ENGLAND’S YOUTH GROWING AIR-MINDED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 144, 19 June 1931, Page 10

ENGLAND’S YOUTH GROWING AIR-MINDED.

NEW RECRUITS ATTEND CLASSES AT AERO CLUBS (Special to the “ Star.*’) LONDON. May 2. Youth is growing air-minded. Just as their grandparents wanted to ride bicycles and their parents wanted to drive cars, so the younger generation wants to learn to fly. Every day some parent—usually mother—is confronted with a request: “Please can I learn to fly?” Just as in the early bicycle and early motor days, the parental foot drop* heavily, only to be relaxed gradually until permission is given to join a flying club, and have some lessons. At Brooklands School of Flying pupils are learning all the time. A dozen joined durlast week, and among those who made their first flight in a dual control machine

was Miss Ishbel MacDonald, who for a long time has shared the enthusiasm of her father for a i r travel. She went down to Brooklands to inspect the aerodrome and went for a trial lesson. After half an hour she was able to fly the machine straight and level. She has no intention of going in for flying seriously and taking her pilot’s certificate, however. Every month the membership lists at the flying clubs increase, mostly with the names of young people. Women flyers are increasing at the rate of one to every eight men. These young folk do not all belong to what used to be called ** The wealthier classes.” Many of the young men and women who take off from the London Aeroplane Club at Stag Lane for an hour or two’s spin on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon are wageearners tied to a desk five and a half days a week. An entrance fee of three guineas and a like amount for a subscription was their first cost. After that they paid two guineas an hour for tuition w’ith a dual control machine and later one guinea an hour solo. It has cost them from £3O to £35 to qualify for their “A” pilot certificate. Now they are able to enjoy flying at an all-in cost of £1 per hour, including petrol, oil and insurance charges. Charges vary at various clubs. At Han worth Park Aerodrome the cost of qualifying for an “A” certificate is about £4O, after paying club membership fees. Machines can be hired at £2 an hour after qualification, and after a certain number of flying hours at