History of Preflight Training in the AAF: 1941-1953
Abstract
This monograph is a study of preflight training in the Army Air Forces (AAF) from 1941 to 1953. As used in this study, "preflight" refers to the phase of training prior to actual flight instruction. The origin and organization of preflight training are described in detail, with particular emphasis on pilot preflight. Before the United States began to expand its air forces, there was little need for training cadets prior to their entrance into primary. But the large expansion in pilot, bombardier, and navigator training quotas during World War II made necessary the inauguration of some kind of indoctrination program to compensate for the wide differences in the quality of trainees. Preflight training, therefore, was an attempt -- during World War II -- to raise the common level of learning and avoid the high elimination rates that were characteristic of the postwar training programs. Since the fall of 1952, the principal purpose of preflight, however, has been one of motivation. This writer has attempted to trace briefly, for background purposes, the high points in the history of military aviation in the United States from its beginning in World War II. Chapters are as follows: I -- Background of World War II Preflight Schools, 1907-1941; II -- Establishing the Preflight Schools; III -- The Evolution of the Preflight Curriculum, 1940-1945; IV -- Preflight Instruction; V -- Preflight Students; VI -- Evaluation of the Wartime Preflight Program, 1941-1945; VII -- Preflight Training Since World War II, 1945-1952; VIII -- The Present Consolidated Preflight Program, 1952-1953; and IX -- Brief Summary of Preflight Training Since World War I.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1953
- Accession Number
- ADA531133
Entities
People
- W. E. Hollon
Organizations
- Air University