31st Flying Training Wing (World War II)
The 31st Flying Training Wing was a training formation of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.
The wing's mission was to train personnel of the U.S. Army Air Forces Training Command. Headquartered at Enid Field, Oklahoma, for most of its operational service, it controlled contract pilot schools primarily in the Central United States. There is no lineal connection to the 31st Fighter Wing.
History
Until 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps provided all flying training with military instructor pilots. Beginning in 1939, it contracted with nine civilian flying schools to provide primary flight training. Primary training consisted of a three-month course of 65 hours of flying instruction. As the United States prepared to enter World War II by expanding its number of flying squadrons, the number of contract primary schools increased.According to the contract, the government supplied students with training aircraft, flying clothes, textbooks, and equipment. The Air Corps also put a detachment at each school to supervise training. The schools furnished instructors, training sites and facilities, aircraft maintenance, quarters, and mess halls. From the Air Corps, schools received a flat fee of $1,170 for each graduate and $18 per flying hour for students eliminated from training. The Primary Pilot Training used Boeing PT-17 or Fairchild PT-19 two-seater single-engine training aircraft. Also, the wing controlled specialized schools for Liaison Pilots using the Stinson L-5 Sentinel, and Women Airforce Service Pilots primary training was conducted exclusively at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas.
Following the fall of France in 1940, the Air Corps upped its pilot production goal to 7,000 per year. To meet that goal, the Air Corps increased the capacity of its schools and added more contract primary schools. The vast majority of contract primary pilot training ended in the spring of 1944 as part of the rundown of Army pilot training. The ones remaining open ended their operations in October 1945.
Lineage
- Established as 31st Flying Training Wing on 17 December 1942
Assignments
- Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Command, 16 January 1943 – 30 December 1945
Stations
- Chickasha, Oklahoma, trained 8,000 troops at the Wilson and Bonfis Flying School that opened in October 1941, after the war it became Chickasha Municipal Airport.
- Enid Field, Oklahoma, 16 January 1943
- Fort Worth Field, Texas, 31–30 May 30 December 1945
Training aircraft
CPS Primary Trainers were primarily PT-17 Stearman biplanes and Fairchild PT-19s monoplanes, although a wide variety of other types could be found at the airfields. The Fairchild PT-19 aircraft also could have the student pilot covered with a hood for "Blind" instrument flying training.Glider pilot schools used Aeronca TG-5As, Taylorcraft TG-6As, and Piper TG-8As unpowered glider conversions of powered light observation aircraft which had similar characteristics to the military gliders under development.
Contract Pilot Schools
; Arledge Field, Stamford, Texas; Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas
; Bruce Field, Ballinger, Texas
; Chickasha Municipal Airport, Chickasha, Oklahoma
; Cimarron Field, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
; South Coleman Airport, Coleman, Texas
; Corsicana Field, Corsicana, Texas
; Cuero Municipal Airport, Cuero, Texas
; Gibbs Field, Fort Stockton, Texas
; Garner Field, Uvalde, Texas
; Grider Field, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
; Harvey Parks Airport, Sikeston, Missouri
; Hatbox Field, Muskogee, Oklahoma
; Hicks Field, Fort Worth, Texas
; Jones Field, Bonham, Texas
; Miami Municipal Airport, Miami, Oklahoma
; Mustang Field, El Reno, Oklahoma
; Parks Metropolitan Airport, East St. Louis, Illinois
; Ponca City Municipal Airport, Ponca City, Oklahoma
; Tulsa Municipal Airport, Tulsa, Oklahoma
; Victory Field, Vernon, Texas
Contract Glider Pilot Schools
; Aberdeen Regional Airport, Aberdeen, South Dakota; Eberts Field, Lohoke, Arkansas
; Renner Field, Goodland, Kansas
; Hale County Airport, Plainview, Texas
; Hartlee Field Airport, Denton, Texas
; Hays Airport, Hays, Kansas
; Janesville Field, Janesville, Wisconsin
; Okmulgee Municipal Airport, Okmulgee, Oklahoma
; Pittsburg Airport, Pittsburg, Kansas
; Spencer Municipal Airport, Spencer, Iowa
; Theldor Airfield, Vinita, Oklahoma
List of wing commanders
- BG Warren R. Carter, 16 January 1943
- BG T.W. Blackburn, 26 April 1943
- Col Henry W. Door, 10 April 1944
- BG Aubry Hornsby, 22 May 1944
- Col James F. Powell, 15 June 1944
- Col Walter S. Lee, 31 July 1944
- BG Charles T. Myers, c. Nov 1944
- Col Walter S. Lee, 16 December 1944
- BG John F. Egan, 4 January 1945
- Col Hilbert M. Wittkop, 23 Apr–31 Oct 1945
- Unknown through 30 December 1945.