PILOT OFFICERS INSPECTED

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22515, 24 September 1938, Page 26

PILOT OFFICERS INSPECTED

¥; , MINISTER FOR DEFENe|) AT WIGRAMV UPASSING OUT OF THKBI: COURSE OF TRAINEES’— 1 ' : ■ A passing-out inspection of the pii# : officers of the third course at the'FpT’ ing Training School of the Royal Re* Zealand Air Force was made at Wig. ram yesterday by the Minister for Ifc.. fence, the Hon. F. Jones. He accompanied by the Chief of the-Aa’i ‘ Staff, Group Captain R. A. Cocnraj® V and the Oliiccr Commanding the Flyuw: Training School, Wing Commander £ • S. Hudson. Also with the party were'.; ' the adjutant, Flight Lieutenant R. A, - Anderson, M.C.. Flight Lieutenant G Lester, and the Minister’s secretary. Mr F. M. Sherwood. This was the first occasion on which ’ the Minister for Defence has made the' inspection. The inspection for the., lirst course was made by Group Cap.,, tain Cochrane and the second by Group’ Captain L. M. Isitt. Officers of the: third and fourth courses were drawn" uu as a'flight on the tarmac, whertf ; the inspection was made. This wa«;: followed by a march past the saluting - base where the official party- wu assembled, the Minister taking & salute. The flight then advanced® review order before it was dismissed;. Formation Flying ./,/■ Aftrwards an exhibition of forma, tion flying was given by five Vickers •' Vildebcest aircraft, the flight being led by Flight Lieutenant R. J. Cohen. The exhibition included flying in “V ; c ” or V formation, changing - to * echelon, and back to V formation. Orders during the’ nr drill were given by Flight pen.: tenant Cohen .by radio telephony* the signals being also received by apparatus on the ground and broadctat, from a loudspeaker in front of qm of the hangars. The exhibition -.inieluded the bombing of ground targdW with parachute bombs and smohv bombs, and was particularly impre*. sive, more so because those on tag. ground were able to hear the ordenr and anticipate each manoeuvre. ■ The change of formation from V-M echelon was accompanied by ordeal not usually heard in military opofe, tions. • “Form echelon” was followed, by such commands as “more throttle,. No 4,” "Bags of it,” ‘‘Don’t get left] behind.” Numbers four and - which formed one leg of the V, wea-, required to move over in flight uuL get behind and in line with the other’ three machines, thus losing 'speed, which had to be regained by using' full throttle. The movement was very graceful and the machines maintained/ their positions in spite of frequent: “bumps,” which were encountered «t the low altitude. “Reform vie ” was. followed by an equally efficient manoeuvre. Orders for bombing were.then heard, and the missiles could be clearly seen as they were released fro® their positions under the wings of-the. aircraft, hurtling down to the target. “The exhibition was extremely wwl done,” said the Minister when i.the.. machines landed. Flying in close for--mation. he said, very difficult needed a lot of training and hard, study. The pilots, who were now fully" trained, had received two months"*' • aero club training, followed by as months at the Flying Training School, where the same syllabus as that m. the Royal Air Force was, covered. For each pilot trained' at the school at Wigram and sent to England the Brit-. ish Government paid the New Holland Government £1550. It had to yet been decided how many of tpe third course of pilots would be. sent. -, Home, he added. , Inspection of Station The Minister and , his party tte made a thorough inspection o£/aK station, including the various. njpltS the armoury, meteorological signals section, the link trauMf£xOC • blind flying instruction. photognffcC section, parachute section, enrae* ing and rigging sections, station amquarters, airmen’s barracks, and -jM married men’s quarters. The Minister said he was very: panfled with the progress that had made with the new buildings at WHram. He was also much- imprewn with the turn-out of the officers and men during the parade. The insanetion given at the aerodrome had- Obviously produced good results, and ? » reflected great credit on the offlCW - in charge. He hoped it would not oa - long before all the work at Wignm would be - completed and thus bnijK about even greater efficiency station. " In the afternoon the Minister UP for Dunedin in one of the new Oxford Airspeed aircraft, which was flown-py/ Flight Lieutenant Cohen. He •will main in Dunedin until after tMjelection. - //'l