Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 63 continued ... My first flight was in Fleet Finch II, No. 4765. My first instructor was Mr. McRae from Louisiana. After 4 hours and 5 minutes dual instruction my instructor was changed to Flying Officer McLeod. I was having trouble with my landings, difficulty with the approach; I was always too high and in danger of running out of runway on landing. We had been told that the standard for flying a first solo flight was 8 hours and I was worried and thinking that I would “wash out”. F/O McLeod told me that he was going to teach me how to side-slip the aircraft to be able to arrive over the “button” of the landing strip at the correct height (the button is the spot at the beginning of a runway at which, ideally, the pilot first touches down the aircraft). Three of these flights were on March 28th, in Fleet No. 4770. These were followed by a check flight with Mr. McRae; one take off and landing; 15 minutes. Then another flight with F/O McLeod; three take offs and landings; 30 minutes. I remember during the last landing, on the approach, F/O McLeod saying that the cockpit canopy had become loose, that he was holding it, and I was completely “on my own”. I taxied in to the parking area and he got out, told me to stay in the aircraft, called a mechanic and had him secure the canopy. He then said to me “there is just enough daylight left for you to fly your solo” and I did one take off and landing, 10 minutes, in Fleet 4770 on March 28th, 1941. F/O McLeod was waiting to congratulate me as the sun was slipping below the horizon. He said except for the difficulty with approaches to landing my flying was just fine. Total flying time 11 hours and 15 minutes dual instruction, 10 minutes solo. 12 hours was the absolute maximum flying training time one could be kept in the program. I would now start instrument training which was controlling the aircraft by “needle, ball and air speed”, Blind Flying Technique, with a hood under the cockpit canopy, pulled over the cockpit to prevent the pilot from seeing outside; most importantly the horizon. The Fleet’s navigation instruments were an airspeed indicator, compass, altimeter and a needle and ball. The needle and ball is a gyroscopic rate of turn indicator invented about 1920 by Elmer Sperry, Jr. The instrument senses yaw (turning) rate and displays it to the pilot by a needle that deflects in the turning direction. The instrument is called a turn and slip indicator and incorporates a separate ball in a curved glass that acts as a lateral accelerometer or sideslip indicator. When a pilot is trained to use the turn and slip indicator combined with training in how to use the aircraft’s elevator control and airspeed indicator to control the aircraft’s pitching mode, the pilot has mastered the blind flying technique. This is how it is done. When you are flying on a straight and level course and without adjusting the throttle (engine power) and the airspeed increases or decreases, the airspeed indicator is showing that the aircraft is diving or climbing. When the needle moves port or starboard, it shows the aircraft is turning port (left) or starboard (right). When the aircraft is turning and the ball moves to port or starboard of its centre position it shows the aircraft is slipping or sliding in a flat turn. When flying in cloud and bad visibility a pilot uses the signals given by these instruments to control the desired rate of climb, descent, and turn by coordinating the use of the plane’s rudder, elevators and ailerons. The school tried very hard to give everyone a fair chance to graduate but some were washed out and sent to navigation or air gunner schools. One young man from Quebec had trouble with his landings. He did fly solo but on three occasions afterwards he had trouble and on the third time landed long, went off the runway and the Fleet cart-wheeled. He was posted to an air gunnery school. One day my instructor was teaching me how to recover from a tailspin. A tailspin is a dangerous maneuver which if not overcome will cause a fatal crash. continued ...
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