"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 |
| 31 |
Cubbon, Francis Richard |
21 |
| 32 |
Barlow, Leonard Monteagle |
20 |
| 33 |
McDonald, Ian Donald Roy |
20 |
| 34 |
Southey, Walter Alfred |
20 |
| 35 |
Thayre, Frederick James Harry |
20 |
| 36 |
Powell, Leslie Archibald |
19 |
| 37 |
Wilkinson, Alan Machin |
19 |
| 38 |
Belgrave, James Dacres |
18 |
| 39 |
Newnham, Maurice Ashdown |
18 |
| 40 |
Trollope, John Lightfoot |
18 |
| 41 |
Gibbons, George Everard |
17 |
| 42 |
Johnstone, Edward Grahame |
17 |
| 43 |
Makepeace, Reginald Milburn |
17 |
| 44 |
Pinder, John William |
17 |
| 45 |
Swale, Edwin |
17 |
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Royal Flying Corps Recruitment Poster, 1917
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