors to act in the dual capacity, as it were, of pupils and examiners. Dependirijg upon their mastery of the professional “ pat- , ter ” and their ability to satisfy the examiner-pupil,' the candidates will be granted instfuctorship and have their licenses endorsed accordingly. | The prospects of commercial flying are such that it is likely a shortage might be felt dur|ng the next two or three years on the part of aero clubs. It is probable;-that licensed commercial companies 'riinninjg several machines will* require from - two' to five or six -pilots,-and that vacancies will be filled from among New Zealanders holding B licenses, and who have had tho experience required of therri in handling heavier types' of aeroplanes, ANGLO-DUTCH COMBINATION. A February issue of the ‘ Aeroplane ,’ announces the fact that Mr Anthony Fokker has joined up with: Airspeed Limited as a. - By this, arrangement Airspeed Ltd. will be able to build Btokker designs, under license, and presumably will have the benefit of the agreement which'Mr Fokker has with the Douglas Aircraft Company Inc. of the. United States; /This does not necessarily meanj. that Airspeed Ltd. will; concentrate 'on twinmiotored low-wing monoplanes; the iftanagirig,directors are developing some unorthodox ideas about the best possible aerodynamic lay-out, . There is - some excitement in New castle-upon-Tyne. on. the supposition that because of the Swani .Hunter, and Wigham Richardson ■ connection Airspeed Ltd. will mass produce'Hokkers and Douglases in vacant Tyneside shipyards. Miss Irene Ward. M.P. for Wallsend, “ dashed to Holland ” to persuade Mr Fokker of Abe soundness of such a policy. She might have done better if she had dashed to Portsmouth, where Messrs Norway and Tiltman, the managing directors ;of the company, reside—for.Mr Fokker is not,.a..director arid has no say in the policy of the concern.; ■ • • BOMBERS ARRIVE.

Four Vickers'Vildebeest'bombers for the itoyal -New Zealand Air Force: arrived ar Lyttelton'recently by the New Zealand Star for delivery at Wigram Aerodrome. . Four others, delivered the previous week, were assembled at Hobsouville Air Base, under the supervision of an expert from England. , . , The purchase of these machines is the first step toward bringing the equipment of the stations more,tip to date.. The only machines at present in use which are still employed as service types in other parts of the world are the Fairey 111 F seaplanes and landplanes at Hobsonville. . The* Vildebeest is ( a smgle-engined biplane which can be used for carrying either bombs *or torpedoes, though for the present the torpedo-carrying attachment will not bo fitted .to the machines just imported. ■ The planes are to be ' used for coastal defence. . ' The Bristol ■ Pegasus epgiPo of 600 horse-power is used, this typo being standard in the Royal Air J orcc., ' for the pilot is, immediately aft of'the , engine, and there is a rear cockpit for a gunner-observer. The plane is equipped wit|i a fixed machine gun firing through the propeller and another mounted on a ring over the rear cockpit. , , , ; The Vildebeest carries a military load of 2,0001 b, a- bigger bomb load than those usually taken Tiy . the modern bomber, but with the Pegasus engine'it has a better performance than any member type at present in use in New Zealand. ,At 5,000 ft it'has a speedMn excess of 140 miles an hour, and it can climb to 19,00 ft. The cruising range at 4,00 ft is 630 miles, v • , 'The torpedo fitting .between the undercarriage legs, when. not in use for supporting'the .torpedo, can be converted to take an extra petrol tank, which increases the range of the machine, at a cruising speed of 122 miles an hoiir, to 1,250 miles, _ , The London ‘ Times,’ in recent comment on the machines, remarked: “New Zealand may have sacrificed something in speed to obtain range and load, hut the aeroplane ofr its .choice has excellent take-off and climbing qualities, high powers to manoeuvre, and a very slow landing : speed. -. The cockoit for the pilot affords a very good field of vision. From ilio after cockpit the gunner may make use of the prone homhin" -platform set beneath .ihepilqt. This is fitted witli a windscreen which falls .into position as the bombing trafi is opened.” Four more machines will be secured later—two for each station. These

c:;tra machines will lie Jield in reserve in accordance with the usual' practice of having two emergency machines for every flight of four in use. Later Avro ,620 biplanes v.'ill be bought, these being for training work for the New Zealand Territorial Air Force, which at present uses Moths and Hawker Tomtits.