81st Flying Training Wing (World War II)


The 81st Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Western Flying Training Command and was disbanded on 1 November 1945 at the Santa Ana Army Air Base, California.
The squadron was a World War II Command and Control unit. Its mission was to provide classification and preflight testing of aviation cadets. It was one of three such centers; the others being at Maxwell Field, Alabama and San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas.
There is no lineage between the current United States Air Force 81st Training Wing, established on 15 April 1948 at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, and this organization.

History

The mission of the wing was to provide both Classification and Preflight stage training to air cadets who had completed Training Command basic indoctrination training.Classification Stage processed the cadet and issued him his equipment. This was the stage where it would be decided whether the cadet would train as a navigator, bombardier, or pilot.Pre-Flight Stage taught the mechanics and physics of flight and required the cadets to pass courses in mathematics and the hard sciences. Then, the cadets were taught to apply their knowledge practically by teaching them aeronautics, deflection shooting, and thinking in three dimensions. The 81st FTW was the only wing which provided preflight training for pilots, navigators and bombardiers
Once the cadet successfully completed the training at the center, they would be assigned to one of the AAF primary flight schools for initial flying training.

Lineage

  • Established as the 81st Flying Training Wing on 14 October 1943

Assignments

Units

Stations