Well, SOE was hardly a soft option! As for your question, my copy of "The Pilot's 'A' Licence", dating from 1938 but first published in 1927, indicates that to obtain the licence you had to log three hours solo, then pass a flying test consisting of a spot landing from a glide and a series of figure eight turns, assessed by a Royal Aero Club Assessor on the ground, then pass a viva on air law. The book estimates the cost of training as £25. The test cost one guinea, the Royal Aero Club Certificate another guinea, and the licence five shillings.
The typical training aircraft would have been an early DH Moth (the Tiger Moth was not yet in service) or perhaps an old war surplus Avro 504.
The licence was valid for one year, renewable on logging three hours solo and obtaining a medical certificate.
The requirements might appear minimal. but the aircraft were difficult to fly and, before Gipsy engines, prone to engine failures, so you had to be pretty sharp to qualify. There are vivid descriptions of learning to fly at that time in David Garnett's "A Rabbit in the Air" and TE White's "England Have My Bones"
Last edited by FNG; 28th Apr 2002 at 21:47.