AIR. VIINISTRY SCHOLARSHIPS

rfrHE Air Ministry free flying scholarships scheme, at present restricted to members of the Air Training r Corps and R.A.F. sections of the Cornbined Cadet Force, is to be opened to boys attending schools where there are no air cadet units.

In addition to the 350 Flying Scholarships now awarded to members of the Air Cadet organisations it is planned to make available 100 Flying Scholarships a year to boys genuinely interested in the possibility of joining the Royal Air Force who are attending schools at which there is no unit of the Air Training Corps or R.A.F. Section of the Combined Cadet Force. Candidates for the scholarships will have to pass the same medical, educational and other tests as volunteers for aircrew.

f. 17 ,00A S cheme

The cost of a flying scholarship is about f.170. The maximum cost of the new scheme will therefore amount to f 17,000. Experience has shown that ex-flying scholars have a better chance of successfully completing R.A.F. flying training and some flnancial saving as a result of this should outweigh the cost of flying scholarships.

Statistics show that the number of ex-flying scholars who enter thd R.A.F. has averaged, since the inception of the scheme, about 100 a year.

The new scheme wrll not affect the award of flying scholarships to members of the air cadet organisations. Boys who belong to the R.A.F. sections of the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Forie will continue to have a better chance of 'securing a flying scholarship than those who do not.

The Air Ministry Flying Scholarships scheme started in May, 1950, when f,30,000 was provided fbr 200 scholarships during the financial year 1950-51. It was then hailed as the most important development in the British air cadet movement since the formation of the Air Training Corps in February, 1941. Over 30 flying clubs received Air Ministry contracts for flying instruction using the clubs' own aircraft and instructors. Each course, to include at least 30 hours flying, was to last about two months including two consecutive weeks' of continuous training. Accommodation is provided on club premises where necessary.

3,000 P.P.L',s.

The maximum number of scholarship awards has varied from year to year; in 1953, it was increased to 500 which is the most in any one year so far. Any proflcient cadet of either the Air Training Corps or of the R.A.F. Section of the Combined Cadet Force who is over 16| is encouraged to apply for an award. He is first required to submit to a series of tests, interview and medical examination at the R.A.F. Aircrew Selection Centre at Hornchurch, Essex.

If successful, he is allotted to a flying club near his home as soon as possible after he reaches his 17th birthday.

Today, there are well over 3,000 cadets and ex-cadets who are qualified to private pilot's licence standard and entitled to wear the specially designed flying scholarship badge-a bird with outstretched wings in gilt on a background of R.A.F. blue enamel.

Flight Briefing for Pilots-Vol. 1. N. H. Birch and A. E. Bramson (Pitman, 15/-).

rfHIS extremely useful and handy flrst volume r of "Flight Brieflng for Pilots" has been approved by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators who recommend it for student pilots taking the P.P.L. The Guild add that students taking the Flying lnstructor's Course would also benefit from studying it.

The authors N. H. Birch, who is the Hon. Secretary and C.F.I. at the Warwickshire Aero Club and A. E. Bramson are both experienced flying instructors with Commercial Pilot's Licences and are freemen of the Guild. Mr. Bramson in fact is a member of the Panel of Examiners. The authors say in their preface, rightly, that as most private flying training is done al week-ends and on those occasions C.F.I.'s have more than enough to do, it follows that only a limited time can be devoted to individual flight brieflngs. Hence one of the objects of the book-"to ensure that the student pilot is aware of the aim of each exercise and the reason for the behaviour of the aircraft under various flight conditions".

Each of the many informative well set out chapters contain, where applicable, a section headed "Flight Practice" which provides the pupil with a stage-by-stage sequence of control movements for each manoeuvre and which is designed to supplement the instructor's flight briefings.

Much thought has been given to providing the pupil with a sound working knowledge of the fundamental principles of flight to make sure that he will not "\ryaste time in the air learning facts he could have mastered on the ground. Maximum time can therefore be devoted to flight practices which ultimately affect the speed at which the pupil will progress towards his Private Pilot's Licence".

Popular Flylns, September-Octobet, 1961, rFHIS is a first novel by Mr. Lyall who served -r- two years as a R.A.F. pilot and who started his first four thrillers sitting in crew-rooms between flights. He says he "got about one-fifth the way through each before running into total non-sequiturism of plot". Now with the Sunday Times he has managed a little tirne from his journalistic duties to finish this one; a story of adventure and intrigue in the Middle East with of course, as the title indicates, a flying background.

This thoroughly practical and informative volume will undoubtedly soon flnd its way on to the bookshelves of the flying clubs as well as in the homes of not only potential pilots under training but also a good many who have long since qualifled.

The Wrong Side of the Sky. Gavin Lyall. (Hodder & Stoughton, 15/-).