The first mission of "Big Week"--six days of strikes by Eighth Air Force (based in England) and Fifteenth Air Force (based in Italy) against German aircraft plants--is flown. In 1922, the school was expanded when the photography school at Langley Field, Virginia, and the communications school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, both joined the mechanics course at Chanute, congregating all technical training in the Air Service at that location. When the Lend-Lease Act became law on 11 March 1941, the British were isolated, facing a hostile continent. Ninth Air Force begins Operation Crossbow raids, against German bases where secret weapons are being developed. It is still possible to find remnants of these wartime airfields. President Roosevelt signs the National Defense Act of 1940, which authorizes a $300 million budget and 6,000 airplanes for the Army Air Corps and increases AAC personnel to 3,203 officers and 45,000 enlisted troops. History Of Keesler Air Force Base The return trip to Langley Field, Va., is the longest nonstop flight in Air Corps history. [2], Beginning in 1939, the Army contracted with nine civilian flying schools to provide primary flying training, while Randolph handled basic training, now completely separate from primary. Air Corps or Air Forces? - AAFHA Santa Ana Army Air Base - Costa Mesa Historical Society Jan. 27, 1943. The program was divided in to stages including primary, advanced and specific classification such as pursuit, twin engine and multi-engine. Because of their small stature some students could not reach all the controls. - Camera bags Lt. James H. Doolittle makes the first blind, all-instrument flight. Fifteenth Air Force crews close the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria. Entrance requirements remained essentially the same as those for the WAFS, except the age requirement was dropped from 21 to 18, and the flight experience was set at only 200 hours. June 20, 1941. At its peak in 1943, more than 100,000 soldiers and civil service workers were stationed there. This is the first known use of automatic homing missiles during World War II. In July 1939 the full course of flying instruction was shortened in length from a year to nine monthsthree for each phase. Anderson. [1], Aware of the RAF's urgent need for additional training facilities, the United States offered the British over 500 aircraft for use in the training of British pilots in the United States. Almost 14,000 P-40s will be built before production ends in 1944. Allied units begin operations from bases in France. [1], Eventually enough graduates were available to comprise four fighter squadrons: the 100th, 301st, and 302d, all of which had also begun at Tuskegee before completing their training in Michigan. Company test pilot Edward Elliott makes the first flight of the Curtiss XP-40 at Buffalo, N.Y.
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