FLYING CLUBS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22353, 26 February 1936, Page 16

FLYING CLUBS

PROGRESS IN BRITAIN MEMBERSHIP INCREASES [from our own correspondent] LONDON, Jan. 25 1 ... j Statistics show that British flying i clubs reached new high points of aci tivity in 1935. New "records" were set for hours flown, flights made, aircraft employed and aviators trained. From every operational aspect the club movement showed an advance. Thirtythree clubs receive subsidies from the Government in the shape of payments in respect of every member who qualifies for, or renews, his pilot's licence. Returns from 27 of them yield an aggregate membership of 7738. as shown on the books on December 31. Active • flying members total 4271 and hours flown were 39,098, compared with 35,235 for all subsidised clubs in 1934. The work of these 27 clubs engaged 117 aircraft, or 15 more than were required for the work of all of the subsidised clubs in 1934. Pilots trained to the stage of qualification for the A, or amateur pilot s, licence, in the year number 559, against 506 by all subsidised clubs in the previous year. Club members qualified as B, or commercial, pilots totalled 123, as compared with 50 in 1934. Second-class navigators numbered 10, and ground eneineers 19. Considering only the subsidised clubs under review, the average club aeroplane in 1935 flew 335 hours. Some clubs used their equipment much more intensively. For example, the Brooklands Flying Club, wliich_ operated seven aircraft, piled up 4525 flying hours —an average of 646 hours per machine. The Hampshire Club aggregated 2051 hours with a fleet of five aircraft, an average of 410 hours. The Scottish Flying Club averaged 405 hours for each machine with a fleet of six aeroplanes, and the London Aeroplane Club, with nine aircraft iu service, averaged slightly under 400 hours. These figures are or the robustness and durability of British light training aircraft, which are subjected to severe strains in the hands of novice—and frequently heavyhanded—pilots. Most club flying is done in short trips and involves thousands of landings and take-offs. Iho severity of the strains imposed on aircraft and engines is obvious. British light aircraft and their power units owe much of their admirable qualities to lessons learned by the designer in the course of years of experience of club and school flying.