Approval to Wear Pilot's Brevet
 

While going through some of my late father’s papers I came across the confirmation he received that he could wear his pilot’s brevet. Granted that things were probably pretty hurried in 1918, but how have people since then been notified that they can wear the relevant brevet? I’d somehow imagined it might be a bit more formal than that.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7e7164bd44.png

No. 1 School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping, by the way, was alongside Stonehenge, and he flew DH 9As, luckily too late to see combat.

Being a bit pedantic - the brevet is the authorisation for him to wear his wings which are called a "Flying Badge". The certificate or brevet is what allows him to be a pilot and is his authority to fly. Its much like the commissioning scroll and is the formal paperwork that you have finished training in the role.

I see that in the front of my log book there is a hand-written entry which says "This is to certify that Flying Officer Tankertrashnav has qualified as a Navigator, with effect from 11 Mar 70". Signed by the OC Training Wing of 1 ANS, which by this time had moved to Stradishall (and we didnt do any bomb dropping!)

No mention of the flying badge or brevet, and as far as I can remember, no separate piece of paper, or certificate.

I got a small certificate in 1987 which stated I had qualified as a pilot and was entitled to wear the flying badge.

I notice that in September 1917 Army ranks were still used: when were RAF ranks adopted?

1966. A handwritten copperplate page in the logbook. "Certified that Plt Off Bloggs has successfully completed the course in accordance with the current authorised syllabus and that he is awarded the flying badge in accordance with Queen's Regulations for the Royal Air Force with effect from 13 May 1966."

Signed Commanding Officer, Flying Wing No. 2 FTS Royal Air Force Syerston.

I have a certificate in my first logbook which states: 'This is to CERTIFY that in accordance with QR and ACI paragraph J727 Flying Officer (BEagle) is qualified to wear the Royal Air Force Flying Badge with effect from 16 Aug 74'. It was signed by the CFI of the RAF College.

By which time I had 265:15 total time, of which 92:15 were as PIC - but that included 137:40 on the Chipmunk, 55:00 as PIC. Plus the 45 hrs or so from my Special Flying Award and some PPL time, but that was logged in a civil logbook.

Whereas today....???

The 6 FTS version:


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0a128bac23.jpg

(Apologies for size)

A small clue ... the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918. ;)

However, it was not until 1 August 1919 that the current system came into force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_officer_ranks

BEagle, you were one of the EXPERIENCED pilots. My total at wings was 165:50, 59:35 of which was PIC. All on JP 3/4.

23rd March 1962.

Certified that Fareastdriver has successfully completed the course in accordance with the current authorised syllybus, except for the following exercises:- NIL- and that he is awarded the flying badge in accordance with QR & ACI para 815 with effect from 23rd March, 1962.

Signed J Manning AFC Wg Cdr.

Commanding Flying Wing
No5 FTS Royal Air Force
OAKINGTON

That was after 129 hrs on the Provost T1 at 6 FTS and 137 hrs on the Vampire T11. We had to write our own certificates in our log books and send them off to OC Flying for signature.

Technically I should not have been awarded my wings because I spelt syllabus wrong.


(only found that out today because of spellcheck) .

Beagle, are you suggesting that today's students are faster learners? ;)

"I know nothing".....as Fl. Schultz might have said!

BEagle At last you have admitted what we always knew!!

As a Directional Consultant, who was always chauffeur driven to work, I was not the recipient of the Double Wing Master Race flying badge.

My logbook says.

This is to certify that Plt Off TT
has qualified as Navigator
with effect from 13 February 63 Signed XXXXX Wg Cdr
Date !3 Feb 1963 Unit 1 ANS

No other certificate was issued.

And here's the 1969 Syerston version:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e647a44dff.jpg

And I had a grand total of 201 hours exactly, 60 Chipmunk and 141 JP Mk 4.

Ah TTH, you see, all ours were handwritten. There was a Polish instructor on the staff, whose name I'm afraid I've forgotten, who undertook to write them all. I'll see if I can scan and post it.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f27c6ece43.jpg

Tiny pic, (no, I said "pic")

I see yours has the exact wording as mine Tengah Type (post #3).

I like the term "directional consultant" btw :ok:

As we were transiting the Lichfield RVC one evening, the ATCO asked what type of navigation system we used in the (pre-EGI) VC10K - it was in the time before the RVC was realigned with the Coningsby and Brawdy TACANs..

"A food*-powered universal navigation system - and he's sitting 2 ft behind me!" was my reply.

Tankertrashnav, haven't you heard of 'SODCAT'? 'Society of Directional Consultants and Allied Trades'.

Navigation is now mostly done by multiple INS/GPS - but Garmin can't cook beef olives over ROZ2 as Tengah Type could!


*In Tengah Type's case, quite a lot....;)!

There is one big drawback to replacing navigators with GPS. When you're down, and in a survival situation, you can't eat the GPS.

Certificate in my awful handwriting then signed by the CFI. That was the Towers in December 65

No certificates at the Towers in the 50s. OCFW just signed an end-of-course F414A in my logbook to say that I was a competent U/T pilot and had a White rating. Wings were awarded a week later.

Pilots who qualified to "Wings" standard after 1977 (might have been 1978) had to wait until after graduating from an advanced flying training school (AFTS), which explains why some had flown notably more hours than others who were awarded their badge at a basic flying training school (BFTS).

I was at RAF Linton-on-Ouse when the last course to be awarded their flying badges after BFTS graduated. I believe it was 15 Course; I do know that Douglas Bader carried out the presentations. The "carrot" was thereafter whisked further into the far distance. After holding for some months, I didn't personally graduate from AFTS until 1979.

Thanks Keith; yes you're right. Was he your instructor, or is that a good memory?

I graduated at Valley in August 1978 and we received our wings then. I remember that it was only a couple of courses before ours who last received their wings at Cranwell in 1977. I am not sure precisely when the change came. The biggest issue that we cared about was that until you received your wings you did not get full flying pay, just 'flying instructional pay'!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....db949fa365.gif
The first certificate here of the Noughties! I got double bubble: in addition to this lovely certificate (with a spare pair of wings unceremoniously wedged into a cheap frame), my logbook was endorsed at the Course Summary page with "Completed AFT, Awarded Wings".

Interesting to see that BEagle's and mine both mention iaw QR J727 from 1970s onwards, and others in the 1960s mention QR 815 and 770.

I think Harry Staish may have been from air traffic constriction...Dick Allen had left by that point.

But the signature is 'R Tizard' - Bob Tizz: incumbent boss of the DHFS.

Wings were presented by ACM John Day - 9 years before his ruling on the crew of ZD576 was overturned.