training
air force training, 1941
Len’s parents, William and Ethel pose outside their York home along with Len as he prepares for training in America. He travels on ship via Iceland and Canada before the train journey down to Alabama where he starts training in Montgomery and Tuscaloosa
flight school
Training starts in earnest at Gunter Field Basic Flying School, Montgomery, Alabama
FLYING LESSONS
Flight training starts on the dual control Boeing PT 17 Stearman
Many of these trainers are still flown today by enthusiasts
Training moves on to the Vought BT 13 Vultee
The vultee is flown to this day
Training moved on to the AT-6A Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and the 1950s.
Span: 42 ft.
Length: 29 ft. 6 in.
Height: 10 ft. 10 in.
Weight: 5,617 lbs. loaded
Armament: None (some AT-6s used for gunnery/bombing training)
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1340 of 600 hp.
Cost: $27,000 (in 1942)
Maximum speed: 210 mph.
Cruising speed: 145 mph.
Range: 770 miles
Service Ceiling: 23,200 ft.
Contact with home
Although America had just entered the war life was nowhere near as harsh in Alabama as it was at home. For the princely sum of $2.05 Len was able to ship the following back to his parents in York :- 1 lb butter, 1/2 lb tea and a 1lb tin of marmalade – luxuries that were hard to come by with rationing
Flying School
RAF trainees were taught under the “Arnold Scheme” alongside USAAF trainees, so this section explains the flight training undertaken by USAAF.
USAAF training had four phases:-
• Primary Flying School
• Basic Flying School
• Advanced Flying School
• Transition Training
The Primary Flying schools were civilian operated under contract for the USAAF. These civilian schools used Stearman, Ryan and Fairchild trainers owned by the USAAF, but their flight instructors were civilian employees. Each cadet received 60 hours of flight training in nine weeks.
RAF trainees had one minor difference to the USAAF, before they were sent from the UK they were given 4 hours on Tiger Moths to weed out those who may not be suitable for reasons such as air sickness, people who may be unusually susceptible to negative G, or simply discover they hate flying.
Here the aircraft were changed to BT-9 or Bt-13. Cadets were learned how to fly at night, by instruments, information and cross-country from one point to another. Also, for the first time, he operated a plane equipped with a two-way radio and a two-pitch propeller. This training took 9 weeks and involved about 70 hours in the air. It should be noted that the schools were now under USAAF control and apart from the additional complexity of the training and machinery, there was also the cultural shock as discipline was more rigorous.
Again we have a change in aircraft to the AT-6 for future fighter pilots. The time in training was nine weeks and took about 70 hours flying time. The emphasis was on learning aerial gunnery as well as combat manoeuvres and increasing their skills in navigation, formation and instrument flying.
This is where the cadet was introduced to the aircraft to be used in combat. For a fighter pilot this took two months and about 50 hours, but was more for multi engine pilots.
RAF graduates were sent home at the end of the Advanced Flying School as the aircraft that they were to use were different. RAF graduates would be sent on an acclimatisation course of 2 weeks to get them used to flying in Britain with the weather and crowded skies before being sent to an RAF O.T.U. course. The length of this varied depending on the type of aircraft they were to fly and the time period they arrived in the UK as it constantly changed.
GRADUATION
After 112 hours of ground school and 204 hours of flying, 113 of which were solo, Len graduated on May 16th 1942, qualifying aeronautical rating of Pilot and thus achieving his “wings”
From this ….
… to this.
Training success statistics
It cannot be understated how potentially dangerous flight training was. A reminder of the dangers can be found here
The Arnold Scheme was one product of the climate of greater co-operation between the United Kingdom and the then neutral United States following the introduction of Lend-Lease in March 1941. It was established to train British RAF pilots in the United States of America and ran from June 1941 to March 1943. During this period a total of 7,885 RAF personnel entered the scheme. Of these, 3,392 were eliminated or ‘washed out’ and 81 were killed in training.
The Diploma awarded to Len on 16th May 1942, given at Craig Field, Alabama
The Graduating Class 42E of the Alabama Institue of Aeronautics, January 6th 1942. Len Bennett is in the 2nd row, 5th from the right
ARMISTICE PARADE 11 NOVEMBER 1941
