Quote:
"Most of us on Course 33 would have done our GFT by Christmas..."
I rather doubt that, John, because on Course 32 we only started our CPL GFTs at the end of January (see my post). Very late, admittedly.
BTW, what was the rationale of going on to the C172 before the IR course on the C310?
[EDIT]
Since my question above, and having looked at an article in a contemporary edition of
The Journal (the AST magazine), it seems that
Manoir is right to suggest that students normally got some flying on the C172 between completing the CPL GFT and starting the Instrument Rating course on the C310. The article points out that the 172, with its larger instrument panel, had R/Nav aids - lacking on the C150s. Presumably that might allow some familiarisation with RMIs. The Link Trainer on which students were introduced to procedural instrument flying was not fitted with RMIs. Its ADF display, for example, was a traditional relative-bearing indicator.
In view of the fact that I never got any recordable flying on a 172, I can only assume that my sponsor, BUA, was trying to reduce costs for its Course 32 students. Whereas hours on the C150 were charged at the modest rate of £7/10/- (if memory serves), the C172 would have been nearer £10.
On reflection that might have been a false economy because - whereas the three C310s (G-ARBC, G-ARCH and G-ARCI) lacked RMIs, if memory serves - the fourth one that arrived in early February of '67 had an ADF RMI, as can be seen in my photo here:
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ml#post9353351
With flying on the C310 being charged at the princely sum of £30 per hour (yes!
), the less time wasted due to unnecessary confusion on instrumentation the better. However, another problem for flying on the 172 was availability. There were only two, IIRC, and they were popular with non-student members of the Scottish Aero Club.
Those students that had only flown solo in the C150, which by 1966/7 represented the great majority, might also have been given some hours on the Chipmunk after GFT. By the time Course 32 had reached that stage, however, only two Chippies were remaining of the original four, two having been written-off in crashes during 1966:
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ml#post9207293