Show I 1 11 I 1 1 I V 8 1 I a 1 I 1 r 40 i 1 12 alit civil pilots eagerly 11 ft I 1 await army assignments 1 I I 1 I 1 1 11 I I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 rapidly expanding air force will bo be in I 1 need meed of waters aviators good future 11 I 1 11 in skyways seen in time the of peace fleace fly by news analyst and commentator service union trust building washington 1 I C washington of late has become increasingly or minded lind nl al though the war lins has caused it pence peace will benefit I 1 A recent advertisement expressed thu tho idea strikingly it said wo we exist upon ono one globo globe and inside another our planet earth Is the centor center of a larger air globe both globes ns as one unit follow the same orbit wo we tako take our air with us and always have it Is our activity in that larger globe tho the heavens which Is going to bo be vital to america when the war Is over now we ore are concerned with small sectors of the sky our scattered air fronts later wo we shall be concerned with linking them oil all together in peaceful and profitable air commerce in recent weeks many members of congress have been giving thought to preparation for that day and ix x thousand the number Is a military secret young men who have in the past months learned to fly under the civil aeronautic Author itys war training program the boys who will be the nucleus of our pilots after the war are fairly bursting with impatience nto spread their wings train chiv civil 21 pilots 4 america Is planning a military air force ot of some three million men since the rule of thumb says eight men on the ground to one in the air that means we are going to need some come four hundred thousand pilots the x in tho the x thousand men I 1 mentioned as being civilian trained I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I le I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 p ik k 1 1 av d V I 1 N it I I 1 0 1 I 1 1 I I 1 fazi 1 t V k i I 1 1 1 1 f I 1 1 I 1 wl 1 i T 1 X 14 0 j V q V lk 0 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 va V I 1 U A j M SK 11 r X Y 0 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 f 11 YC fit S I 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 7 I 1 qa 11 k 61 1 I 1 1 1 1 I if il R ka k 3 1 I 1 11 it 1 1 1 I 1 I 1 x 1 I 1 4 11 I 1 I 1 1 t 11 1 I 1 1 I tol v I 1 I 1 11 i X t 11 1 1 V rlOU 1 1 I 1 I 1 11 1 1 i 1 1 t I 1 III 11 A many pilots like these who have been trained under tho the civil aero authority program are eagerly awaiting a call to regular army many for combat duty while others expect to enter other phases of lying flying service or in training does not equal tour four hundred thousand now but it will help before we went into the war this need was visualized and the civil aeronautics authority created the civilian pilots training courses to which there was a tremendous and enthusiastic response not only from boys and men of lighting fighting age which is young for combat pilots but of fellows from 18 to 37 who could become flying instructors or could pilot transport an and d cargo planes some of these civilian trained pilots are enlisted in the united states army air force reserves those who passed the physical and age requirements for combat flying the others ers hoped to get into some kind of military aviation service other than combat the army in january called all of its enlisted reserve except those who were in the midst of a college term they will be called when the current term is over but because of lack of facilities tor for training the reserves who were in the nir air force have to be called slowly and those who are found to be eligible to qualify as flying cadets cabets will begin their final military instructions by april first the complete list of colleges where they will receive this train ing will soon be announced meanwhile the boys in the reserves v and those who are training tor for transport flying are becoming very restive they have been given free instruction and subsistence but they receive no pay as lying flying on ca dots do and they haye have to furnish part of their own uniforms many gave up jobs to take the training or are hesitating to take jobs because they expect to bo be called some of them have been expecting a long time and their morale has sunk stink to the depths I 1 have talked with many of them and they hove have my sympathy for they are so anxious to spread their wings so anxious to serve their country and so weary with waiting of course some have been able to got into the air force but not many have and the brass hats of the army incline to look down their noses at anyone not army trained army fliers experts of course there is no denying that hying flying a t training ining plane and flying a combat comb it p piano ka n 0 are two quite Alf different ferent things As one air force officer who really Is sympathetic with the CAA program said to rne me remember that a man who has spent fifteen to twenty hours in the air Is not a combat pilot you might be able to take off from a held in a CO 60 horse power croto crate and land all right but that mean you can handle a 25 ton four engine job with its instruments and spend perhaps 12 to 14 hours in the air without seeing anything but those instruments of course get along faster the first days in school if your mother has taught you your ABCs that Is the attitude of the professional it is hard to take and a lot of people in the army and out think it is somewhat cavalier they t think hink that it if it been for leaning very heavily on tradition a lot of these boys who have their ABCs would be showing their stuff right now instead of breaking their hearts waiting they feel it is pretty hopeless they are wrong there it wont be long now but it Is easy to understand how that fine enthusiasm can fade when the effort the time and the sacrifice of civilian p plans inns seem to be passed over with little more than a shrug it Is to be hoped that shortly after this appears in print the boys will be on uncle sams payroll they have friends in washington who are working for them then even if they have h eve to mark time a little I 1 longor longer ong they will feel that their uncle believes they are arc worth their salt burma air road it Is easy to see the reason why these and a lot of other boys will be needed in the air now we are going to open a burma road of the air supplies are going to china by that route now but it is only a trickle we have the transport planes and many more of them will soon be in service and what the air traffic will bear is not to be sneezed at an airplane that can carry five tons or ten tons can make a run in a couple of hours which would take two weeks on the ground of course moving freight by tar the most economical way but money matter in war and it must be remembered that in peace time it is cheaper to ship by water than by rail but where would america be it if it tor for the railways after the war it will be the same with the airways which are being blazed by bombers and will be fri fal lowed by freight and passenger planes in a happier day every time our bombers take oft something Is learned that can be turned to peacetime peace time profit and so far we have not begun our bombing in europe drope one observer who knows aviation said to me just after aate r casa blanca all we have done over germany and france so tar far is really expert mental it is really a testing A few sporadic daylight raids the bombings by the american air force foice are insignificant compared to what will be done when we get under way and remember weve got good weather coming up and so the x thousand boys who have learned to fly most of them will soon have their chance one of the enthusiastic supporters of the civilian pilot training program said to me dont worry unless the war stops suddenly wily the army will soon be say ing can you fly all right heres your plane get in and when peace comes civilian demand Is going to keep em cm flying |