"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 |
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Royal Flying Corps Recruitment Poster, 1917
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