CIVIL FLYING SCHOOLS; LIGHT AEROPLANE CLUBS; AIR RACING Civil Flying Schools.—In many countries the training of pilots both for military and commercial purposes has been en trusted to civil schools, partly for reasons of economy and partly to encourage the civil development of aviation.
In England several schools operate on a commercial basis, the primary function of which is to provide training facilities for the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers. These schools are however entirely civil in character and undertake the instruction of civilians at reasonable rates. Each school contracts with the Air Ministry to carry out a certain number of "refresher" courses for reserve officers every year, and some of the schools have be gun initial training for officers who are not qualified pilots.
There are in addition other smaller schools which are operated by firms engaged in general commercial flying.
France went a step further by placing the whole of the ab initio training of military pilots in the hands of civil schools and by organizing "centres" at which any ex-Service pilot was entitled to make flights at frequent intervals in order to keep himself in training.
In Germany, prior to that country's denunciation of the Ver sailles Treaty as to armament limitations, flying training was sub ject to certain restrictions owing to the fact that Germany was not permitted to possess a military air service. To summarize these restrictions as briefly as possible : training schools were not to be subsidized out of public funds; a limit was set on the num ber of officers serving in the Army who were permitted to qualify as pilots, and the Air Police Force, though its members could be given elementary flying training, were not to be equipped with air craft. In the absence of Government subsidies the training or ganizations were actively engaged in raising money by private subscription from public-spirited individuals and companies. The Deutsche Luftfahrt Verband (German Air League) was an ener getic supporter of schemes for training, and a subsidiary body known as the "Deutsche Luftfahrt G.m.b.h." was formed to carry out training at three schools. Some pupils were assisted by the Air League to the extent of four-fifths of the cost of instruction.
The ascendancy of Adolph Hitler's Nazi party to governmental power in Germany was followed by denunciation of the Versailles pact and withdrawal from the League of Nations. These actions threw into confusion any statistics on Germany's flying status, although it readily was known everywhere that the country con templated a wide aviation programme involving in great part per sonnel trained from the post-war generation.
Light aeroplane clubs were formed in England in 1924-25, and at the start of 1935 there were thirty such clubs approved to re ceive Government financial assistance, and twenty-three clubs receiving no assistance. Of the Government-assisted clubs, the membership during 1934 was 5,814 of whom 1,823 held pilots' "A" licences, the corresponding figures for 1933 being 4,931 and 1,569 respectively.
In the boom years of aviation following the Lindbergh flight to Paris, aviation "country clubs" were started in the United States and while several were operating with some success for a time the depression which set in in 1929 radically halted their activities, and most of the civilian flying instruction in this country was obtained at commercial schools, usually open in con junction with other commercial operations, such as charter and "taxi" hire and maintenance work.
A grandly spectacular phase of private flying concerns those intrepid men and women pilots who for years braved uncharted air trails over which the commercial transport followed. In this category belong the names of Charles A. Lindbergh, Wiley Post and Harold Gatty, Frank M. Hawks, Roscoe Turner, Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte, James and Amy Johnson Mollison, Bert Hinkler, Hugo Eckener, Charles Kingsford-Smith, Wolf gang von Gronau, Russell N. Boardman and John Polando, Clyde Pangborn, Amelia Earhart, Paul Codos and Maurice Rossi, C. W. A. Scott and T. Campbell Black.
Lindbergh's New York-Paris flight was the greatest stimulus given aviation up to 192 7 ; the first complete world aeroplane flight by Wiley Post and Harold Gatty and the subsequent solo journey around the globe by Post served as world-wide exploita tion for flying; Hawks and Turner consistently and successfully hammered at the cross-country air records of the United States and Europe; the first Paris-New York flight by Costes and Bellonte redounded greatly to French aviation prestige; the Mol lisons were consistent fliers to the East and across the North Atlantic, and Hinkler was a pioneer racer to the East and over the South Atlantic ; Eckener took the dirigible Graf Zeppelin on voyages of spectacular demonstration at a time when lighter-than air needed all the publicity it could get anywhere in the world ; Kingsford-Smith's flight from San Francisco to Australia via Honolulu and the islands of the South Seas was a brilliant demon stration of navigation; von Gronau was applauded by the con servative elements in the business for his flights in a flying boat across the North Atlantic with stops at island bases; Boardman and Polando extended the world's distance record remarkably, as did Codos and Rossi ; Pangborn spanned the Atlantic and was the first to fly from Japan to the United States ; Earhart flew the Atlantic twice, once alone, and was the first woman to negotiate the Pacific from Honolulu to the American mainland, and Scott and Black drew the plaudits of the world for their remarkable flight from London to Melbourne in less than three days.
