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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1942.PDF
3°4 FLIGHT SEPTEMBER iyra, 1942 FERRY PILOT'S DAY works out" explained the Senior Commander, " but when you have worked it out as far as it will go, using the air craft listed, you then get out a taxi sheet for collecting those pilots left with a D but no C to their names." Helpful Addition It did not take.long to work out this particular day's programme and a girl typist was soon busy completing the instruction slips for each individual pilot. While this was in hand, however, the telephone brought an additional job to be included in the day's programme and adjustments were quickly made to fit it in. As often happens in such cases, the additional job proved* to be helpful in getting one of the pool's pilots part of hi-s way horric and so effected an economy on the taxi sheet. In the meantime faint signs of improvement in the weather suggested another visit to the "Met" office. At any rate, the drizzle of rain which had ominously begun some time after dawn had eased off appreciably and a study of the latest reports indicated' that, a bit later on, it might be possible to make a start. While waiting to see which way the meteorological cat intended to jump, a visit was paid to the pilots' rooms, one of which had all the attributes of a rather jolly club (except for the bar!) and was known as "the noisy room," the other possessing the restful atmosphere of a library, with its deep leather armchairs and writing tables, and being known as " the quiet room." These, and the canteen and other rooms in the building, were all equipped with loud speakers by which pilots r could be summoned to the operations room or given any other urgent message with the minimum delay. It was at this stage that we were intro duced by the Senior Commander to Capt. W., one of the pool's " four-engined',' pilots whose job that day would be to collect a Halifax from its birthplace and deliver it to an R.A.F. station about 150 miles away. There was no machine to be moved from this particular R.A.F. station that day, so the Captain, whom we were to accompany, would be picked up by an Anson taxi which would make a detour on its homeward journey for this purpose. Capt W. did not think much of the weather, either, explaining that few, if any, of the aircraft handled by A.T.A. pilots had their radio equipment in operation, and that for this and other reasons the ferry pilot was cut f off from the help of wireless communication with the ground. Also, regulations demanded they must always fly within sight of the ground, and hedge-hopping with a four- engined bomber in conditions of bad visibility was not to be recommended. Over a cup of tea in the canteen (the strongest beverage served there), Capt. W. mentioned that, in spite of English weather and the fact that no pilot who measured up to R.A.F. requirements in such matters as age and physical fitness could be accepted in the A.T.A., their accident rate was less than one-quarter of one per cent. . . . a figure which even included forced landings involving the most trifling of superficial damage to the air craft concerned. < Learning by Experience Capt. W. was typical of the A.T.A. ferry pilots. He had.. learnt to fly some ten years ago as an ordinary membe* of a civilian flying club in the West Country, and, not being eligible, for the R.A.F., became one of the earliest recruits to the A.T.A. He progressed as he gained prac tical experience as a ferry pilot, and to-day he can handle anything from a Maggie to a Stirling. " More than once," he said, "I have had to fly a type which was quite new to me without any dual instruction ; 00i (Above) One of the two pilots' rooms at the headquarters ferry pool, where instructions may be awaited in peace and quiet. (Left) Routes are checked before starting ; all ferry pilots must fly within sight of the ground and fly by the map. i (Right) A party of ferry pilots emplaning in one of the pool's Anson taxis for their various starting points.
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