CO129-539-11 Hong Kong Flying Club- proposed establishment of a Flying Training school at Kai Tak 8-4-1932 - 4-3-1933 — Page 60

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'Hong Kong is already the greatest shipping port in the Far East, and the Government and the people of this Colony are determined to leave nothing undone which may assist Hong

Kong to take its rightful place as one of the best, if not the very

best, of the air-ports in the Far East

Moreover, the Hong Kong Government attaches so much im-

portance to the establishment of a Flying Club in the Colony that the Legislative Council has voted $60,000.00 as an initial

grant to the Club and has also undertaken to pay the Club an annual subsidy of $30,000.00.

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(b) The Club was incorporated on the 28th of January 1930 with a Memorandum and Articles of Association. The principal objects for which the Club was formed were as under.-

(i) To teach and promote flying in the Colony.

(ii) To provide the Government with pilots, engineers and

flying personnel in the event of any emergency or crisis.

(iii) To give the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps experience in flying and to assist in the formation of a flying arm or branch, and

(iv) To place the whole of the organization at the disposal of the Government when an emergency is declared to exist.

(c) The active existence of this commendable enterprise has unfortunately

proved short-lived. While it is true that active instruction and flying received a serious blow by adverse exchange the fact remains that apparently no Club of this nature can hope for complete success unless at least several of the Senior Officers of the Club act as full

time officers.

In view of the comparatively small number of foreigners resident in this Colony, the Flying Club has a limited population to draw upon for membership and consequently such full time officers proved too expensive a burden to a small club.

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