Warmtoast
5th Aug 2009, 23:00
Help please from any 'Golden Oldies' who gained their 'wings' in 1951 or thereabouts.
I'm researching the hours flown in 1951 to qualify for the pilots brevet and in particular the hours flown at 5 FTS, RAF Thornhill, Southern Rhodesia in 1951.
From documents in my possesion I have an example of how long the course took e.g. No. 6 Pilots Course arrived at RAF Thornhill on 24th August 1951 and spent the first eleven weeks training on Tiger Moths; the remainder of the time was spent on Harvards. On completion of the course they returned to the United Kingdom on 4th May 1952, thus the whole process took 35-weeks in all.
I have a note, but I'm not sure how accurate it is, that pupil pilots did 60 hours primary training on Tiger Moths or Chipmunks before progressing to Harvards for advanced training which took a further 70 hours or so before graduating with their ‘wings’.
Any input would be appreciated - thanks.
I'm researching the hours flown in 1951 to qualify for the pilots brevet and in particular the hours flown at 5 FTS, RAF Thornhill, Southern Rhodesia in 1951.
From documents in my possesion I have an example of how long the course took e.g. No. 6 Pilots Course arrived at RAF Thornhill on 24th August 1951 and spent the first eleven weeks training on Tiger Moths; the remainder of the time was spent on Harvards. On completion of the course they returned to the United Kingdom on 4th May 1952, thus the whole process took 35-weeks in all.
I have a note, but I'm not sure how accurate it is, that pupil pilots did 60 hours primary training on Tiger Moths or Chipmunks before progressing to Harvards for advanced training which took a further 70 hours or so before graduating with their ‘wings’.
Any input would be appreciated - thanks.