A.W.A. U/IN MASEFIELD TROPHY FOR THIRD TIME

$/HEN we last wrote of the Trophy it was apparent that A.W.A. and McAully would be on v Y the short list. Mc.dully had improved their position from 4thto 2nd and were challenging. A.W.A. on the other hand had already won the Trophy twice, determined to make it a " hattrick."

It was therefore decided to fly off the Mase- A.W.A. went off first and were quickly back field Trophy at the Rally. The groups were withexcellentfigures.UnfortunatelyMcAully's asked to select a crew of two whose experience Tiger developed magneto trouble and the should be limited to a P.P.L. of about 50 afternoon's proceedings were abandoned in hours' experience and a student pilot of less favour of dinner. than 10 hours' solo experience.

The following day's bad weather ruined a fine In order to make the navigation section as gesture by A.W.A. to let McAully use their fair as possible a route was selected through Tiger to enable the contest to be completed. Peterborough with a compulsory stop of one

Under the circumstances A.W.A. Group hour at Kidlington. Two members of the uiaimed the trophy under rule one and became M.P.M. Group were there to see fair play. the holders for the third year running. This is The route then took them down to Lulsgate and the first time in the history of the trophy that Rhoose where they had to determine the run- there has been a'ohat trick." Congratulations way in use. Arrival at Fairwood would lose to A.W.A. and also the McAully Group, one mark for each minute early and two for runners-up for the second year running. .every minute late.

To the instructors who trained the crews

A.W.A. arrived seven minutes early and must go the highest thanks because without McAully 30 seconds early. Both Groups any doubt it was their training methods that gave faultless exhibitions of circuit procedure enabled two such splendid exhibitions of flying and arrival. Everything was noted frorn land- to be given. To David O'Clarey and Barry ing, taxi-ing, rundown and reporting. McAully Tempest and others who came along to cheer fluffed their f,rst attempt and rightly decided their teams, thank you and a flnal thank-you to go round again. to those groups which entered but which did

At the debriefiing, flight planning, and flight not make the short list. navigation were marked and I can only give the highest praise to both crews, who were as near faultless as any instructor could ever wish. Theyhad gone over the route with a toothcomb although they had only four days advance notice of the route. From my point of view, what had been an easy way of separating two groups was now a nightmare with only a mark or so in it.

Both Groups were keen to complete the fly-offand each had a number of supporters on the touchlines. A.W.A.'s Tigerwas definitely the smarter and this gave them a temporary slight advani'age. Last came the landing competition.

Popular Flfing, November- December, 1961.

Where No Birds Fly-Philip WiIIs. (Newnes, 2tl-).

IIHILIP Wills, crack British glider pilot, the man f who has 30 years' gliding experience behind him, ex-World Champion (he gained this honour in Spain in 1952 in the Sky, an l8-metre advanced sailplane) and who is described by Peter Scott, who contributes the preface, as "at 52 the Grand OId Man of Gliding," has set down his reminiscences in this entertaining volume.

It is of interest to those who fly with an engine in the front that Philip Wills began his flying career in powered aircraft. In 1927 he joined the London Aeroplane Club at Stag Lane and "nearly failed to get my pilot's licence, mainly, I think, because of an unsympathetic instructor but eventually went to Hamble where Swoffer of the Hampshire Club soon got me over the stile." Wills bought a second-hand Cirrus 2 Moth and crashed whilst sitting in the passenger seat, having allowed a R.A.F. pilot to take the controls and having done so obviously could not stop the display of aerobatics that followed. Some months later, however, Wills was back in the air in a Cirrus 3 Moth "generously provided by the British Aviation Insurance Company who said I wasn't actually covered since I was not the pilot at the time, but they would see me through."

It was to Mungo Buxton, whom he had met at f{arrow, that Wills owes his introduction to gliding. At this point in his autobiography Wills pays one of several well-deserved tributes to his wife Kitty-"the whole thing hinged on the absolute fluke that in Kitty I found someone prepared to enjoy being a glider pilot's wife. During our gliding life she has towed my trailers, which have gradually grown to a length of 33 feet, over 150,000 miles and has never failed to get me back, usually before the others."

Describing one of his 500 kilometre Diamond attempts Wills paints a graphic picture of the silent world of the glider pilot-"no man could.experience a more pervasive and subtle communication than is granted a sailplane pilot when the whole universe seems especially set for his delight, when the very air is on his side, sparkling like diamonds to the far horizon, studded with fat white cumulus, stuffed thick with hearty Rabelaisian upcurrents ; with the earth below glowing with the greens and browns of a ripe summer, and over it all the brilliant sun set in a cerulean sky. Through all this glory he flies in royal silence, shedding space from his outspread wings."

Determination is one of Wills's strong personal characteristics and this is amply illustrated in his chapter on how he was instrumental in foiling an attempt at a take-over of the Slingsby Sailplane business, with the threat of possible closure. The author writes interestingly of how he expended considerable blood and tears in attempting to raise the required f35,000 in three months in order to resist the take-over and speaks appreciatively of the help received from the Air League, the Royal Aero Club, the Kemsley Flying Trust and others. The day was saved and the Shaw Slingsby Trust came into being. Wills pays tribute to the debt of gratitude owed by the gliding world to Fred Slingsby and the late Jack Shaw who gave momentous support to the project.

Where No Birds Fly ("they cannot fly blind as I can") is excellently illustrated and in addition to the highlyreadable reminiscence there are useful chapters for the novice on how and what to learn.

One Man and His Dog. Anthony Richardson. (Harrap, 161-).

A NTHONY Richardson dedicates his book to "all A the friends of Antis wherever they may be." For this is the story of a remarkable dog Antis, the first non-British dog to win the Dickin medal, the animals' V.C. and his equally remarkable master, Jan Bozdech, Czechrefugee; French Air Force air gunner; forward gunner, 311 (Czech) Squadron, Bomber Command; gunnery leader; radio/radar op., on Liberators.

Antis owed his life to Jan who rescued him as a puppy in a shattered house in no-man's-land between the Maginot and Siegfried Lines one day in 1940 when Bozdech and his pilot crash-landed in a Potez 63.