page_title: Merced Army Airfield auxiliary fields
hierarchical_section_title: Merced Army Airfield auxiliary fields
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Navy Parachute Rigger 3rd Class Lorna Peterson, USNR(W), climbs out of the after cockpit of a Stearman N2S training plane, following an orientation flight at Naval Air Station Ottumwa, Iowa (USA), circa 1944-45. The pilot was Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Keith W. Sharer, USNR, a flight instructor at the station.
context_page_description: Merced Army Air Field auxiliary fields were built to support pilot training at the Merced Army Air Field. In 1940 the US Army wanted to built near Merced, California a 30,000 per year basic pilot training base. The former city of Cuba, Merced County, California near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway rail line was chosen at 37°22′50″N 120°34′05″W at an elevation of 181 feet for the main base, in Atwater, California. United States Army Air Corps leased the land from the City of Merced on 16 June 1941. Building the airbase school started on 8 July 1941 and opened on 20 September 1941 as a sub base of Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command at Moffett Field. First called Air Corps Basic Flying School, Merced. The US Army moved part of the: 98th Bombardment Group, 539th School Squadrons, 540th School Squadrons, 541st School Squadrons, the 90th Air Base Squadron, and the 340th Material Squadron at Moffett Field to the new base in November 1941. The Air Corps Basic Flying School was renamed the Merced Army Flying School on 7 April 1942. To support the training auxiliary fields near the Merced Army Flying School were to be built for the flight training program.
context_section_description: Merced Army Air Field auxiliary fields were built to support pilot training at the Merced Army Air Field. In 1940 the US Army wanted to built near Merced, California a 30,000 per year basic pilot training base. The former city of Cuba, Merced County, California near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway rail line was chosen at 37°22′50″N 120°34′05″W at an elevation of 181 feet for the main base, in Atwater, California. United States Army Air Corps leased the land from the City of Merced on 16 June 1941. Building the airbase school started on 8 July 1941 and opened on 20 September 1941 as a sub base of Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command at Moffett Field. First called Air Corps Basic Flying School, Merced. The US Army moved part of the: 98th Bombardment Group, 539th School Squadrons, 540th School Squadrons, 541st School Squadrons, the 90th Air Base Squadron, and the 340th Material Squadron at Moffett Field to the new base in November 1941. The Air Corps Basic Flying School was renamed the Merced Army Flying School on 7 April 1942. To support the training auxiliary fields near the Merced Army Flying School were to be built for the flight training program. Merced Army Flying School was renamed the Merced Army Air Field on May 1943 and became part of the Western Flying Training Command.
caption: A WAVE in a Boeing-Stearman Model 75
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