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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1305.PDF
FLIGHT Illustrated with "Flight" Photographs The two ends of the training scale: (Right) Early days at Jurby, Isle of Man. A.V-M. L Darvall is the inspecting officer. (Left) Practice forma- tion flying on Meteor 7s at Middle- ton St. George. JET-ERA FLYING TRAINING The Work of an Advanced Flying School and Initial Training School Today MUCH material, time and money is now being expendedon fashioning the arrow-head of our fighter force, bythe training of National Service and Regular com- missioned pilots. That it is not being wasted is apparent when one sees—as we did last week—this flow of raw material taking positive shape. At the invitation of the Air Ministry we left Northolt in a Valetta for visits to No. 205 Advanced Flying School (of the newly formed No. 25 Group, Flying Training Com- mand) and No. 1 I.T.S. As the I.T.S. is situated in Jurby, Isle of Man, it was deemed necessary to visit the A.F.S. first, so we called at Middleton St. George, near Darlington, starting backwards as it were. In this school we found both types of serviceman rubbing shoulders, each being taught to fly jets in exactly the same manner. All pilot officers who have reached the A.F.S. from one of the many Flying Training Schools have knowledge of flying such aircraft as Chipmunks, Prentices, Oxfords and Harvards. The purpose of A.F.S. is to convert pilots to current types of operational fighters to enable them to go forward to Operational Conversion Units as masters of their aircraft before applying gunnery and kindred subjects to their flying training. The aim of the A.F.S. course is to make pilots thoroughly conversant with all pure-flying aspects of modern fighter aircraft, including operation in bad weather. Instrument flying receives special attention, and emphasis is also placed on acrobatics (the Services uses this term rather than "aero- batics"), and some form of acrobatic manoeuvre is carried out on each sortie. The average age of the pupil is 20 years and the impetuous- ness of youth has a check in the first week—no aircraft for him yet! He must spend many hours of classroom familiari- zation with the jet's attributes—increase of speed, limitation of endurance, and so on; great stress is laid on these contrasts with previous types flown. The first instruction is received on Gloster Meteor 7s. The course consists roughly of fifty hours of jet flying, mostly executed on Meteor 4s, which are the aircraft in which the pupils eventually go solo. Having reached the Mk 4 the pupil is assumed to be sufficiently conversant with high-speed and high-altitude flight to apply solutions to its principal problems; he is therefore expected to concentrate on aerobatic sorties. Once started, flying at the A.F.S. is intense, as many as 90 take-offs and landings an hour being accomplished in good weather. Turn-round of aircraft has been reduced to eleven minutes by means of rapid refuelling and servicing. No. 205 A.F.S., under the command of G/C. G. T. Jarman, D.S.O., D.F.C., at present has 50 pupils and uses the No actual flying, except gliding, takes place at the I.T.S. at Jurby, but elementary navigational and R/T. exercises are a feature of the ground training. To accustom the pupils to work in restricted spaces, some of these exercises take place in closed cabinets.
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