ere was one fatality for
every 1,760 hours of flying, and by October fatalities had been
reduced to one in every 5,300 hours of flying. That is a remarkable
achievement, as official data from other centers of training show one
death in a flying accident for every 1,170 hours.

Briefly, the Gosport system is a graduated method of flying
instruction. The cadet is led by easy steps through the earlier part
of the training, and only after he has passed aerial tests in the
simpler methods of control is he allowed to continue with the rest of
his course and "go solo." The scheme provides that before he goes solo
he must have spun, and shown that he can take his instructor out of a
spin. Only then is he considered fit to go on his own.

"Dangerous" and "Safe" as terms to describe flying technique gave way
to wrong and right. There was built up under sound instruction one of
the best schools of flying in North America, the School of Special
Flying, at Armour Heights, Ontario. There is no reason why there
should not be established in this country a number of such schools,
under men who have had army experience, to train great numbers of
civilian fliers within the next few years. There is going to be a
strong demand for the best flying instruction that can be given. It
should be noted that only the most perfect system of flying
instruction should be used, for the best is safest, and the safest, no
matter how expensive, is comparatively cheap.

There is no reason why there should be an extended period of ground
instruction for the non-military pilot of the future. He should be
taught the elementary principles of the theory of flight, should know
something about the engine with which he is going to fly, and
understand some things about the rigging of his airplane. The details
could come to him in constant association with the airplane before,
during, and after each flight. No time need be spent on such subjects
as artillery observation, machine-gunnery, wireless, bombing,
photography, patrol work, and other subjects of a purely military
nature, on which so much stress has been laid in training army
pilots.

"What is an airplane?" Before going ahead with the method of Gosport
instruction every pupil is given a lecture on the ground in which he
is asked that question. One definition which was passed out to us in
Canada was, "An airplane is a machine...." At this point the flight
sergeant in charge of rigging would look dreamily