Airmen in the Making
The first year's experience of the Air Training Corps has been successful to the point when it assures for some time to come a continuous stream of good recruits for the Royal Air Force. Thanks to its Commandant, Air-Commodore J. A. Chamier, and the Director of Pre-entry Training, Mr. J. F. Wolfenden, of Uppingham, the scheme has caught the imagination of boys between i6 and r8 years of age, and set tens of thousands of them on the road to becoming efficient flying-men or ground-technicians. Its total strength has grown to 165,000 cadets in 1,5oo units. The units have been based on schools or on localities, and members who were adjudged to be potential officers have been sent for courses of six months at the universities, where they have combined something of a university education with instruc- tion in the technique of -flying. The scheme has been conceived with imagination, imparting knowledge and enthusiasm to the cadets, and giving them training' which will be useful to • them as civilians no less than as servicemen. The net has been cast widely. Not all the cadets will ultimately enter the Air Force, but this widespread preliminary training of the youth of the country ensures that a large proportion of those who have the aptitude will find their way into the Service as pilots or mechanics. It was feared at one time that when the Air force was greatly expanded it would be difficult to find enough pilots of the highest quality. Today there is no such fear.
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