It is abundantly clear that a very necessary feature in a pilot is a thorough working knowledge of wireless telegraphy. The days of returning to report are passing. The observer ignorant of wireless is no longer classed as an observer. He is becoming a ‘back number.’ It stands to reason that if a British seaplane sights a hostile squadron, and is, say, forty miles from her base, or from the nearest unit of the home fleet, then a precious forty minutes at least is going to be lost if the observer does not understand wireless telegraphy. ‘Conversely a radio message, travelling at something like thrice the circumference of the earth in one second, will reach a receiving installation forty miles off while you cough, and a great deal quicker. That is one point, and the time was when it was thought any one could qualify in wireless. Quite a number of wise men have since then given up the attempt.’ The observer must recognize ships at sight, and from a reasonable height, with the aid of prisms, be able to note their type, direction steering in, nationality, whether armed or otherwise, and their distance from the nearest mark, probably a buoy. He has, of course, to recognize and name the buoy. ‘Sometimes he will make a hazard at the cargo carried by detecting a clue somewhere. In a channel recently swept clear of mines, and just open to traffic, when scores of merchant-men and patrol craft are under way, the observer has got to get busy on the job. Very often if the pilot is daring and gets down to 500 feet, even the names of the ships can be discerned. Also the observer has got to discriminate between a U Boat and an E Boat and an S Boat.’