Museum Audio Tour 8: Air Power Gallery: Training During the War

DAYTON, OHIO, UNITED STATES

12.31.1969

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

It was imperative that the United States have qualified pilots, navigators, bombardiers and gunners in the air and qualified maintenance people on the ground during World War Two. As you look throughout the Air Power Gallery, especially at the planes suspended from the ceiling, you will see many of the training aircraft that prepared airmen for combat. One small, unusual-looking contraption sits just under the B-18 — the Link Trainer. Although Army Air Forces aviation cadets flew various trainer aircraft, virtually all took blind-flying instruction in a Link. The trainers were realistic enough that a humorous but unlikely story circulated that one student, told by his instructor that he had run out of fuel on a night flight, broke his ankle when he leaped from the trainer as though parachuting to safety. There were three stages of military flight training — primary, basic and advanced. You will see examples of each type by looking for aircraft such as the PT-22, BT-13 and AT-10.

• Date Taken: 12.31.1969
• Date Posted: 09.02.2015 12:16
• Category: Newscasts
• Audio ID: 41893
• Filename: 1509/DOD_102704026.mp3
• Length: 00:01:03
• Album: Museum Audio Tour
• Track #: 08
• Location: DAYTON, OHIO, US