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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2388.PDF
i68 FLIGHT. AUGUST 25, 1938. CORRESPONDENCE 7 he • Editor does not hold himself responsible jor the views expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers, not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters. C.A.G.E.D. ? "Is it going to be worth it?" : What of the Sporting Side? HAVING by now had time to digest the rudiments ol the Civil Air Guard scheme and, in addition, noted what Seems to be the intentions of the clubs as regards training the multitudes, I am tempted to wonder if, after all, the scheme is all it originally appeared to be, especially to the "A" licence pilot of some considerable hours' standing. To date, one of the most pleasant things about amateur flying has been its informality. Members of one club have been able to go to their aerodrome and, with very little wait ing, fly off to visit another club in the sure knowledge that they will meet a number of friends who will see that their visitors are well looked after during the length of their stay. Naturally it has been the custom amongst thinking members not to keep a machine away from its home port lor lengthy periods, as there are others at home to be considered, but it has usually been possible to spend anything up to one hour on the ground before flying back to the starting point. Then there have been the " Dawn Patrols," for which it has been the normal thing to obtain machines, and, having had breakfast in comfort, arrive back at the home aerodrome some where in the region of 10.30 a.m. These are just two of the things in the lite of the amateur pilot, the future ol which I view with some pessimism. As far as f can gather it is to be the aim of the various clubs to arrange iheir bookings so that machines are on the ground for as little time as possible, and when one looks at the piles of applications for this cheap training it is hard to see how they can do otherwise if these ab initios are to be taught in any reasonable time. It seems to me that although the scheme will bring into aviation many who have hitherto been barred owing to the high cost of flying, it will do so at the expense of those who in the past few years have held English amateur flying together, and who have paid a high price to do so. In fact, to put it bluntly, it would seem that to produce new pilots for the C.A.G., those who flew in the past must be, temporarily at least, C.A.G.E.D. A pilot (other than he who is lucky enough to be a private owner) who really makes a hobby of his flying is not going to spend money in flying round his home aerodrome or make a cross-country flight to another 'drome if on arrival he may not call on his friends. (Here I am, of course, talking of flying done by a " non-cag ' member, or of the flying any normally progressive pilot would wish to do in addition to his JO hours at the cheap rate; no one will grumble at a certain amount of restriction being apparent in flying done at mainly Air Ministry expense.) "A" Licence Instructors If "in the air at any price " tactics are followed by the clubs, it would seem that the only " Non-Guard" flying done by the older pilots will be an occasional—very occasional—trip round the aerodrome in order to keep their hand in. And it is very likely that even a short flight such as this will need to be booked very much in advance. In no way do 1 wish to throw cold water on Sir Kingsley Wood's very excellent scheme of making the populace air minded, but it has very obviously been worked out in a great hurry, and with very little thought for those who have, as I said above, kept the flag—or. rather, the aeroplanes—flying in the past. Now, if only the scheme could be extended so that the old hands could fly the R.A.F.'s cast-off Harts at club rates, then we should have all been pleased. One way in which the feelings of a large number of the more experienced pilots could be relieved could be found in the mattei of instruction. 1 understand that a ruling is shortly to be brought out authorising new " B " licence-holders to take the instructors' course before they nave reached the necessary 250 hours' solo time. Having passed the tests they will be allowed to do " upstairs " instruction, that is, general flying, handing over their charges to the regular instructors for take off and landing practice. Why not extend this privilege to those senior " A " licence holders who are able to pass the course? 1 know that in the past the G.A.P.A.N., aided and abetted by the insurance com panies, have been very much against this practice, and in normal times, with many " B " pilots on their list of applicants for posts, this is very right. But these are not normal times, and there must be many amateurs able and willing to join the ranks of instructors. And they know a lot more about the practical side of the game than do the newly fledged " Bs." There is the position. In this mad rush of flying training is the sporting side of the game to be strangled, and the pre-cag caged? In other words, is it going to be worth it? " ' A' PILOT." London, W.C.i. Effect on Present "A" Licence Pilots OWING to the extraordinary haste with which the formation of the Civil Air Guard has followed on its first announce ment, a certain effect of the scheme appears to have been completely overlooked. Most present "A" licence holders fly a good deal more than 10 hours per year and it seems reasonable to assume that a considerable pr®perti»n of those who wiil qualify for their licences under the C.A.G. will also wish to do so, and will be prepared to pay for this additional flying at the usual club rates. It appears, however, if one may judge by the floods of appli cations, that most clubs will be able to keep all their available aircraft in use by C.A.G. members. For this flying the clubs will receive in Government subsidy plus the charge made to the individuals more than the old club rates. In these circumstances it appears very doubtful if any club will welcome those who wish to do extra flying at rates of from £1 to £ 1 10s. per hour such as are at present charged. The result of the scheme will therefore be to limit pilots to 10 hours' flying per year unless they are prepared to pay considerably more for the rest of their flying than they have done in the past. Very shortly it seems that the country will possess an enormous number of licensed pilots who are pre vented by the C.A.G. scheme from attaining a reasonable degree of efficiency. - JAMES G. ARROW. London, S.W.16. QBI OR NOT? I WAS both glad and interested to see that Flight is taking an interest in the above matter, which is so serious to the safety of the flying public. When a pilot is due to take off for some Army Co-operation flying at 10.15, finds the visibility obviously hopeless, receives a poor weather report for his area (2 to 3 kms. visibility, patches of low cloud at 300 metres, layer cloud at 1,000 metres), while the height at which he has to fly is 2,300 metres, he naturally thinks twice before going. Again, when, between 10.15 an<^ 10.25, three large airliners flop into the air-port out of the surrounding fog and gloom, that pilot is only being sensible if he says that he will not take off. After this, someone, rather foolishly, goes up to have a look, receiving the usual light from the tower. During his absence, another airliner looms up and lands. Five minutes later, the adventurer returns, reporting that it was pure luck that he found the airport again During the adventurer's absence someone has also told con trol, in so many well-chosen and scrupulously polite words, that tailure to put QBI on is courting disaster, QBI is promptly put into force. K So much for the earlier hours of that fateful forenoon. About 12.15 to 12.30, however, as if this were not enough, the QBI letters are no longer illuminated. This is precisely the time when several airliners and a batch of Army Co-op machines are due in They promptly land, six of them in half as many minutes. During this period, a 26-seater narrowly misses a serious collision with an 8-seater averted by the presence of mind of the pilot of the larger craft, a pilot of international repute, who, afterwards, in the airport buffet, states that he could not see the airport from half a mile away while approaching. Well, Sir, if first-hand experiences are any good in helping the cause of safety, they should be gladly given. Let us look to the top of the tree for the cause. Not to the man on the spot, but to the man who is responsible for his being there; not to the instructor who trained him, but to the man who laid down the conditions of training and the method of passing, and selection of officers. Above all, we want 100 per cent, ability, not your 80 per cent. " OPERATOR " Croydon Airport.
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