CIVIL RESERVE OF PILOTS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 121, 8 June 1937, Page 8

CIVIL RESERVE OF PILOTS

Training by Approved Aero Clubs DETAILS OF SCHEME The scheme proposed by the Government to provide a civil reserve of pilots, announced earlier in the week by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, is set out iu detail in an ofllcial circular just issued. The Hawke 's Bay Aero Club has been appointed the approved club for training pilots in this district, . and applications for eurolie ent should be made to the secretary, Mr. R. D. Brown, Queen street, Hastings. Applicants will be required to become flying-members of the club. The Government will pay the cost of training a number of selected' applicants who will be enrolled for a course of flying and ground' instruction inyolving 40 hours' flying training, foliowed by two annual refresher courses of 10 hours eaeh. Pilots will not bo trained beyond the light-aeroplane standard, but they will be given suffieieht experience to enable them to bcgin training on more powerful aircraft should the necessity arise. Candidates should have passed the sehool-certilicate or matriculation examinatiou or be able to produce a certificate from their headmaster ccrtifying that they have reached the standard of education required. They must be natural-born British subjects whose parents are, or were at the timo of death, British subjects. Applicants must be between the ages of 17£ and 25 years and must be medically lit. They must be prepared to serve for at least three years, and to serve in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in a national emergency. The Civil Reserve will be subdivided as f ollows : — Section I: Candidates who have had little or no previous flying experience as pilots. Soction II: Qualiiled pilots who havo carried out more than 60 hours' flying, are in possession of a current A licence and have received the standard of ground instruction preecribed for a B (commercial) pilot 's 1 iccnce. Members of- this section are not entitled to receive flying training at public expense. Pilots under* instruction will remain in section I for three years, after which they will be transferred to section II, and may remain in that section until they reach the age of 38 years. Provision is made for pilots who, at the present time, have already begun flying instruction, to be enrolled in section I if they are approved by the departmeut and are within the club's quota. They will receive al public expense the additional flying training necessary for them to complete the initial course of instruction. The aero club will interview those from whom applications are recoived and will select some for recommendution to the superintendent of reserves. The club will then arrange i'or the medical examination of candidates approved by the superintendent, after which they will be able to begin training. The medical examination will bc carried out by a State medical board at the cost of the department, the candidate paying any travelling oxpenses' incurred. Pilots will bc required to tako oul an A pilot 's licence within six months of eurolment. They will also be required to bo medically re-examined annually' afc their own expense. ' t A pilot of the civil reserve, provided he fulfils the eonditions of entry laid. down in the Tegulations appiicable to tuch commissions, is eligible, should ho so desire, for appointment to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and tho RoyaJ Air Force.