Reconstructing the First World War Aerodrome at Croydon / Beddington in Detail: Bombing Observation Tower

One of the new training procedures brought in was target practice for pilots to bomb designated locations. In the field these would mainly be trenches, army camps or Zeppelin bases. Roger Potten has reconstructed the bombing observation tower that was used in this training - one side of the airfield seems to have been effectively used for target practice.

Compare this with Montgomery Martin's photograph below:

The Gosport System: Robert Smith-Barry and Pilot Training

The Avro Biplane - pictured at Gosport - was Barry-Smith's preferred aircraft
for instruction as it was easy to fly so the pilots could concentrate on
learning tactics. This is from Landowne Album 3.

Training pilots to fly planes - at first for reconnaissance and then for fighting - was a dangerous and haphazard affair; of the 14166 pilots killed, over half died in training. By mid 1916 there was a dangerous shortage of pilots. The Royal Flying Corp (RFC) training programme taught pilots to fly but not to fly in battle or attack. Major Robert Smith-Barry constantly asked General Trenchard (head of the RFC in France) to let him try a new, more rigorous training programme.