page_title: Issoudun Aerodrome
section_title: 3d Air Instructional Center
hierarchical_section_title: Issoudun Aerodrome / History / 3d Air Instructional Center
caption_attribution_description: English: Morane rouleur Issoudun Field 1 1918
context_page_description: Issoudun Aerodrome was a complex of military airfields in the vicinity of Issoudun, Centre, France. They were used during World War I as part of the Third Air Instructional Center, American Expeditionary Forces for training United States airmen prior to being sent into combat on the Western Front.
  It was at that time the largest air base in the world. Today the entire complex consists of agricultural fields, the military facility totally obscured with no trace of its wartime history.
context_section_description: The 3d AIC at Issodun was initially to be merely a “refresher course” for American pursuit pilots arriving in France, prior to being sent to the front. The intent was for the American pilots, having already received advance training in the United States, to become acquainted with the current tactics and aircraft being used at the front.
  The advanced aviation schools in the U.S. were slow to develop and lacked both aircraft of the type being used at the front and pilots with combat experience to act as instructors. This lack of advance training in the U.S. dictated the development of a complete course in advanced flying and aerial tactics at Issodun.
  Initially, the school was initially staffed primarily by French instructors, used French airplanes, and consequently, followed the French Bleriot system of instruction. At the time, America did not have the time, resources or pilots to establish its own program in France and therefore relied totally on the French to prepare American pilots for combat duty. 
  American pilots with combat experience and flying time in the type of aircraft being flown at the front were a rare commodity. Many of them were flying with French units, or the Lafayette Escadrille, and chose to remain with those units rather than join the A.E.F. Gradually, American pilots, either graduates from Issodun or from the American front-line 
  units began to replace their French counterparts. Even with this gradual transition though, the training program at Issodun remained fundamentally the Bleriot system. The various fields at Issodun (initially nine, later expanded to 15) each provided a different phase of instruction, allowing the student to progress in successive stages of training until 
  adequately prepared to participate at the front.
  The student's progression through these fields was typically as follows:
  Main Aerodrome
  Field 1, 46°59′50″N 001°51′58″E Rouleur Field; Primary instruction, high speed taxiing
  Field 2, 47°00′26″N 001°52′27″E Main Field, Dual-control instruction, first solo flight
  Field 3, 47°00′47″N 001°53′02″E Solo Flying, Cross Country, basic aerobatics
  The main aerodrome were also used for new aircraft delivered to the base and the major hangar repair field, for testing repaired or rebuilt aircraft
  Field 4, 47°00′15″N 001°54′27″E Used for spiral turns
  Field 5, 47°00′27″N 001°56′11″E Used for taxiing, taking off, and landing and wing slips
  Field 6, 46°59′12″N 001°55′20″E Aerobatic Field; Used for advanced acrobatics
  Fields #4, #5, #6 were used for basic flight training
  Field 7, 46°56′49″N 001°53′33″E Valentine Field, Used for training in formation flying
  Field 8, 46°57′45″N 001°50′22″E Used for aerial combat training
  Field 9, 47°01′50″N 001°49′35″E Introduction to the Nieuport 18M (Graduates either proceeded to Field 10 for 2-seater training or to Field 4 for pursuit training)
  Field 10, 46°58′10″N 001°54′16″E Used for observation pilot training (DH 4)
  Field 11, 46°56′08″N 001°50′39″E Under Construction 1 October 1918, not used
  Field 12, 47°00′51″N 001°48′35″E Under Construction 1 October 1918, not used
  Field 13, 47°01′21″N 001°53′03″E Under Construction 1 October 1918, not used (planned for aerial gunnery)
  Field 14, 46°57′10″N 001°46′45″E Used for machine gun training in aerial gunnery
  Field 15, 47°02′39″N 001°58′31″E Under Construction 1 October 1918, not used
  Operating the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center required a large number of organizations. Serving at Issoudun were the following U.S. Aero Squadrons: 10th, 21st, 26th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 35th, 37th, 43rd, 101st, 149th, 158th, 173rd, 257, 369th, 372nd, 374th, 640th, 641st, 642nd, 644th, 801st, 802nd, and 1104th.
  When the first students of the school at Issodun reported for duty to the front they were among the most extensively trained pilots of the day. The average American pilot received about 60 hours of training at Issodun and by the time he had completed aerial gunnery school, he averaged over 100 hours of training, “…nearly triple the number of hours of flying time with which pilots of the Royal Air Force had been reporting to 
caption: Morane rouleur high-speed taxiing trainer on Field 1
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