Evening star., 1943-07-21
Army Pertects Output
OF Big Bomber Pilots
On Assembly Line
BY the Associated Press.

os tAie <ASSOSidtSQ FTeSB.
ROSWELL ARMY AIR FIELD,
ROSWELL, N. Mex, July 21.-The
manufacturers have found a way to
turn out Flying Fortresses in guam
tity, and now the Army, employing
much the same assembly line tech
nique, believes 1t has conquered the
problem of training pilots to take
them into combat.
The Air Forces. disclosing for the
first time the new method of fitting
men to fly the great Bit bombers,
took party of eight newspapermen
from Los Angeles on a tour OF its
four-engine transition flying schools
here and at nearby Hobbs IN.
Mex) Army Air Field
There was little on the restricted
list.
Their questions were answered by
Brig. Gen. Martin F. Scanlon, vet
eran of the Australian-New Guinea
combat theater and commander of
the headquarters 38th Flying Train
ing Wing. and his subordinates.
Allowed to Fly Ship.
The newsmen even were permitted
to handle the controls of the great
bombers from the co-pilot's seat
at safe altitude. of course.
The basic difference between the
new and old systems of training
Fortress pilots is in the method of
transition from two-engined trainers
to the 25-ton planes. a transition
much more difficult than might be
imagined.
Under the old system a youth
graduating as commissioned off,
Ger from a two-engine school and
selected to fly the Bit would be sent
directly to a four engine opera
tional unit for his final training as
a combat pilot. At the operational
unit Bit crew would be formed,
of pilot. co-pilot, bombardier.
navigator, engineers, radio operators
and gunners.
That's when the pilots instruc-
ton in BIZ plotting would start,
and If he is eliminated sometimes
they are) team would be wrecked,
and the job of welding a co-ordi-
mated crew would have to be started
all over again.
System Revised.
But under the new method the
pilot must prove he's capable of fly
ing and commanding Flying
Fortress before he ever goes to oper-
ational school, The other crewmen
must likewise prove they know their
duties. So when team is organ
lied it's very likely to stay organ
lied, and go into action a perfectly
blended unit, each man confident
Of himself, his nine mates and the
crew as a whole
That's where the transition schools
come in. The purpose of the Ros-
we'll and Hobbs schools is to effect
this transition of pilots from two
engine trainers to the big four-en-
gine brutes. 1t is concerned only
with first pilots. The co-pilots and
other crew members are trained
elsewhere, and all are fed into the
operational units in a procedure not
unlike the flow of parts off an as
sembly line. ~-...
These men are not cadets. They
are already commissioned officers.
it was emphasized by Col John C.
Horton. commandant of the Roswell
Field, and they are treated as such.
Students Are Officers.
But their work has just started
when they come here" said Col.
Horton, 81 years old, graduate of
West Point In 1929. -....
The course includes more than
100 hours actual flying and even
more hours ground instruction, said
1t. Col. Lawrence Coddington, "a,
veteran of the battle of Midway and
director of the four-engine transit
tion school.
The final phase is a 10-hour long
range mission, so arranged that it
comprises five hours day flying and
five of night. 1t always includes
some bad weather, COL Coddington
explained.
ut may seem little peculiar to
look deliberately for bad weather" +"
the colonel smiled, but it's a part
of the program of fitting the boys
for conditions they're bound to meet
eventually"
An instructor. of course, accom-
Nanies the students.