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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0101.PDF
FLIGHT, 19 January 1950 67 'Flight" photographs. During their 18-week course at Cosford, P.T. instructors are given background experience later impart*), in turn, to aircrew trainees : (top) night-vision practice with tinted goggles in a darkened room and a demonstration of paractwte^iescent control, and (lower left) dinghy rescue in the station swimming-pool. In the fourth view, W C. Jury, the Commandant, superintends exercises on the playing-fields. Display teams for special occasions, such as the Royal Tournament, are trained at Cosford. sports. He is, of course, also taught how to organize classes and games on similar lines. Fencing—which enjoys con- siderable popularity in the R.A.F.—is held to be a par- ticularly profitable pastime for aircrew, in that it demands, and develops, quick reactions. Rifle exercises, obstacle work and weight-carrying are items applicable to ground- crew training. In the Station swimming-pool, trainees clad in denims, parachute harness and Mae West are given thorough instruction m the use of dinghies and in search and rescue drill. Although the P.T.I., in the normal course of his duties, is unlikely to make operational use ol such know- ledge, he may be called upon to instruct aircrew candidates. The same is true of parachute-descent control and landing, also taught at Cosford from the aircrew angle, as opposed to parachute-troop training. R.A.F. parachute-jumping instructors, who train troops and the "paramedical " teams at Upper Heyford, all undergo the complete P.T.I, course at Cosford before beginning their own arduous parachute training. A third aircrew subject treated at the School is night vision training, but only the groundwork is given. Trainees, wearing tinted goggles, practice games and exer- cises in varying degrees of darkness. The W.R.A.F. programme avoids the more strenuous types of exercise, such as apparatus-work, and concen- trates on the dex'elopment and improvement of poise aud rhythm. The School of Physical Training is by no means an inno- vation; in fact, it was formed, at Cranweh, in 1918, its instructors being drawn, from the Army and Navy. In the following year, the School moved to Uxbridge and remained there until 1940, when its efforts were expanded and dis- persed between three stations: St. Athan, Loughborough and Cosford. At the outbreak of war, there were nine physical fitness officers and some 200 P.T.I.s in the R.A.F.: by January, 1942, there were 350 officers and 3,500 instruc- tors. The Loughborough and St. Athan schools were closed in 1946, and training has since been concentrated at Cos- ford, one of the largest R.A.F. stations in Britain, and also a major centre for the instruction of servicing personnel. NEXT WEEK'S Greatly Enlarged and Specially Illustrated: .' ;: MILITARY AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD" Orders should be placed immediately
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