"In order to take a 'ticket' a pilot has to pass three tests. He first has to fly solo in five figures of eight, this involving right and left-hand turns, and finally stop on landing within fifty yards of a given mark. He then has to ascend and repeat the performance; and finally, rising a third time to a height of over 350 feet, he must switch off his engine and make a volplane or glide to earth. Should all of these tests be passed to the satisfaction of the official witnesses, a form is filled in and sent up to the Royal Aero Club, together with a cheque, and in due course the pupil becomes a certified aviator, qualified to fly at exhibitions and race meetings, and a person of no small importance in his own eyes. But he has yet a long way to go before he graduates as a flying officer of the R.F.C."
The Royal Flying Corps in the War, Wilfred Theodore Blake, 1918 |
| 1 |
Mannock, Edward Corringham |
61 |
| 2 |
McCudden, James Thomas Byford |
57 |
| 3 |
Ball, Albert |
44 |
| 4 |
Fullard, Philip Fletcher |
40 |
| 5 |
Gass, Charles George |
39 |
| 6 |
Woollett, Henry Winslow |
35 |
| 7 |
Bowman, Geoffrey Hilton |
32 |
| 8 |
Thompson, Samuel Frederick Henry |
30 |
| 9 |
Booker, Charles Dawson |
29 |
| 10 |
Clayson, Percy Jack |
29 |
| 11 |
Rochford, Leonard Henry |
29 |
| 12 |
Gurdon, John Everard |
28 |
| 13 |
Latimer, Dennis |
28 |
| 14 |
Middleton, Thomas Percy |
27 |
| 15 |
Fletcher, Ronald Malcolm |
26 |
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Royal Flying Corps Recruitment Poster, 1917
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