London, July 10.
The value of flying clubs in training up a reserve of civilian pilots is receiving practical attention n a revision of the system on which subsidies are paid by the Air Ministry to the clubs.
Under the present year's Estimates £35,000 was set aside for the clubs, but this will have to be increased by a supplementary vote, as the maximum payable to a club in the year is to be raised from £1,500 to £2000. Furthermore, to encourage a civilian pilot to keep in training efter he has gained his "A" or "B" certificate, 10s. will be paid for each hour of flying up to a maximum of 20 hours a year.
At present the Air Ministry pays a subsidy of £25 in respect of each new certificate earned, "A" or "B", and £10 in respect of each annual renewal The new scale will mean £11. 10s. for each renewal.
There are now nearly 80 flying-clubs in Great Britain with varying charges for tuition and the number of members and hours flown increases rapidly every year. Generally speaking the standard of training and performance is high and many members, who began in an amateur way, Eo on to get good jobs with the big aviation companies.
A sign of the times is a notice from the Air Ministry to aircraft Owners and ground engineers that an order will shortly be added to Air Navigation Directions that all commercial aircraft flying at 15,000 ft.—except merely as an emergency—must carry oxygen.
It is ry rarely that British air liners travel at such heights, but the tendency to do so must increase as the freedom from clouds in those regions and the desire' to increase speed by hunting for favourable air currents becomes more general. A person in training can go to 20,000 ft. without feeling inconvenience so long as he sits still: directly he moves about he becomes fatigued. Others might suffer at much lower altitudes, But cases of this sort are for a doctor to decide upon.
I have heard of people whose hearing was affected for several day by air pressure when flying, und a lady I know, who is having treatment for a serious infection of the eyes, xas forbidden to fly to Paris and told to go by train and boat. These are the exceptions. But anyone might be forgiven for needing oxygen at 15,000 ft. It is easily c: ied though naturally it will diminish the available pay load.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.