The CAA Helps America Prepare for World War II 

Theresa L. Kraus, FAA Historian 

On June 27, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Civilian Pilot 

Training Act of 1939 into law. The law not only strengthened our national 

defense prior to entering World War II, but also opened up pilot training to many 

who would never have had an opportunity to learn to fly. The act allowed the 

FAA’s predecessor agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA), to expand an 

experimental program, authorized in December 1938, to train civilian pilots 

through educational institutions. 

The U.S. was aware of similar civilian pilot-training programs already at work in 

several European countries (particularly Germany and Italy) in the period 

preceding World War II, and decided that it needed to expand quickly the 

number of U.S. aviators. 

This all-out push for more pilots made it possible for hundreds of women and African-Americans to 

enter the somewhat exclusive world of flying. In addition to opening the cockpit door to more 

minorities, the program also helped train future aviation legends such as World War II ace Major 

Richard Bong and astronaut John Glenn, and Tuskegee airman Brigadier General Daniel “Chappie” 

James, Jr., and Major Robert W. Deiz. 

The act authorized $5,675,000 to be appropriated for the program during fiscal years 1939 and 1940, 

and specified that thereafter the appropriation should not exceed $7 million for any one fiscal year. 

The 1938 prototype program had involved 330 pilots and 13 colleges supported by National Youth 

Administration funds. The new Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) called for training 11,000 pilots 

during the 1939-1940 school year – a huge leap. Although it did not meet its 11,000-pilot goal during 

the first year of the program, CAA contracted with 435 universities, which trained over 9,000 men and 

women in every state of the union as well as in Puerto Rico and the territories of Hawaii and Alaska. 

CAA divided the training into two parts: 72 hours of ground school and a minimum of 35 to a maximum 

of 50 hours of flight instruction. CAA accepted applicants from universities, colleges, technological 

institutes, 4-year teachers colleges, and junior colleges. Each institution signed a contract with CAA to 

train a fixed number of students. The schools had to be within 10 miles, or 30 minutes legal driving time 

(not to exceed 45 miles per hour), of an airport. The airport had to have a sufficient number of landing 

strips not less than 1,800 feet long and 300 feet wide. The landing area had to have approaches 

permitting a 20:1 glide path to all required landing strips. 

The schools could charge students a laboratory fee of up to $40. The CAA paid the college $20 per 

student for ground school instruction and up to $290 for the flight course. The college had to use part of 

CAA Chairman Robert 

H. Hinkley is credited 

with the vision behind 

the CPTP 
the student’s laboratory fee to pay for a CAA medical examination and to provide a minimum of $3,000 

in accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage, plus $500 hospital and medical 

reimbursement insurance coverage. In addition, CAA required the flight operator to carry $50/100,000 

in public liability insurance coverage and $5,000 property damage insurance coverage. 

The schools trained both men and women. The 

law specifically contained a provision introduced 

by Representative Everett M. Dirksen (R-IL) that 

"none of the benefits of training or programs shall 

be denied on account of race, creed, or color." 

Although training remained mostly segregated, 

instruction for black students began at six schools: 

the West Virginia State College for Negroes; 

Howard University in Washington, DC; Tuskegee 

Institute in Alabama; Hampton Institute in 

Virginia; Delaware State College for Colored 

Students; and North Carolina Agricultural and 

Technical College. The program soon expanded to 

several more schools. Overall, the CPTP graduated around 2,000 black pilots. 

Women also found opportunities in the CPTP. Four women's colleges 

initially participated, and women enrolled at male-dominated schools 

signed up at a ratio of 1 woman for every 10 men. When war preparation 

needs demanded that all graduates enlist, women were automatically 

excluded because they were not allowed to fly in the military at that time. 

Nonetheless, by mid-1941, the CPTP had trained around 2,500 women; 

many eventually became Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs. 

The Civilian Pilot Training Act also provided that at least 5 percent of the 

trainees be noncollege students. In its second year of running the program, 

CAA announced its plans to provide training to 7 percent noncollege 

students in 70 (later expanded to 76) communities. In these programs, CAA 

mandated 1 instructor per 50 students. At the end of the 12-week ground 

school course, 10 students from each community would be selected 

competitively to go into flight training. As stipulated, only 1 woman could be among the 10 selectees. 

When President Roosevelt called for the production of 50,000 airplanes a year on May 16, 1940, CAA 

announced that it would expand the CPTP to provide pilots for the increased number of planes. In 1940, 

the CPTP had graduated 9,885 pilots, and in the 18 months before the United States entered the war, the 

number of pilots in the country rose from 31,000 to over 100,000, primarily through the CPTP. 

CPTP graduate, General Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. 

CPTP trainee Jeannette 

Kapus at Cram Field, 

Davenport, Iowa. Courtesy 

Wisconsin Aviation Hall of 

Fame.
Once the United States entered the war, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8974, which 

transformed the CTPT into a wartime program. The CPTP became "exclusively devoted to the 

procurement and training of men for ultimate service as military pilots, or for correlated non-military 

activities." Only men between ages 18-37 could undergo training. In July 1942, the President signed a 

bill amending the Civilian Pilot Training Act to provide for training of civilian aircraft mechanics. 

On December 7, 1942, the CPTP became the 

CAA War Training Service, a designation that 

recognized changes already in progress to align 

the program more closely with the needs of the 

armed services. Beginning July 1, 1942, and 

lasting until the following December 15, CAA 

provided training only to members of the inactive 

reserve of either the Army Air Forces or the 

Naval Reserve. On December 15, the Navy 

placed its CAA program trainees on active duty. 

The Army did the same in the summer of 1943. 

In all, some 300,000 pilots were trained in the War Training Service phase of the program, which lasted 

until June 30, 1944, for the Army and August 4, 1944, for the Navy. By the time the Civilian Pilot 

Training Program/War Training Service ended in 1944, the program had operated at 1,132 colleges and 

universities and 1,460 flight schools, and had trained over 435,000 pilots. In the end, the program 

successfully accomplished its goal of strengthening our national defense by increasing the number of 

pilots. At the same time, it attracted talent that went on to become fabled aviators and provided new 

opportunities for Americans from a variety of backgrounds. 

Naval flight instructors in the CAA War Training Service at the 

University of Arizona