My"A" Licence issued after 12 Hours. ( a "B" was the professional licence , until 1st April 1949.)
After 20+ hours I was allowed to keep one of Auster's Austers at " my" airfield, Leicester East, and park it in "my Hangar", with "my tanks" ( Provided they did not harm one another !)
The tanks were not allowed to use the three runways for driving practice, , just drive around the peri track. ( Rearsby was all grass.)
On an early cross-country flight... I got lost and had to land ask where I was.
( In retrospect, perhaps it WAS the right time to do so. Much less embarassing than to do so much later on, when radio might have helped.)
After a long cross country to Edinburgh's McMerry flying club I had heavy cloud across the Borders for my return. I turned back, for my first ever diversion, as had been ordered by the Chief Test Pilot.
24 hours late, and " Absent without Leave"... NOT yet a Deserter.
I had to explain to my Commanding Officer that a Fly Past by the USAF had been cancelled for the same weather on that day. ( My excuse was accepted.)
( Nobody wanted my skills as a Civilian Tank Driver. Someone thought that the Army had not been mechanised, so I must know about HORSES !)
LT
Last edited by Linktrained; 31st Jul 2015 at 16:26.