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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0080.PDF
40 FLIGHT, 8 January 1954 PRODUCING THOSE AIRLINE PILOTS . . . trainer equipped with radio so that a comprehensive ab initio programme may be fulfilled, including instrument flying, G.C.A.s, and night flying, not forgetting spinning and aerobatics, cross- countries and formation flying. Ground training for the second year, apart from covering more advanced aspects of the subjects already mentioned, would include aerodynamics, particularly concerning high-speed flight, extensive Link training in the use of radio aids, airways, etc., flight planning and aviation law. Air training would consist of at least 100 hours, to comprise 40 hours on a single-engine aero- batic, jet-powered, trainer, and 60 hours on a relatively simple medium twin (piston engine). The flying programme should include, first, high speed, high-altitude flight, formation and cross-countries in all weather conditions, aerobatics and advanced instrument flying. Having successfully completed these exercises on the single-engined trainer the pupil would proceed to twin flying and be trained in all-weather asymmetric flight, "long distance" navigation, both as pilot and navigator, use of radio aids and airways and practical flight planning. At the end of the second year the pupil would sit for his Com mercial Licence examination and undergo flying tests. He would then be ready to proceed with his final year or eighteen months' training, the length of time depending upon the type of flying he had chosen and for which he has proved himself suitable. Assuming he were to become an airline pilot, the final period would probably extend to eighteen months and would include an extensive ground training programme of Link, advanced naviga tion, meteorology, etc., flight operation, languages and specialized geography (his school training should have provided a sound basic knowledge of the two latter subjects). Flying training would cover further twin-engine experience, with the accent on applied instrument flying in all weather conditions and, if possible, five hours or so on a four-engine aircraft, sufficient to enable him to manage at least one flight as captain. At the com pletion of his training he should be ready to qualify for his Flight Navigator's Licence and take his place as a relatively useful member of an airliner crew. Obviously, the immediate objection to such a project is that the Country cannot possibly afford it: the plain answer is that it is up to the Guild, and to such M.P.s as are qualified to do so, to con vince the Government that we simply cannot afford to do without it. Such a college should be able to rely upon financial support from, in the first place, the Government and the State-controlled airlines themselves—after all, it is principally on behalf of the latter that such an establishment is required; and, once having been formed, its staff could do at least part of the work of the instrument training flights and testing units at present operated by the airlines and the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. The second source of support must be the manufacturing com panies, since there can be no doubt that the supply of future pilots to fly their products, and to test them, is a vital consideration, despite the unpleasant prospect of financial outlay. Third, the overseas governments would pay the full cost of training their pupils; and, fourth, the trainees themselves (or, rather, their parents) would assist to a greater or lesser degree as circum stances permit. There is the idea; let those who have better alternatives tear it to pieces. This question has obviously no simple solution: it needs careful thought and argument. If the present article has gone a step further in provoking such thought by the people best qualified to advise on such matters—the pilots themselves—so much the better. Yorkshire Celebrates the Wright Jubilee BIGGEST of the powered-flight jubilee celebrations held in the provinces was the dinner given in the Guildhall, Hull, by the Brough branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society. The numerous guests included civic officials, the president and the secretary of the R.Ae.S., senior officers of the Services and executives of various engineering and other firms. Mr. Eric Turner (managing director, Blackburn and General Aircraft), proposing a toast to "The Pioneers of Aviation," reminded his audience that the Wright biplane's first flight was over a distance less than three-quarters of the wing span of the Beverley transport. He went on to say that Mr. Robert Blackburn was the oldest pioneer, in length of service, still active in the aviation industry—and that his 1912 monoplane was the oldest aircraft still airworthy. A Blackburn aircraft had been the first to make the double crossing of the Bristol Channel, and the first to demonstrate aerial wireless telegraphy. In 1919 Mr. Blackburn had formed a company to fly passengers from Hull to the Continent. (Below) Mr. G. £. Petty, chairman of the Brough branch of the R.Ae.S. speaking at the dinner. In the foreground, right to left, are Councillor B. Svenson, Sheriff of Kingston-upon-Hull: Mr. Eric Turner, Blackburn managing director: and Sir William Farren, president of the R.Ae.S., technical director of A.V. Roe and formerly of Blackburns. At the jubilee exhibition: standing under a wing-tip of the 1912 mono plane, and in front of the 8.2 trainer, Mr. Robert Blackburn talks of early days to Major F. A. Bumpus, a director: behind the chairman is L another Blackburn director, Mr. N. E. Rowe. In his response to the toast, Mr. Blackburn (chairman of the group, and president of Brough R.Ae.S. branch) described the Wright brothers' flight as "an epoch-making event in the history of aviation—it was like breaking down a law of nature." He also made the point that many years before this a Yorkshire- man—Scarborough-born Sir George Cayley—had established mathematically the basic principle of mechanical flight. The toast of "The Guests" was proposed by Mr. G. E. Petty, chairman of the branch, and the reply was by Sir William Farren, president of the R.Ae.S. During the course of the evening the Lord Mayor of Hull presented to Mr. Blackburn a plaque bearing the city's coat of arms, and later the company watched the Shell film Powered Flight—the Story of the Century. Models of historic Blackburn aircraft which decorated the tables included the 1909 monoplane (with its car-like seat on the tricycle undercarriage, which also housed the four-cylinder eng;ne), a Lincock, Dart, Skua and B.2 trainer. Before the dinner, many of the guests called in at a jubilee exhibition organized in the showrooms of the Triangle Motor Co. in Hull; here they were able to see the actual 1912 Blackburn monoplane and B.2 trainer, a section of the Universal's freight compartment, and Bombardier and Turbomeca Marbore engines.
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