“The West Point of the Air” by M. Gundlach on the cover of “Popular Mechanics,” April, 1930.
“Flying instruction, second to none in the world, is offered by the United States army air corps at its three main schools, Kelly and Brooks fields, near San Antonio, Texas, and March field, at Riverside, California. The last two are known as the primary schools where the students, flying cadets, receive rigorous training in all maneuvers necessary to pilot an airplane, besides work on airplane engines, navigation, machine guns, radio and other subjects necessary for a military pilot.
“For a month at either of the primary schools, the cadet is dubbed a ‘Dodo,’ for he is more or less on probation, and the fact that approximately fifty percent of the men who enter the training schools are eliminated, or ‘washed out,’ before they reach the advanced stage of the year of instruction, the last four months at Kelly field, is evidence of the thoroughness of the work and the high standards required to complete it.
“After a successful month, the Dodo disappears and in his stead a full-fledged cadet emerges who is rapidly advancing in the intricate tasks of flying with an instructor, solving ground-school problems and absorbing military drill and discipline.
“Four months of primary work, and the cadet enters on the second and last stage of his training preliminary to the advanced school at Kelly field. Here he pilots regulation service-type airplanes instead of the training ships, takes part in cross-country flying, receives thorough instruction in aerial gunnery and special work in either pursuit, attack, bombardment or observation aviation. Once admitted to the final stages of training here, the cadet is almost certain to finish unless he is dismissed for some infraction of regulations, and receive the coveted ‘wings,’ the insignia of an army pilot . . .” [From the accompanying article]
“The West Point of the Air” by M. Gundlach on the cover of “Popular Mechanics,” April, 1930.
“Flying instruction, second to none in the world, is offered by the United States army air corps at its three main schools, Kelly and Brooks fields, near San Antonio, Texas, and March field, at Riverside, California. The last two are known as the primary schools where the students, flying cadets, receive rigorous training in all maneuvers necessary to pilot an airplane, besides work on airplane engines, navigation, machine guns, radio and other subjects necessary for a military pilot.
“For a month at either of the primary schools, the cadet is dubbed a ‘Dodo,’ for he is more or less on probation, and the fact that approximately fifty percent of the men who enter the training schools are eliminated, or ‘washed out,’ before they reach the advanced stage of the year of instruction, the last four months at Kelly field, is evidence of the thoroughness of the work and the high standards required to complete it.
“After a successful month, the Dodo disappears and in his stead a full-fledged cadet emerges who is rapidly advancing in the intricate tasks of flying with an instructor, solving ground-school problems and absorbing military drill and discipline.
“Four months of primary work, and the cadet enters on the second and last stage of his training preliminary to the advanced school at Kelly field. Here he pilots regulation service-type airplanes instead of the training ships, takes part in cross-country flying, receives thorough instruction in aerial gunnery and special work in either pursuit, attack, bombardment or observation aviation. Once admitted to the final stages of training here, the cadet is almost certain to finish unless he is dismissed for some infraction of regulations, and receive the coveted ‘wings,’ the insignia of an army pilot . . .” [From the accompanying article]