Training Plan
Months of hard work were in store for the many men who
enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to serve
in the Allied
cause. In order to ensure each member was placed
in the position best suited to their capabilities and then,
properly trained as such, the British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan (BCATP) required that recruits pass through multiple
levels of testing and schooling before they were posted.
The first step in joining the RCAF was contacting the local
recruitment office. After signing up, a recruit was asked
to report to a
Manning Depot. At
a Manning Depot, trainees were given a series of medical
tests and issued uniforms. They practiced marching drills
and performed guard duty until there was room for them at
Initial
Training School (ITS).
The only Initial Training School (ITS) to open in Alberta
was located in Edmonton. Designed to be difficult, ITS was
used as an introduction to air training, and recruits that
were not capable of serving to RCAF standards were quickly
eliminated. Trainees were immersed in a five week basic
training class that covered air force law, navigation, meteorology,
aircraft recognition, the theory of flight, mechanics and,
of course, discipline. Nine out of 10 men wanted to be trained
as pilots and often a "flight" in the Link
Trainer was a definitive moment in that
decision.
Aircrew trainees graduated from ITS to a specialized school
that matched their capabilities. Future pilots were sent
to Elementary
Flying Training School (EFTS). Those training
to be air bombers, air gunners, navigators or wireless operators
were sent to the appropriate school.
At Elementary Flying Training School, men attempting to
gain a pilot commission began to fly single engine aircraft
such as Tiger Moths
or Fleet Finches. A
recruit was allowed approximately 10 hours of flying time
with an instructor. If, at this time, a trainee had not
received permission to fly "solo", he was "washed out",
which meant he could be trained in another capacity, but he
could not become a pilot. Similarly, if a trainee could not
complete the solo flight with proficiency, he was barred
from continuing with pilot training.
Men who met all of the requirements graduated from EFTS and moved on to
Service Flying Training School
(SFTS). There, more advanced training was completed
and trainees were taught to fly more complicated and faster
aircraft. Men chosen to train as fighter pilots were trained
on single engine North
American Harvards, while pilots training for bomber
or transport operations trained on dual engine aircraft
such as Cessna Cranes,
Airspeed Oxfords
or Avro Ansons. This
training took approximately 10-20 weeks and pilots were
taught aerial gunnery, instrument as well as night flying
and bombing runs. Once graduated,
they were posted to an Operational
Training Unit (OTU)
and then to a fighter, bomber or reconnaissance squadron,
or to Flying
Instructors School (FIS) to learn to teach other
pilots.
At the beginning of World War II, those destined to be
air observers graduated from ITS to
Air Observer School (AOS)
for a 12 week course on aerial photography, navigation
and reconnaissance. After AOS, trainees would move onto
Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) for 10 weeks and
then to Air Navigation School (ANS) for another four weeks.
In June 1942, it was decided that these duties were too
much for one person and the position of air observer was
broken up into two positions: navigator and air bomber.
Navigators
could specialize in bombing or as wireless operators. Those
training for the former were at
Bombing and Gunnery
School for eight weeks and then Air Observer
School for 12 weeks. These men were qualified as both
bomb aimers and navigators. Navigators who trained to specialize
in wireless operations spent a great deal of time receiving
training—28 weeks at
Wireless School followed
by 22 weeks at Air Observer School.
Men designated to be wireless operators attended Wireless
School for a total of 28 weeks, becoming adept at
radio work. They were also trained in air gunnery at B&GS
for six weeks.
Recruits going into air bombing were trained not only to
drop bombs accurately, but to assist navigators as well.
They spent eight to 12 weeks at B&GS and six weeks at an
AOS. Air gunners underwent a 12 week program at B&GS
that included ground training and air firing practice.
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