FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0403.PDF
PLIGHT, 25 March 1960 403 Bruine Turbulent (30 h.p. Ardem engine) built by Rollason Aircraft and Engines, Croydon 38-year-old "average" pupil soloed in llhrand obtained his licence after 36hr (and went on to take a part-share in a group-owned Auster). Among those who are taking a relatively long time over theirtraining is one who has flown 38hr and has yet to solo because (according to thedub manager) of an uncooperative attitude to his instructors. This club previously operated HawkTrainers and Austers but has replaced the former with Chipmunks. The time takento solo and to reach PPL was on average 2-3hr longer before re-equipping, as theHawk Trainer was trickier to fly and instruction was more difficult both to giveand to receive in cold, open cockpits fitted with Gosport tubes. The average time tofirst solo on a Chipmunk is about three hours less than on an Auster, as the Chip-munk is stated to be more manageable in high winds, more responsive in handling, quieter and less tiring.Prospective members are told that the PPL course can be com- pleted in 21 days' continuous training if all conditions (e.g.,weather) are favourable, but that those not able to manage this should log a minimum of one hour per week if any continuityis to be maintained. Another club near London quotes 21 days, 5-6 months, and"always longer than a year" as typical times taken for above- average, average and slow pupils to reach PPL standard—although the CFI recalls one member who took four years. Five to six months is stated to be the best that can be achieved bypupils who have not unlimited time for flying and can attend only at weekends or evenings. Here again the minimum cost will be £120 for 30 hours'Tiger flying, or £157 on the Chipmunk, plus about £10 for incidental costs including club membership, medical fees, a helmetand publications. The flying-cost total is seldom paid in a lump sum, pupils usually paying as they go, and sometimes for a periodof 3-4hr at a time. At this club the usual pattern followed by those who for financial reasons cannot complete the PPL coursein six months is to take a concentrated ten hours' flying each year for four years, and for the remainder of each of those yearsto "sublimate their urge by talking flying to others," as the CFI puts it. Many clubs offer "contract flying rates," under which a lowerhourly fee is charged if a guaranteed number of hours is con- tracted for in advance. Another recent development is thedeferred-payment scheme devised by the Association of British Aero Clubs in conjunction with United Dominions Trust Ltd.Under this arrangement a £5 enrolment fee is paid to the club, the pupil receives his flying training which is paid for by a loanfrom UDT, and repayments are made monthly over a period of 12 or 18 months. The interest rate is six per cent per annum,e.g., on a loan of £150 the total repaid on a 12-month basis would be £159, made up of 12 payments of £13 5s. As the number offlying hours required to reach PPL will almost certainly increase by more than six per cent when the course is unduly protracted—apart from the fact that the legal minimum rises from 30 to 40hr at six months—this scheme can be of obvious benefit tothe pupil pilot. Types of Club. Clubs and groups available to the prospectivepilot are among those listed on page 419. They vary obviously in size, aircraft fleet, type of aerodrome, facilities—and lessobviously in overall atmosphere or character. Some so-called clubs are in fact flying schools, while others pay much attention Club scene at Fair Oaks Aerodrome, Surrey, with a Chipmunk 22 and an Auster Jl-N to the fore. "Flight's" Gemini is based here to social and other ancillary activities of an essentially "club"nature. Often it helps a club to have a large non-flying member- ship whose subscriptions and bar purchases can bring in usefulextra revenue. The winner of the ABAC'S Lennox-Boyd Efficiency Trophylast year was Exeter Aero Club, a good example of a club with wide and active non-flying interests to back up the flying side.Of a total membership of approximately 275 (which rises to just over 300 during the summer), 80 fly, 94 are social members,89 play squash and tennis and 12 are members of the drama section. These categories are not self-contained, as many socialmembers fly as passengers and some flying members participate in all the other activities. An example of the flying-school or air-centre type of operationis that of Air Schools Ltd at Derby and Elstree. At Elstree, the London School of Flying has been formed to take over the opera-tional activities of Elstree Flying Club, leaving the club to serve the social side only. At both Elstree and Derby (where theMidland School of Flying operates Derby Air Centre) pupils may learn to fly as air-centre members without joining any club.Another method of operation is that of Yorkshire Aeroplane dub at the Leeds/Bradford Airport at Yeadon, where clubmembers (and club members only) receive their flying training with an associated company, Yorkshire Flying Services. TheYorkshire club has about 600 members, of whom 160 are flying members. The three organizations directly concerned with the club andprivate flying in this country are the Royal Aero Club, the Asso- ciation of British Aero Clubs and Centres, and the Popular FlyingAssociation, each of which (together with the British Gliding Association) has two representatives on the Government'sStanding Joint Committee on Private and Club Flying and Gliding. The Royal Aero Club acts as the authority for sporting flyingand aviation records in Britain (and is the British representative body on the Federation Aeronautique Internationale). Full mem-bers have the residential and other facilities of the club premises at 119 Piccadilly, London Wl; while associate membership (opento anyone interested at two guineas per year) provides the use of the RAeC Aviation Centre facilities at Londonderry House,19 Park Lane, London Wl. Members in both categories receive the Royal Aero Club Gazette (a Private Aircraft Owner's News-letter is also published) and have available the advisory services of the Air Touring Department of the centre. The March issueof the Gazette is a special issue concerned with business flying. Standardization of club operation is perhaps the main achieve-ment of the Association of British Aero Clubs, whose address is 7c Lower Belgrave Street, London SW1. The Association's pilot-age standards form the basis of the 30hr "approved course" for the PPL, while ABAC assistance is provided on all aspects of theformation and operation of clubs, centres and groups. Advanced courses, an instructor's course, a CPL course and an instrument-rating course have been devised and officially approved. Firms' flying clubs form a special "affiliate" section ofABAC membership while many of the smaller clubs and groups are associate members. Both the ABAC and the Air Touring Department of the RoyalAero Club have a supply of maps, aviation publications, log- books and navigational equipment for sale to private and clubpilots. While both organizations have broad aims which must be essentially similar—the healthy development of the light-avia-tion movement in this country—it is regrettable that in the past they have chosen to compete rather than co-operate with eachother in achieving these aims. [Continued overleaf
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
