During the late 30's and thru out the forties, the words Aviation Cadet meant something to one person and meant something else to others. Many of our brave young men and yes, some women, (i.e) WASP Pilots, more on them later), were trained at many flight schools all over the U.S. Some of the flight training was conducted by a contractor, a local flight school, but many pilots were trained in ROTC programs at the various collages and universities around the U.S. Most of the contract schools had different types of equipment that the aviation cadets were trained on, usually, because of cost, a Piper J-3 "Cub", a 65HP beast of an engine, would would deliever all of about 65 to 70 MPH IAS at cruise. The J-3 would land at about 35 to 40 MPH, depending on where the PIC sat. Most students trained in the back seat of this aircraft, as that is where they were required to fly solo. You could fly the J-3 safely from the front seat, it just increased the stalling speed about 4 or 5 MPH, hence the 35 to 40 MPH figure I used.
As a young flight instructor, fresh out of the Air Force, I went to work for a flight school in Atlanta, Ga, and we had 12 of these J-3's, which we used for basic flight training. We had only a radio receiver in the aircraft and operating from a FAA controlled airfield, we had a system worked out so that went you cranked up and "wiggled" your ailerons, the tower knew you were ready to taxi to the active runway. After receiving your instructions by radio, you Wiggled" your ailerons again and taxied to the active runway. After engine runup and ready to go, again you wiggled your ailerons and the tower would clear you for takeoff. Sometimes the radio didn't work correctly, so you taxied out of position, did a 360 turn on the ground and the tower would know your radio didn't work, so after turning to face the tower, they would give you a "shot" with what was called a "biscuit" gun, a colored light signal. Green of course was cleared to taxi and same procedure when ready to takeoff. We had a specified traffic pattern, a standard FAA airport takeoff and landing procedures which you had to follow to the letter so the tower people would know your intentions. You would get a green light upon entering the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, but only for that leg, after turning base leg, you would get another green and on final approach, another green light. Anytime you received a Red light, say on final approach, you would execute a "go-around", turning 45 degrees to the right of the runway and climb back up to traffic pattern altitude, usually 800 feet above ground.
During war years, after completing training in the basic flight school, the aviation cadet would then be sent to any number of flight schools around the U.S. and under military contract would fly the more advanced PT-17. If you could master the PT-17 in all phases of flight, you could fly just about anything.
Thousands of pilots were trained directly by the Army Air Force at Randolph AFB at San Antonio, TX. Most pilot trainees would receive about 20 hours of dual instruction with an instructor and compile about 30 hours of solo time. Then they would be moved to the more advanced trainer, The AT-6 "Texan", and at this stage, Navy pilot trainees would fly the same aircraft, but it was called an SNJ. Candian pilots were also being trained in this aircraft and it was called a "Harvard".
While is not the complete story on how these young men were trained, it does give you some idea of the progression of different type aircraft. When these young men completed their training in these aircraft, depending on their "Check" ride reviews, they would then be sent to multi engine training for a bomber or cargo aircraft pilot, or go on to fighter aircraft training!
