Part I, Training Days

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Jack Cook relates his story of flying the B-24 during World War II. This chapter is extracted from a letter written by Jack Cook to his granddaughter, Jennifer Partain on June 12, 1995.

Part I, Training Days

You asked me to share some of my W.W.II experiences with you. You must remember that any personal chronicle will reflect the bias and prejudice of the writer, so beware of accepting everything as fact.

I hadn't finished high school when I took the entrance examination for the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program. About three months later, in March 1943, I was called to duty. My first duty station was Hill Field, Ogden, Utah, and it was primarily an induction station. We were given thorough physical exams, and numerous shots for various diseases. Since I am one of those persons who nearly faint whenever I get a shot, I remember all of them. We were issued uniforms including neckties, socks, underwear, and even a safety razor with blades.

I caught the flu after about two days and didn't know I was supposed to go to an infirmary for "sick call", and simply remained in my bunk. No one seemed to miss me, and after a day was able to resume my processing. To this day I don't know what I missed, but it obviously wasn't too important.

After a couple of weeks at Hill Field, we were sent, by train, to Santa Ana California for Pre Flight training. This consisted of additional tests and screening, and we were classified as pilots, navigators, or bombardiers. We had two or three days of written tests and another couple of days of physical tests including hand eye coordination and vertigo tests. After all the tests we were notified of the results and were assigned to various training categories. If a person did not agree with his assignment, he had the option on appealing for a change of category, i.e., change from bombardier to pilot, but very few did. I was assigned to pilot training and was definitely satisfied.

Pre flight lasted about two months and we learned how to march in formation, had lots of physical training, long marches, (some as long as 25 miles), learned how to scrub a barracks floor with hand held brushes, clean a latrine, serve on KP duty, stand inspection on a daily basis, and most of all, learn how to live with one another in barracks conditions. I can assure you, the entire process was a learning experience. We also started classroom training in the various areas of our assignments.

After Pre flight we were sent to CTD, (College Training Detachment). My group was assigned to Morningside College at Sioux City, Iowa. At that time, Morningside College was being used as a school for nurses training as well as CTD for aviation cadets. As you could imagine, there was enormous temptation for fraternization, but we were under strict orders that should an incident occur, the Cadet would be "washed out" and eliminated from the program. During the CTD program I was chosen as a Flight Leader, which meant I was in charge of marching a formation of cadets from our barracks to the classroom, mess hall, or any other location on campus. We learned many marching songs during this time, some rather ribald and spicy, and we always sang them the loudest when marching near the nurses quarters. We never knew whether they liked the songs, or not, but we were never told to stop singing.

When we became upper classmen at Morningside, I was selected as cadet Deputy Wing Commander, due to my performance as Flight Leader. It was quite an honor for a green kid who was still learning many of the rules of life.

While at Morningside, we were given several hours of flight training in Piper Cubs. The Cub is probably the easiest airplane in the world to fly, and after my "lessons", the instructor told me I should consider changing to another specialty because he didn't think I would ever learn to fly. Needless to say, I was extremely disheartened.

After Morningside, we went by train to Santa Maria, California to start our Primary flight training. Our training planes were PT-13s, open cockpit, tandem seating, with the instructor in back. They were made by the Stearman Company. The instructor had a rubber tube known as a "gosport", which he could use to talk to the student. One end was attached to the ear flap on the student's leather helmet, and the other end was a small funnel where the instructor yelled. The student could not talk to the instructor, he could only shake his head "yes" or "no." You can well imagine the loss of communication with the noise of the engine and the rush of the wind through the cockpit. Not exactly ideal learning conditions.

My instructor was Clyde Reed, a civilian, who was probably around 40 years old at that time. Fortunately for me, he had the right combination of teaching ability, and patience, to nurture what little talent I possessed into conquering the PT-13. I soloed in the allotted time and gained a huge amount of confidence in doing so. I will never forget that first solo flight. Few things will focus your attention more completely.

After solo we went on to learn more advanced maneuvers such as; stalls, spins, loops, snap rolls, slow rolls, steep turns, and flying a pattern to compensate for wind drift, and many others. Altogether we had about 50 hours of flight training during Primary. Our classroom training was continuing during this time, and we were being saturated with information. Physical training, marching, and barracks inspections were still part of our daily routine.

Our next phase was Basic Training and that was at Lemoore Army Air Base at Lemoore, California. During this phase of training we were to learn how to "fly blind", that is to fly using our flight instruments without reference to any outside visibility.

