BRITAIN’S PLANES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 April 1941, Page 6

BRITAIN’S PLANES

CHOOSING THE RIGHT MEN. BRILLIANCE OF WAR PILOTS. Behind the efficiency and unexcelled brilliance of the British war pilot is a system of training which has 'been evolved, modified, and moulded over a period of 23 years, writes the air correspondent of the '‘Manchester Guardian.” Piloting an aeroplane under ac-tive-service conditions is a highlyspecialised job, and in choosing young ■men for flying duties, the R.A.F. selection boards have to consider many factors. It is not sufficient that a candidate is physically fit. He must reveal characteristics and traits while being interviewed which have bearing on “flying temperament.” If hr; has these qualities, he is accepted and is sent in the first place to an Initial Training Wing. These I.T.W’s. have nothing to do with practical flying. Their, main function is the building up of the candidate’s physical fitness, the instilling of esprit de corps, and the development of the latent figltling spirit. During the entire course these new R.A.F. men are given facilities for football, baseball, squash rackets, hockey, and fenpipg, and these, with the intense physical training, bring them, to a very high state of fitness before they are posted to a flying training station. The Initial Training Wings were started in August last year, when a brjga-dier-general who is now an air commodore was given the task of forming them. I met him at the wing headquarters I have visited, and he spoke with enthusiasm about the young men who are now passing through these high-pressure courses. “They are as keen as mustard to fly and fight the Germans,” he said. .He also stressed the vital importance of the I.T.W’s. in maintaining the efficiency of the everexpanding R.A.F. I have just spent two days at an Initial Training Wing and have seen how the work is done. I have seen hundreds of young men, mostly aged between 18 and 25. arriving at the I.T.W. all in civilian clothes. I have se.en others who have been in the R.A.F. for but a few weeks uniformed and wearing the white flash of the cadet in their caps, drilling, parading and looking astonishingly'smart. And I have seen still more who have reached the "passing-out” stage. The syllabus of training of these cadets is thorough and intensive. It consists of discipline administration, drill. Morse, mathematics, and studies! of aircraft recognition. There are also lectures on the principles of flight, air I navigation, anti-gas measures and gun-1 nery.

In this work talking films play a big part. Films are shown to demonstrate cloud and fog flying, aerial gunnery, and the principles of flight.' Visual and instrument flying instruction is also given with the Link Trainer apparatus, which is installed in a cyclorama room, with scenery painted on the walls. This trainer helps to familiarise the cadet with the "feel” of an aircraft at the earliest possible stage and it assists in the practical flying tuition which comes later.