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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1779.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 October 1949 . _ An instructor occupying the rear seat gives last-minute directions to the u/t pilot in front. " Flight " photograph.. policy; and, above all, it has to work fast to pass pilots through in the requisite numbers. Flight, having paid the School a visit and been privileged to fly in its air- craft, is now free to remark that some of th« instructors are fearful that so much attention from visitors of all sorts will hold up their training timetable. The School was formed — W/C. P Burnett, D.S.O., D.F.C., was entrusted with the job—on August 15th last, and the first coarse arrived one month later, on S«ptetnber 14th. The majority of u /1 pilots to whom we talked had come through the standard training stages — TOO hours' bask training on Prentices and 100 hours' applied flying on HaSrvards. There were others, however, trained during the war, who had returned to the Service after dis- charge and had been posted to Driffield on cotspfetrog a refresher coarse. No hard-and-fast curriculum has been worked out at this early stage, and, in fact, the two separate courses are each trying out a slightly different programme Experience with the early courses will quickly indicate which is best. As stated earlier, the School is concerned only with accustoming pilots to handling turbojet-powered fighters. Recognizing that the trainees have only recently completed a long and strenuous course of ground training, the ground lectures at 203 A.F.S. are made as interesting as possible, kept to the minimum, and are devoted to essential practical instruction in preparation for flying in the Meteors and Vampires. The unit is equipped with Meteor 7s and 4s and Vampire is. The first course is now tackling its remaining ground lectures and flying in alternate doses, while No. 2 543 course tries out a three-week pre-flying lecture period and then almost whole-time flying for the last few weeks as weather permits. Pilots on the courses are allowed to choose whether they will go on to Meteors or Vampires within proportional limits (approx. 13 to 9 ratio respectively), and we tried to discover what sort of considerations led to their choice. It seems that a few outspoken but not necessarily qualified members of a course may be responsible for leading all its members to choose one type. Some sort of guidance may therefore be necessary. On the other hand, there are individuals who think they would prefer beat-ups and low flying rather than high-altitude interception—their choice is This photograph gives a fine impression of what the occupants of a Meteor 7 see when flying in formation. Flight" photograph.
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