A Citizen Soldier in the Air - a B-24 Liberator pilot's story.

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A Citizen Soldier in the Air.

Primary Training (PT-19)

The Army was naturally screening for military pilots in this program. " At the end they said, "You liked that didn’t you? How about some more?" We said "Sure!" So Charlie signed up to enter Army Flight Training.

He took the oath and was shipped out to Parks Air College in East St. Louis, Illinois on September 27, 1941. This was a civilian school providing Primary Flight Training under contract to the Army. The instructors were civilians, but the planes were Army, Fairchild PT-19 "Cornells" - a single-wing primary trainer.

The Fairchild PT-19 Cornell was the primary trainer Charlie flew in 1941. PT-19’s at Parks Air College, 1941 (Charlie photo). Click for a bigger image

"The PT-19 was a nice little airplane. It was a little under-powered, but it was fully aerobatic, it would do any maneuver you wanted, though you might have to dive a little to build up some airspeed to do a loop or an Immelman. It was fun to fly." Charlie recalls, "I was on solo flight in maybe 8 hours, and I loved to do inside loops, outside loops, all kinds of aerobatics."

Landings were not a big deal, "but one day I was coming in pretty high, so I had to slip the airplane - really turn the side of the plane into the wind. I heard a funny sound, and when I landed, I found that a big section of fabric had been blown off the side of the fuselage!"

Primary lasted about three months, from October through December 1941. "I was in Primary when we heard about Pearl Harbor, and what a blow that was - when they announced it, it got so quiet, you could hear a pin drop - so we knew we were in it - not sure where, but we knew it would be war."

He did well in his training, until he got to the final test flight (what we call a check ride these days). "The test pilot was a real S.O.B. He watched me do the preflight, then told me to take off. Once we got to the test area, he would tell me to do a specific maneuver, but as soon as I would start, he would grab the stick from the back seat and give my knees a hell of a beating. I was a good pilot, but he completely messed me up, and I came back from that flight in tears." When he landed, his instructor, Mr. Small, was waiting. "Cook, what happened up there - you failed that flight test - I know you’re better than that!"

Charlie told him what the examiner had done, and Small said, "Let me talk to him." The next day, he flew a second test flight, and the examiner didn’t touch the controls or say a word other than the maneuver he wanted to see. This time his instructor had good news, "You passed, Cook, with the highest grade he ever gave a student: C!"

It was good enough to go on to basic training.

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