The British Empire has always been interested in the record between London and Cape Town and London and Australia. Times over these two courses have been broken as frequently as the American transcontinental mark, and although the American cross-country racers fly at a much higher speed, they do not have to negotiate the distances required on the flight to the East or to South Africa. The Scott-Black record from London to Melbourne was expected to stand unbroken for some time, although the rec ord of Amy Johnson Mollison of 4 days, 6 hours, 54 minutes from London to Cape Town, established in 1932, quickly began to attract challengers and it was foregone that this time would be whittled down steadily.
The non-stop flight record has been coveted for many years by various countries. Most of the airplanes used on such flights have been specially constructed and usually are not considered in the class of "stock" craft, although record breaking planes and engine performance and reliability mean prestige for the country manufacturing the winner.
of them and others also came to the fore in national and interna tional direct competition. The Scott-Black flight from London to Melbourne brought them victory in the Sir MacPherson Robert son international race in 1934, the most important aviation corn petition in the history of flight up to that time. They covered the Air racing has been taken up with enthusiasm by the light aero plane clubs and owners of private aircraft. Regular meetings are being held at which displays are combined with racing and the public are attracted in large numbers. The great crowds drawn to the British Hendon aerodrome to witness the air racing organized there before the War gave evidence of the interest that was subsequently to be aroused by well-organized meets. Under the changed conditions of to-day, with the light aeroplane bring ing aviation within the reach of thousands of people, it was or dained that air racing would grow into a big national sport. It has one outstanding advantage over other forms of racing in not re quiring a special track. The principal British air race is the annual contest for the King's Cup which has been held each year over a different course since 1922. This race is a test not so much of speed as of piloting and general reliability.
The annual National Air Races in the United States run over a period of several days and draw hundreds of thousands of specta tors. Almost every race brings out new types of design and im proved engines which get gruelling tests in the Bendix transconti nental event, staged incidentally to the National Air Races programme, and the Charles Thompson competition over a ioo mile closed course. Through the National Air Races directly or indirectly, the United States has attained a fair share of the world's flying honours.
Some of the American and international records are : Aeroplane Races in the United States.—The first aeroplane race in the United States took place in 1910 at Belmont Park, N.Y., when fliers from France, England and other lands went to this country to compete for the Gordon Bennett Cup—won in 1909 by Glenn Curtiss at Rheims, France. From that time on until after the World War, aeroplane racing in America was rather des ultory. There were numerous events, but the manner in which they were conducted made them local rather than national affairs. The first real aeroplane race in America was held in 192o for the trophy presented by Ralph Pulitzer. The event was staged at Mitchel Field, N.Y., and won by Lieut. C. C. Moseley of the U.S. Army Air Service. The average speed was 178 miles an hour. In succeeding years greater speeds were attained, until the 1925 race when a speed of 248.975 miles an hour was attained by Lieut. Cyrus Bettis. No Pulitzer race has been held since that year.
The Army and Navy took great interest in the early Pulitzer races. In fact, these events played a very important role in developing the speed and efficiency of pursuit aircraft. It is per fectly justifiable to say that efficient performance of modern pursuit planes in Army and Navy aviation was developed in the gruelling grind to which motors were subjected in the Pulitzer trials. However, when the military air services developed fast tactical ships, they ceased building fast planes for racing purposes. (For winners and the speeds in the Pulitzer events see above.) American military aviators won the Schneider Seaplane Races two consecutive times. In 1923, Lieut. David Rittenhouse, U.S.N. won the cup at Cowes, England, with an average speed of 177.38 m.p.h. In 1925, Lieut. James H. Doolittle came in the winner with an average speed of 232 m.p.h. at Bay Shore, Maryland.
Since 192o, in addition to the Pulitzer races, the National Aeronautic Association has sponsored the National Air Races with the Pulitzer races as the main feature. At the outset, these races were primarily dependent upon the Army, Navy and Marine Corps for entries, with separate events for pursuit, observation, bombardment and light commercial planes. The Military Services are gradually withdrawing from participation in these races with the result that civilian and commercial entries have gradually taken an increasingly prominent part, a highly desirable develop ment. In 1928, the National Air Races consisted chiefly of civilian events featuring weight-carrying, speed and light sport aeroplanes. Within the Services there are several races exclusively for military planes, such as the Mitchell Pursuit Trophy, the Curtiss Marine Trophy, the Patrick Attack Trophy, the Liberty Engine Builders' Trophy and Packard Trophy for large aeroplanes. (L. J. M.)