Subject: What it took to get wings in WW II.
From: Andrew Chaplin
Date: 7/13/03 7:08 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

ArtKramr wrote:

I would be interested to know the course of academic study in the RAF.
What
math and physics? How high the washout rate (,more or less)before even
getting
to flying school? How high the washout rate for physical reasons? Any
idea?.

With the implementation of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan,
the RAF shifted a significant portion of their aircrew training effort
out of the British Isles, so most training other than conversion and
OTU was conducted away from the ADGB battle area. You might have a
look in Spencer Dunmore's history of the BCATP, _Wings for Victory_,
and Larry Milberry's and Hugh Halliday's _The Royal Canadian Air Force
at War, 1939-1945_. IIRC, Bill McAndrew is working on a monograph on
training, ops and LMF problems in the Commonwealth air forces
operating against Germany; it or papers based on his research may
already be published. I think a fair idea of how the training was done
is covered in Murray Peden's _A Thousand Shall Fall_, but he was a
pilot rather than a bomb aimer.

(The Canadian PM of the day knew that the manpower costs of the BCATP
would initially obviate an RCAF air expeditionary force and so
minimize Canadian exposure to combat casualties; he was, however,
gambling on a much shorter war than what he got.)
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO


Thanks Andrew. I'll check those books out.

Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer