|
My years as a pilot
1. Learning to fly
Aulnat & Mitry-Mory
Without delay, on May 31 1952, I was appointed to the CRPN 745 (gathering place
for student pilots) in Aulnat near Clermont-Ferrand. At the CRPN, candidates recruited to be pilots, navigator
or radio-navigators were gathered together. Recruiting had increased with the rebuilding of the airforce and the
Indochina war that was still going on. Some of the students were selected to go train in the USA. To be selected,
these trainees had to already speak some English which I didn't.
Our first flying experience was to take place with the Stampe, a very enjoyable small biplane operated by several
civilian clubs (St-Yan, Challes-les-Eaux, Le Bourget-du-Lac and Mitry-Mory). We were very enthusiastic because
for most of us it was our first flight experience. Only a small number of trainees already had their 1st degree
civilian license.
It was at Mitry-Mory, a small airfield in the north-east of Paris near the (future) Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport,
than about thirty of us started training in September-October. This was also the time when a new group of friends
started, a friendship that was to last not only through training but also in active duty. This training was serious.
We had to be able to fly solo after ten hours. Most of us passed. Our instructors were for the most part WW2 vets.
We were housed in barracks in Dugny (near Le Bourget) and had a few opportunities to go out in Paris.
After this short training, we moved back to Aulnat to wait for our move to the airforce academy located in Marrakech
(Morocco). We had to sign a five-years contract. This contract was introduced to prevent young pilots from leaving
the airforce to join a civilian airline that had better pay and were more than willing to hire ex-airforce pilots
thus saving on training. Since I couldn't take my motorcycle with me across the Mediterranean (we were flying this
time), I took it home.
Our team at the end of flight training: instructors and students
( I'm the 2nd on right, standing)
|
The student-pilot wings, same as the pilot badge, but including only one wing.
|
