page_title: Coffeyville Army Air Field
section_title: Basic Flying School
hierarchical_section_title: Coffeyville Army Air Field / History / Basic Flying School
caption_attribution_description: English: Coffeyville AAF Parachute Shop Flight Line Tower 1945
context_page_description: Coffeyville Army Airfield was a World War II training base of the United States Army Air Forces Central Flying Training Command. It was later used by Third Air Force. Today, it is the city-owned Coffeyville Municipal Airport, Kansas.
context_section_description: The mission originally assigned to Coffeyville was the basic, or second-stage, training of aviation cadets. Hence the designation, Army Air Forces Basic Flying School, when it was activated on 17 June 1942. 
  As of 1 January 1943 it was re-designated the Coffeyville Army Air Field, although the mission was unchanged. From 6 August 1943 until 31 May 1944 the flying training unit at the field was known as Army Air Forces Pilot School (Basic).   The training of cadets at Coffeyville actually began on 14 November 1942 with Class 43-C with 137 members from primary flying schools at Hatbox Field, Muskogee, Oklahoma.  116 graduated at the end of the course on 13 January 1943. Meanwhile, the second class, 43-D, with 156 cadets had begun training on December 1942. It completed the course, with 129 individuals graduating on 15 February 1943.
  This was about six months from the start of construction, and as was typical with most of the training bases, training began while the field was being completed. Training started on November 14. While in basic flying school the student pilot learned to fly a more advanced aircraft than he soloed in primary flight training. At the time, Basic was a 10-week course consisting of 70 hours flying, 94 hours in ground school, and 47 hours in military training. At the end of the basic training, the student moved on to advanced flight training at another base
  The trainer used at Coffeyville AAF was the Consolidated-Vultee BT-13 Valiant.  Coffeyville received its first BT-13s on November 8, just eight days before the start of flight training. Since construction of the maintenance hangars was still in progress, maintenance was done outside on the parking ramp. To make matters more interesting, the sub-depot supply warehouses weren't finished, so parts were kept, and the sub depot operated in the City of Coffeyville at the Ford dealership. At first, maintenance personnel had to make their own desks, tables, and work benches. Important maintenance equipment and aircraft parts were not available, so occasionally aircraft were cannibalized to keep the remainder flying. Maintenance went on day and night. Like flight training, maintenance procedures and organization were consistently reviewed and improved. Eventually, a base mechanics school was established. This along with the other improvements, led to about 96 percent of all aircraft being available for training by June 1943.
  Early, only broad course objectives, requirements, and directives were received from higher headquarters. As time went by, these directives became more specific. As a result, the flight training program at Coffeyville continually changed. Additionally, training was hindered by lack of equipment, facilities, and trained personnel. Instrument training provides a good example of the continual evolution of training at Coffeyville At first, all instructors gave their students the appropriate instrument training. Later, this phase of training was delegated to a few instructors who specialized in this phase of the cadets training. During the winter of 1943 and 1944, all instructors took additional training and became qualified to teach instrument flying. So, the centralized training for instruments was stopped. Many felt this was a positive move, because the student could stay with the same instructor throughout his training at Coffeyville Later as directives became more specific, some instructors would complain about the lack of flexibility. Students were now required to spend a specific amount of time on specified maneuvers. To help with instrument training fifteen Link Trainers were put into operation in mid-December 1942 with Class 43-C. The course of instruction was 15 hours. One problem with the Link instructors was, they were trained at twelve different fields and so taught the course twelve different ways. Additionally, supplies were hard to get, and the training buildings were not suited for the task. A new building was built specifically for Link Training. By March 1944, there were thirty-four link trainers.
  For a time, there were si
caption: Parachute shop (front), flight line and parking ramp
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