pulse1 (your #8093),
... He managed the flying quite well, thoroughly enjoyed it, and went solo after about 6 hours...
That would make him "Above Average" in my book, but:
...After this first solo flight, his euphoria was short lived as he entered the crew room to discover a notice which informed him, and one or two others, that they were being sent to the other side of the airfield to be trained as navigators...
That was cruel ! There ought to be a law against that sort of thing ! Not decrying Navigators in any way (some of my best friends have been Navigators !), but to let him go so far as to complete, successfully, that vital first step, and then dash his hopes of a twin wing - that really was going too far.
...After completing his training Frank, now a Sergeant with an Observer brevet and paid a handsome 12s 6p a day , was posted to Chivenor to join 272 Sqdn...
I think he would have kept his "Flying #rse'ole" up through thick 'n thin, and spurned the later "N" badge. His 12/6 (and you could do quite well on that in 1940 and '41 - with all paid it was "beer money", and by the time I came along it would have gone up to 13/6.
Pulse, thank you for showing me something I'd never seen or heard of before. The (one and only) Fokker XXXVI looks very useful (pity it didn't have a retractable u/c - but then neither had the DH "Dominie", and that was pressed into service as a Nav instructional aircraft). And it looks as if it would have fitted in more baby Navs even than the later Varsity.
You've got Frank firing on all cylinders now - keep him at it !
Cheers, Danny.