MASTER AIR PILOTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 257, 30 October 1934, Page 5

MASTER AIR PILOTS

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS. FOUR MEN CERTIFICATED. LONDON, Sept. IL Four of the pilots of Imperial Airways —Captains A. L. Walters, F. D. Travers, J. Stafford. and E, S. Alcock —have gained certificates as master pilots This new category for British commercial airmen was instituted in 1929, but it was not until this year that the first certificates were issued. The requirements are such that only pilots of exceptional flying experience, both by night and day, can hope to obtain one. The qualifications necessary include, the holding of a current licence issued to pilots entitled to fly for hire or reward; also a licence authorising the pilot to act as an aircraft navigator. Both these licences must have been in force for at least five years. The applicant must also have flown at least 1000 hours as a pilot of civil aircraft during the five years prior to his application; and. in addition, a considerable amount of night-flying experience is called for, including a minimum of 20 night flights above land or sea, each to begin and end during the hours of darkness, and to last at least an hour. Captain Alcock is a younger brother of the late Sir John Alcock, who made the first non-stop Atlantic aeroplane flight in 1919. After a period of service in the Royal Air Force, he joined Imperial Airways in 1929. He is at present on the route between Egypt and India. He has flown over 750,000 miles. Captain Spafford joined the Royal Air Force after the war, and had done over 100-hours of service flying when he joined Imperial Airways in 1928. He flew on the Continental routes until the end of 1931. when he was posted to the Near East Division of Imperial Airways at Cairo. His hours spent in the air total over 6000. Captain Travers learned to fly in 1917, and saw war service in Macedonia, Egypt, and South Russia. After the war he became a pilot on the SalonikaConstantinople air mail. Subsequently he operated his own private air-taxi service, and then joined Imperial Airways in 1926. Captain Walters who has the distinction of holding Master Pilot’s Certificate No. 1, began flying in 1918, and, .prior to becoming an Imperial Airways pilot in 1924, had 1000 hours in the air to his credit. At the present time his log-books show that he has spent nearly