Evening star., 1943-05-28
High-Speed Training
Equips Navy's Flyers
To Tackle Enemy
8-Week Final Course
Gives Young Airmen
Great Skill
BY WILLIAM ]. WHEATLEY,
Star staff CorreSnopden+

NAVAL AIR OPERATIONAL
TRAINING COMMAND, JACK
SONVILLE, Fla, May 28.-Scientiflc
stimulation of aerial combat in an
intensive training course here puts
such super finish on teen-age Navy
flyers that they are able to go INTO
an engagement against the best alr
fighters the enemy has.
Rear Admiral A. 3. Cook, former
chief of the Bureau of AeronautlcS
and now in command OF this station
which receives newly commissioned
naval aviators from pref1ight and
intermediate training courses, says
that here the young alrmen DO
everything that the aviators in the
Fleet do except actual firing. Dur
ing the eight weeks they are here
a course that used to take one year
in the Fleet-they are given three
or four times as much flying as ordl-
narilv is done by Fleet avlators dur
ing any year.
They practically live in the air
from the day they report until they
are sent to the forces all over the
world. These eager. quick thinking
Youngsters are termed "muSclemen'
by some Of their instructors because
Of the stiff physical training that
hardens them.
Trained in Teamwork.
The enlisted air personnel, many
Of whom train with the same pilots
with whom they will 60 into COM
bat later. include the free gunners
who operate a gun in any direction
Of fire as distinguished from a fixed
gun and the nagivators.
Many gunners work with their
pilots during the training period in
all phases of fight. They may be
called on to engage in such as nav
igation. radio torpedo runs. glide
bombing, dive bombing and torpedo
bombing.
Schools such as the one here have
been established TO do on shore what
formerly was done in the fleet Un-
til the establishment of the schools.
naval aviatOrs were sent to the fleet
to get their operational training IN
a slow and tedious task aboard ship.
At the present time the young
avlators are trained in one parucu-
lar tvpe OF plane. but as soon as
sufficient planes are available 1t Is
planned to give them training IN
all types Of planes.
The training command here in
cludes 10 auxiliary fields along the
Atlantic shore of Florida, At each
field special instruction is provided
in only one type of plane.
Novel Training Devices.
Devices used in training the free
eunners are novel. The eunners are
taught to estimate the range by the
amount Of the sight filled by various
types Of enemy planes. Mounted on
rods on a movable platform are
scale models of planes made by high
school students throughout the land
These are in 4 BACKED -Out area be-
hind a screen. The instructor turns
= handle moving the planes, then
flashes on the lights and the gum
rers are required to give the range.
The effectiveness of the training
and the accuracy Of fire Of the gum
ners were realistically demonstrated
in one phase of the training yes
terday in this particular phase.
At some point on a movie screen
an enemy plane is shown with a
hull's-eve indicating where the gun
ner should aim to destroy it. When
he pulls the trigger in the turret
gun a spot of light shows where he
is firing. If he is hitting he gets the
sound of maChine-gun fire, but If he
misses bell rings.
After preliminary training the
eunnerS are taken on the range tC
fire at moving targets. Sleeve targets
bearing markers Of the rising sun
and sWastlkas are attached to little
cars running at 40 miles an houl
over a system Of tracks so operated
from a control tower that they dc
not follow a direct line pattern
Airplano tur1 cts are mounted or
automobile trucks which are driver
Al high speed along a nearby roac
and the gunnerS fire at them. The
fight OF tracer bullets shows OBJ
servers the accuracy of fire.
In addition to daytime dive bomb
Ing, carrier landings and other train
ing courses, the student officers here
work well into the night. They take
off and land at night on both land