News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

THE AIR FORCES NEIl'S LETTER
.-
rive in Canada were equipped with French instruments,
having been made for shipmen, to Franoe be.
fore that countrv capituljted.
Part of our instruction included viewing actual
moving pictures of dogfights and you could see
tracer fire gain on and finally hit and demolish a
plane. Most of the enemy planes shot down in the
filDl!lI saw were Heinkel, twin-engine banbers.
1he course of training I received in the R.C.A.F.
is typical of that given every Leading Aircraftsman
who goes through the Empire training scheme in
Canada. It lasts about seven months from entry at
the induction station to graduation, with actual
flying time a little more than five months.
Ground courses are very ~thodical and call for
sound knowledge of the subjects studied before
candidates are put on operations. Flight instruction
is excellent and the best of equipment is
used. During flying courses we flew seven days a
week, westher permitting, although there was no
ground school on Saturday or Sunday. Pay, which
was the least of our worries, was $40 a month before
flying and $70 s month thereafter.
A summery of air instruction in Canada and here
indicates a great deal of similarity. However,
the British sometimes use different methods to obtain
the same objective. All airmen, whomever
they lIIIIy be and there were med>ers of the nobility
as well as sons of poor families, start from
scratch. It depends on the individual how far he
goes.
Upon grsduation from Brantford we were presented
the King's Wings by Air Marshal -Billy" BishoP.
famed flyer of the First World War. That day 30
per cent of the class was given commissions ss
pilot officers in the R.C.A.F. They were chosen
for their excellent records based upon ground
school and flying record, discipline, bearing and
neatness, all of which the British take into con.
sideration in selecting officers. The remaining
70 per cent became sergeant -pilots with the promise
that 20 per cent more would be commissioned overseas.
Ages of the men ranged. from 17 to 31, the
average being about 23 years.
Following graduation men are given 15 days' leave
and on returning become eligible for overseas
service, go. into coas tal reconnaissance, or. are
turned back as instructors. Those going overseas
have not completed their training. Once in Eng-
'land they go to an Operations Training Unit. Here
pilots choose their crews and are sent out with
experienced men on minor operational work along
the French coast.
Commissioned a pilot-officer, I was sent as a
drag pilot to the Bombing and Gunnery School at
Jarvis, Ontario. Here I dragged sleeve targets on
600 foot cables for antiaircraft batteries. I did
expect, however, to get overseas at a later date.
My chief pleasure st Jarvis wss flying the Fairey
31
ATLANTIC FERRY BASES IN MAINE
Two air bases in the State of Maine for use by
the Air Corps Ferrying Conmand, one at;Presque Isle
and the other at Holton, were recently authorized
by the War Department. Estimated to cost $5,498,-
000, construction is being deferred pending the
acquisition of the necesssry land from the cities
involved.
Both American and British ferry crews are scheduled
to be stationed at these two bases, some 229
officers and 486 enlisted men at Houlton and 469
officers and 728 enlisted men at Presque Isle. The
facilities, such as barracks, quarters, warehouses,
e tc,, will be identical at both bases and along the
lines d those usually provided at Air Corps bsses.
As is to be expected, they will feature storage
space for a large supply of gasoline.
Six Air Corps construction projects are contemplated
in the State of Texas, a basic flying school
at Waco; an advanced twin-engine flying school at
Lubbock; a flexible gunnery school at Harlingen,
with a 27,500-acre bombing range in connection
therewith in the vicinity of Padre Island; an aviation
mechanics' school at Wichita Falls, and the
construction of a drainage system and necessary
grading and paving work st Ellington Field, near
Houston.
The site for the school near Waco embraces an
area cf 1,100 a cres , and the total cost of the project,
dependent upon satisfactory acquisition of
the required real estate, is estimated at $4,363,-
000. Listed among the various buildings included
in the construction plans are 29 barracks for enlisted
men and 11 for aviation cadets, 10 administration
buildings, seven operations buildings, also
mess halls for officers, enlisted men and cadets,
recrestion buildings, etc.
The construction project at Harlingen, which includes
152 miscellaneous buildings, railroad spurs,
paving aprons, runways, taxi strips, and various
utilities, involves a total cost of $4,138,229.
With the award of a supplemental contract in the
amount of $7,555,565.49 for the construction of
barracks, mess halls, hangars and other buildings
(Continued on Next pe.e)
Battle dive bombers that had been so useful to the
British in the fighting over Dunkirk. These planes
are powered with 1,150 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin engines,
the same engine used by the Spitfires snd
Hurricanes. Lines of the Fairey conform to the
Hurricane but sre larger.
In June I got my orders to repor t for active duty
as a second lieutenant of Infantry, attached to
the Army Air Forces. At the present time I am
Plans and Training Officer for the Three Hundred
and Fifty-seventh School Squadron at Jefferson
Barracks, Mo.