University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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Corps 31163 I: are rrainedurure members , of I he Photo by gg KAY, fellow, take 'er up, circle, and put 'er down. ' The first solo flight. The instructor ambles away from the small red cabin plane leaving behind him an only mildly ex- cited CPT primary student. His fingers are nimble and sure as they touch the controls. His heart quick- ens only a little as he taxies up the field toward the head of the runway. While waiting for the go ahead signal from the control tower, he has a chance to get cold feet. He doesn't, though, because, after all, flying is merely a matter of knowing how. This is solo, he thinks. This is where I can prove l'm a good flyer. In the air, after a perfect take-off, he feels great. He circles the field, and gradually there comes to him a glow of satisfaction. He is flying! Alone! There is no finer feeling. . When he banks into the wind and angles down toward the fast-approaching field, dread for the first time clutches at his heart. Now comes the real test! But our flight student, with only eight or ten hours of supervised flying behind him, knows deep within himself that he can land his plane. He has no choice. He must land it. He does-and Civilian Pilot Training has created another war time flyer. As he walks toward the lunchroom to buy uthe boys a coke, he begins to get the jitters. A solo flight! Great Scott! What if--. He knows, however, that as soon as he gets back in the air, he will be all right again. ! 'f JAYHAW 3 All over the nation, more and more men are going through experiences like the one above. World War ll is being fought in the air, and the Army and Navy have made desperate calls for pilots. CPT has been designated to supply some of those pilots. The University of Kansas has cooperated with this Civil Aeronautics Association program since 1939, when the rumble of war was indistinct and far away. Each succeeding year has brought added significance to all types of pilot training. In 1942, CPT has been given a full-time job of Htting men into the war planes of America. This intensification brought three important re- adjustments in the CPT program: 1. Last year, a University student could learn to fly and go to college at the same time. This year he can do only one. If he takes CPT, he must attend ground school classes 30 hours a week, in addition to the time Csix to twelve hours a weekj that he spends in the air. He, too, has a full-time job. 2. Every man who takes the CPT course is obli- gated to affiliate himself with one of the service air forces, or become a CPT instructor in his own right. No licenses are granted. Last year he was given a private or commercial pilot's license and placed in a reserve group, he volunteered only if needed. The war, of course, had not started then. ' 3. CPT is now open only to men who have failed to pass requirements for the Army Air Force reserve or Navy's V-5 reserve program. Any student who has not taken one of these examinations, or who has passed the test and been enlisted in one of the two reserves, is not eligible for CPT training. The theory behind this recently instituted limitation is that the CPT course can correct deficiencies in those who failed the mental test, or make instructors of those who could not meet the physical requirements of Army or Navy cadet training. .

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R OCTO BER 1942 29 E ERIE UFFICER creating and maintaining a pool of trained reserve officers. Today the foresight of this plan is paying dividends. , The training which the men receive is thorough and designed with but one end in view-to make good officers. In the first two years a man is in the basic course. Two sections comprise the unit here at K.U. You may enroll in the infantry or the coast artillery. The course of study for the basic years is very similar in both sections. The catch to the basic course is that a man is not exempt from the draft, but before the prospect of an 18-19-year-old draft loomed, there was little doubt that a man could finish his basic course before being called. After finishing his basic course of study a man, if eligible, is permitted to enlist in the U. S. Army Reserve on a deferred status for two years. In this two years time, he will take work in the Advance Course of the ROTC. Where in the past, admission to the Advance Course was taken for granted, today a cadet ,must excell in grades and ability or he is left outside, looking in. It is here that the future officer begins to specialize. In the Coast Artillery he learns the intricate mysteries of the range finder, sighting devices, the functions and characteristics of large guns and numerous other subjects. The infantry man mas- ters tactics, the mechanism of his weapons, field forti- fications and the operation of motor vehicles. In the Advanced Course a man learns to command troops and to arrive at decisions through an analytical pro- cess of thought. Every effort is made to impress upon the men the necessity for independent decisions and sound judgment. When the lives of his men hang on his decision, an officer must not make a mistake! This year as never before, physical training has as- sumed a position of importance in the military cur- riculum. Drill is held twice a week on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. In the past the cadet strug- gled with an eight-pound rifle and generally suc- Pbotos by Kimball ceeded in lacerating the next man in line before he had mastered the manual of arms.. Last spring the growing army needed the rifles here for training draftees - and as a consequence the ROTC men are forced to do without their usual training in the manual of arms. Now calisthentics or foot drill oc- cupies the cadet's time between 4: 30 and 5 : 30 Mon- day and Wednesday afternoons. Two Kansas Toughernersn Cobstacle courses to the laymanb now grace the north and south slopes of Mt. Oread. After leaping a three foot hurdle, jumping a six foot wide ditch, essaying three other hurdles, clambering up a seven-foot wall and running a narrow catwalk, all uphill, the bruised and weary Jayhawker begins to I C ontinueal on Page 66 Q - The. commissioned officers of the ROTC and the men they are trying to train.

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TOBER 1942 vii G Glaow wo ami 1 The enrollment this fall, ninety-two, is the largest the University CPT has ever known. Only 150 men were handled all last year. Most of the present ninety- two are former University of Kansas students who decided to wait until after the war to finish their formal education. The others come mainly from the Lawrence area. The men are housed, under government contract, by the University. Forty-four in the primary and secondary courses are 'quartered in the Delta Chi fraternity house, and the others live at various places on the campus and in' Lawrence. All expenses of CPT trainees Caverage: 3525003 are paid by the government. The local CPT offers five courses-primary, sec- ondary, cross country, Link trainer Cnew this yearj, and a final course which gives an instructor's rating. All courses cover a period of eight weeks, and re- quire thirty-five flying hours of the student. The first three courses also include 240 hours of ground school during the eight weeks. The primary course includes instruction on turns, series of turns, figure 8's, series of figure 8's, stalls, spins, and forced landings. In the latter, the instruc- tor cuts off the motor without warning and, looking straight ahead, says to the student pilot, Well, where are we going to land? Ground school in the primary and secondary courses is held on the University campus under the direction of E. D. I-Iay, professor of mechanical engineering. In addition to physical education, the trainee studys theory of flight, mathematics, meteor- ology, navigation, and civil air regulations. The secondary course is concerned with more dif- ficult maneuvers such as pylon figure 8's Cfiying in a figure 8 around two designated land points at a pre- scribed radiusj, slow rolls, snap rolls, loops, and by Bob Coleman Immelmann turns Cchanging direction of the plane by a half loop and a half rollj. In the cross country course, CPT students are pre- sented with problem flights, the execution of which involves careful plotting. of definite routes. Included in the 240 hours of ground school, which is con- ducted at the air port, is .intensive work in radio. The Link trainer is an electrically controlled min- iature plane with a full panel of instruments. The control mechanism can simulate any and all flying conditions. The flight student, enclosed in the cock- pit, flies'f the plane by instrument as an automatic plotter tells the instructor when the plane is off its prescribed course. The pilot takes the trainer, under blind flying conditions, through turns, climbs, de- scents, glides, and all other maneuvers which he later repeats in actual flying. The trainer is equipped with a radio, and the pilot is taught to make blind landings through the use of radio beams, or legs. The Link trainer was installed at the local airport early in October. Army Air Force fields use it as an essential part of their training program, but only thirty CPT fields are equipped with it. The instructor's course is open to students who have shown exceptional ability in previous fiight CC0nlim4eci on Page 6 9 Q Photo by Yarnell Shot at act' ' . th ' I :wry is the izigfoff never Ch and ir i anges S endle mUCh ss.