What subtle means of persuasion the RAF had in those far-off days to seduce young men into the world of aviation. For this impressionable lad, the Air Training Corps was the first step, with his first experience of leaving mother earth in the back of a Tiger Moth on a magical September evening, regularly topped over the years by air experience flights. But how to encourage us further? Offer us a flying scholarship with 30 free hours on Tiger Moths at Sywell, ending up with a private pilot's licence, but with no possible funds to maintain it. Can you follow the plot so far? Now, lad, if you want to continue flying for free, why not consider a career in the RAF where you'll not only do that, but be paid as well? That is how, in September 1953, this gullible chap found himself at the RAF College polishing floors for the first six months, before finally arriving on the basic flying flights on Cranwell's North Airfield. We should not forget the hedge-hopping experience with Sgt Wilson in the station Anson, but that is another story entirely.
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