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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0919.PDF
MAY IOTH, 1945 FLIGHT 509 GRADING THE AMATEUR whole system would, in fact, be rather similar to (but more "civil" than) that standardised in the Air Force. There should never be any question of difficulty or unpleasantness over the authorisation. The primary licencee would simply go into conference with the instructor, or official concerned, and the presentation of an authorisation chit would normally be in the nature of a formality; at the end of the brief con- ference the averagely constituted novice would have been given either a chit or some very convincing reasons why such and such a flight was not deemed to be reasonably safe. Authorisation would, of course, cover all manner of flights in addition to cross-country trips in familiar aircraft. Through it there would be permission to fly new types, and to practise particular aerobatic and other exercises. After an intermediate stop during a tour, of course, permission would again have to be obtained after consultation with the met. people In all, the novice might, with such a ^jfstem in full force, be in a much better position to obtain •ample experience, and he would always be able to look forward to the not-so-distant day when he would be free even of these minor restrictions—which were in force, largely though unofficially, during pre-war days. I will not attempt to lay down any possible standards for the higher grade of licence, but I do feel that the amateur should,"in addition to possessing good all-round experience covering several hundred flying hours, know a great deal more than he used to- know about the working of his aircraft, general aerodynamics, meteorology, and D.R. navigation. None of these things are quite as im- portant as actual flying experience, but they form a guide to his general intelligence and keenness, and would prevent . the less experiencd pilot (as well as quite a few old-timers) from falling into the various handling and weather traps which still tend -to kill good pilots off at all stages in their careers. The basic point is that, since there must be some .form of control for all flying, such a system of grading and preliminary authorisation would provide full control for all amateur flying by pilots whose skill and experience are in doubt. In addition, the dual licence arrangement would provide a means of disciplining the more reckless souls without anomalies or too great a hardship. The convicted "bad" pilot would merely be down-graded for a period. He would still be able to fly, but the somewhat boring process of continuous authorisation would remind him of his misdeeds. And, of course, if he chose again to be lethally anarchistic during his re-probationary period he would risk losing even his primary ticket. The pain and loss of self-respect would be greater for the more ex- perienced and from whom breaches of good flying manners can be less easily tolerated—so that deliberate naughtiness would automatically be more heavily punished than mere forgetfulness or inexperienced exuberance. I hand the idea to those who will be in control of private flying—for what it is worth. "INDICATOR." A ratio Ar234 Reconnaissance Bomber SPAN 47ft. 3in. ARADO Ar 234 : This is the latest of the German "" squirt jobs " to put in an appearance on what remained of the Western Front at the time. But unlike the Me 262, it has only been used in small numbers for reconnaissance and has avoided combat, though it can carry small bombs under the jet-unit nacelles. The main wheels of the tricycle undercarriage retract into the underside of the fuselage ; pilot's cockpit is in, the glazed nose. The Ar 234 is powered by two Junkers Jumo 004 jet reaction units underslung beneath the cantilever high wings, and top speed is reported to be something over 400 m.p.h. It is easily distinguished from the Me 262 which has a teardrop cockpit cover amidships and is a low-wing design with sharply backswept leading edges and tapered trailing edge on the centre section.
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