foreign policies, and he began to contemplate a military career. Drake had visited Alan Cobham's Flying Circus as a small boy in the twenties and spent half a crown on a twenty-minute flight. After this experience, Drake spent his time reading aviation books and reading about First World War aviators. He decided to pursue a career as a military aviator, encouraged by a subscription to The Aeroplane. His parents were adamantly opposed to his career path. RAF career In the summer, 1936, Drake stumbled across an advertisement in Aeroplane for applicants to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) on a Short Service Commission (SSC). The four-year term offered came with a £300 gratuity. Drake overcame his parents' opposition through his own misreading of the advertisement, which he read to be an annuity not a gratuity. The size of the non–existent annuity persuaded his family to relent. When the error was discovered they allowed him to attend the interview at the Air Ministry, certain he would be turned down. Drake passed the interview but failed the eyesight examination. He returned after three months and passed the second test. Drake joined the RAF on a SSC in July 1936, having only just reached the minimal service age requirement of 17. He was sent to Hamble in Hampshire to attend the Air Service Training (AST) unit and made his first flight, with instruction, on 14 July 1936. Six weeks of intensive training followed, which included learning aerobatic manoeuvres and to restart the engine when airborne. Navigation training in cross–country flights occurred in mid-August over Yatesbury and Filton. On 3 September 1936, Drake passed out as an average–rated pilot. He had accumulated 60 hours flying, half solo, plus five and a half hours on instrument–based piloting. Drake was granted £50 to purchase his uniform and other items from the Army and Navy Store on Victoria Street in the City of Westminster. Drake was sent to RAF Uxbridge as a Pilot Officer on probation, and there he learned parade and drill. After completion of this training Drake was sent to 6 Flying Training School at Netheravon in the Salisbury Plain area of Wiltshire. He took his first flight with instruction in a Hawker Hart on 22 September and then flew solo on 7 October. On 1 January 1937, Drake failed the Chief Instructor's Flying Test after attempting a deliberate near–stall manoeuvre to prove he could