The Story Of One Of The 91st SRS COs,
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| Sikeston’s Primary Flying School was a civilian operated school with only one Army Air Corps officer pilot. He was there to give all check rides. We entered as Flying Cadets but the term was changed to Aviation Cadets the first week we were there. Those civilian cooks fed us very well. My instructor was a seasoned civilian former airline pilot who taught us well. I don’t remember the wash out rate, but it was high. The field was located in southeast Missouri not far from the Mississippi River. We flew the open cockpit Stearman PT-17s.; Great trainers! I got thru with few problems and those of us that survived, went on to basic flight training. Brady, TX was also a civilian training schools. There, we flew Consolidated-Vultee PT13s. The field was one big square of pure white, hard caliche soil. I have two lasting memories of Brady. First, the lower classmen threw a party for the upper classmen just before the upper class graduated. I was on the committee to obtain the necessary libations for the affair only to find out that the Sheriff controlled all the liquor in the dry county. So we had to buy the liquor thru him. It was a good party. The second memory has been more lasting. The white caliche field affected my color vision and that of many of my classmates. At the time it was not apparent, but when we went on to Advanced Flying School at Brooks Field, in San Antonio, TX, many of us had real problems with the Ishihari book that was the primary color vision test in use when we took our final physicals before commissioning. I could see two numbers on almost every page. One, the correct number; the other, visible to those with defective color vision. We moved into AT-6s and BC-1s with emphasis on formation, cross country and instrument flying. The AT-6 and the BC-1 were alike except the AT-6 had a metal covered fuselage while the BC-1 fuselage was fabric covered. With few wash outs, about 117 of us received our wings and commissions as 2nd Lieutenants on January 9th, 1942. On December 7th 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, we were still able to wear civilian clothes when off duty. I remember being in the middle of a movie that Sunday afternoon in downtown San Antonio when the screen went blank. the announcement of the bombing made and words that all military personnel were to return to base. No more civies until the end of the war. Brooks Field was also the training field for Aerial Observers. Most of them were Army Captains or 1st Lieutenants in the Field Artillery. They were being trained (using in my estimation,WWI thinking) to spot targets from the air for artillery bombardment. Over, Short, Fire for Effect! They were flown in the obsolete O-52 by cadets. The O-52 was a Curtis Wright high wing monoplane with only a 750 HP engine. The upper classmen were checked out in the O-52 and flew the observers in addition to their AT-6/BC-1 flying. The O-52 was absolutely the worst airplane I ever had to fly. It had a hydraulic system, manually operated via a 3-way valve and hand pump. When I was an upperclassman, my instructor gave me one flight in the O-52 with an observer aboard. After take off, I was instructed to fly straight ahead while pumping up the landing gear (it took about 100 strokes on the hand pump). Still flying straight ahead, turn the valve and pump up the flaps, (about 30 more strokes). Then, pump up the eyebrow slots (about 10 more strokes). By then, we were halfway to Houston. You had no side visibility with the high wing, so you made almost vertical turns in order to see while changing course. The plane was a real speed demon. It took off at 90mph, cruised at 90 mph and landed at 90mph. Whenever you cut the throttle, it was landing. The plane was a pot bellied one with the landing gear retracting into the body of the plane. Ground looping was its specialty. After my first landing, a good one without ground looping, my instructor had me stop in the middle of the field where he promptly hopped to the ground and told me I was now checked out and on my own. So, away I went. My color vision problem was real. I was able to pass the substitute yarn test successfully, but up until the day of graduation, I was assured I would get my wings, but that my color vision deficiency might preclude or delay my commissioning. As it turned out, I received my wings in the graduation ceremony on January 9th, but did not receive my commission until later in the day. My commissioning letter had one short sentence added to the body of the letter: “Defective color vision is waived.” What a load off my mind! |
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