We were also starting to learn how to use the existing radio navigation systems to find our way when flying in clouds. By today's standards those systems were primitive and crude, but they were state of the art at that time. We had a radio compass that had a dial on the instrument panel that would point to a transmitting station. There were also radio range stations that had "beams" which were supposed to orient the pilot toward a specific route, or a landing field. Each radio range station had four "beams" generally oriented to north, south, east, and west. It would take too long to explain how those systems worked, but suffice it to say, it was a challenge to master them.

We also learned how to take off "blind" and to fly intricate patterns that required changes in heading, altitude and airspeed. As we were nearing the close of our instrument training, another cadet and I were in the ready room awaiting our turn to fly. The head instructor, a captain, asked if any cadet felt he was ready for a check ride. Let me tell one thing we all learned in our military life; never volunteer. So what did I do? I volunteered for a check ride. My buddy groaned in disbelief. As the Captain and I were walking from the ready room, he asked how I was on instrument take offs, and I replied, "I am good at them." Out of the corner of my eye I saw my buddy fall back in his seat in utter astonishment. I also asked the Captain how many times I had to fly the "B" pattern in order to merit a "B" card, and he said, "Just once."

We got in the airplane. The back seat, where students sat, had the windows painted on the inside so there was no way to see out. We had only the instrument panel as a reference. The Captain taxied to the runway and aligned the plane for takeoff. He reminded me to set my directional gyro to "0". This was accomplished by pushing in the caging knob and turning the dial to "0". Also when the knob was pushed in, the dial was locked. The Captain then instructed me to proceed on the takeoff. After lift off, the Captain told me to make a 90 degree turn to the right. As I started the turn, I noticed the gyro was not moving. I had taken off with it locked on "0". I uncaged the gyro and broke out in a full body sweat, all at the same time, but I managed to remain focused on flying the airplane. We flew to altitude and flew most of the "B" pattern. The instructor suddenly said, "OK, that's it, we're going back to base." I had no idea whether I passed or flunked.

When I got back to the ready room, and told my buddy about taking off with the gyro caged, he was completely flabbergasted. All he could say was, "Oh my God," over and over. At the end of our training course I was awarded a "B" card, which I still have.

The second phase of Basic Training was transitioning into twin engined aircraft. We flew the AT-11, otherwise known as the "Bamboo Bomber". It was manufactured by Cessna Aircraft Company, and was made primarily of wood and fabric. It was slow and clumsy but was adequate to teach the basics of twin engine flying.

My final, and Advanced Flight training was at La Junta, Colorado. We trained in the Mitchell B-25 which was an operational combat aircraft. This was a big leap from the small training aircraft we had flown heretofore. We were accustomed to take off speeds, in the smaller aircraft, of around 60 MPH, and a cruise speed of 100 to 110 MPH. The B-25 had a take off speed of 110 MPH, a cruise speed of 200 MPH, and an approach to landing speed of 125 MPH. We had to make some rather large adjustments in a very short time, to our flying habits. We also started training in formation flying and night flying. After several hours of daytime formation flying we were introduced to nighttime formation flying. Since the enemy could see our planes if the usual navigation lights were turned on, we had to learn to fly night formation with only one small blue light on the lead aircraft. I can assure you it was most difficult.

Through each phase of training we had extensive ground school classes in aeronautics, navigation, meteorology, power plants, (engines), hydraulic systems, electrical systems, and other subjects. Plus we always had daily physical training, marching, and barracks inspections. There were never enough hours to get all the things done.

After graduating from the cadet program on May 23, 1944, and receiving my wings and commission, I was granted a ten day delay enroute before reporting to Albuquerque, New Mexico for training in the B-24. Your grandmother, along with my parents, and her mother, attended my graduation at La Junta. After the ceremonies we traveled by train to Kansas City, our home town, and were married on May 24, 1944.

After B-24 transition I was assigned to Tonopah, Nevada for crew training and on completion of that was assigned to the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater. I left the States on December 7, 1944 and returned around November 1, 1945. I flew 47 combat missions and made a small contribution toward winning the war with Japan.

Since most chronicles of wartime experiences are concerning the excitement of battle, I thought you may find this summary of my "survival" of the wartime cadet program of some interest. In every phase of training we lost cadets to accidents and failure to "make the grade", but those of us who survived the regimen, we gained a sense of pride and accomplishment. We were ready for the enemy, and after the war, the challenge of life.