Evening star., 1942-06-26
Kelly Field Cadets
Get Complex Training
Writer Tells How Teums
Of Pilots, kovieotors, IA
Bomburdiers Are Tuuqht

KELLY FIELD, Tex.-Every three
weeks, as regularly as clockwork, a new
group of second lieutenants leaves Kelly
Field to take over one of the most i'm
portant and specialized jobs in the Army
Air Forces.
These officers are graduate navigators.
superbly qualified to direct the destiny
OF their bombers to any point of the sur
face OF the globe-to Berlin, Rabaul or
Tokio-and back. They are a new type
of fighting man, cool. calculating and
accurate, whose motto has been, since the
beginning of their course at the Naviga
ton School. Think what harm lack OF
knowledge may do
The prospective navigator enters the
school here as an aviation cadet. after
having attended for nine weeks a replace
ment center, where he was taught mill
tary discipline and courtesy, airplane
identification and received refresher
courses in mathematics and other sub
jects Previous to this he had been
selected as a candidate for navigation on
the basis of his own preference and ex-
haustive psychological and physical tests
which determined the air job for which
he was best fitted.
Surprising as it may SEEM the aviation
cadet does not need any background OF
specialized knowledge to become an eX-
pert navigator. All that is required OF
him is high school education, or It's
equivalent, mathematical aptitude. ability
to concentrate and an alert, open, In
telligent mind.
With this equipment the cadet quickly
becomes proficient IN the four forms OF
navigation which he will use in the air.
In his first six weeks he learns pllotage
and dead reckoning, while the last nine
weeks are devoted to radio and celestial
navigation. The cadet also gets to be an
expert on weather. completing a course
in meteorology which is said TO corre-
snond to a two-year college credit in
this subject.
For every five hours in his classroom
on the ground, the cadet SPENDS one
hour in the air. learning to cope, IN
actual fight, with the problems he Will
eventually have to face in the combat
sones During his course the cadet
travels approximately $4,000 air miles.
He goes to Kansas City, Memphis, Den
yer and New Orleans-to almost every
large city within l,0OOmile radius OF
San Antonio.
During these missions. the cadet
travels in an ATT, a trim, silver. twin
motored airplane. The cabin is equipped
with three desks at which the caoet
works in the air under the guidance OF
his instructor.
In his plane each cadet is equipped
with instruments identical to those he
will shortly be using in the combat zones
At his side is his driftmeter. with which
he can almost instantly determine the
direction and velocity of the wind. Next
TO it is his aperiodic compass. On
panel at the right is his radio compass
while bank of fight instruments
altimeter. airspeed indicator. etc.-is In a
corresponding position at the left.
On the table before him the cadet
keeps his maps and charts. his computer
"a streamlined slide rule-his plotter.
important OF all his sextant.
Toward the end of his training the
cadet comes to consider his seXtant AL
most as third hand. He is almost never
without it. and occupies most OF his spare
! time taking practice shots on the sun
and the stars. When he has completed
his course, by observing two celestial
l,;1 mi u.ifh refer.
ence to maps or to the earth below him.
the cadet can determine his position
from a rapidly travelling airplane within
few miles.
It is this ability to locate himself in
the air with almost uncanny accuracy
which makes navigation so fascinating
to the cadet. He can imagine no greater
thrill than to bring his airplane directly
into its destination with the stars as
his only guide And more than this. the
cadet soon learns to predict his eta
his estimated time Of arrival at destina-
| tion-within a few minutes, from any
point along the course.
During the training flights. 1t is the
cadet, not the pilot. who directs the
course Oh Ine dlI pIdiit Edtii StuhViV
takes charge of the plane during one leg
OF the mission. indicating TO the pilot by
| note or through the planes intercom-
munication system, exactly what course
| he is to fly.
| The great responsibilities which he
must assume make the cadet ever watch
| full to avoid the cardinal sin of the navi-
1 ~. 1t frr,N
equal to five Such an error. over a long
flight. might place the plane hundreds
of miles to the right or left of its desti-
nation.
The pilots who fly the cadets on their
missions are among the most experienced
in the Army Air Forces. Many Of them
have thousands of hours to their credit,
and. working with them, the cadet soon
begins to feel the spirit of cooperation
which exists among members of the air
crew. He learns that neither the pilot.
the navigator, or the bombardier can
operate by himself, that all of them
must function as a team for the sue
cessful operation Of the bomber. The
mission will fail If the pilot does not
adhere scrupulously to the course that
the navigator gives him: and, conversely.
the mission also will fail unless the navi-
gators directions are implicitly accurate.
In the combat zones over which he is
to fly, advance weather reports are usu-
ally extremely scanty. The navigator
therefore must be equipped to forecast
the weather in actual fight, and to