B-29 Crew Training

Following the passage of qualifying physical and mental examinations and Basic Training, Army Air Force cadets were assigned to College Training Detachments at selected college campuses for 5 months. The College Training Detachment program was started in 1943. Studies included basic college courses in math (trigonometry), physics, history, geography and English taught by civilian college faculty and military training courses in direct communications and first aid taught by Army Air Force personnel.

Following college training cadets were transferred to one of several Army Air Force bases for Classification and 9 weeks of Preflight training. Cadets were assigned to pilot, bombardier or navigator training based on preference and qualification test scores. Preflight training included courses in Morse code, additional math and physics, maps and charts, aircraft and naval forces identification, and gunnery training with pistols, rifles and submachine guns.

Following Preflight, cadets entered Preliminary and Advanced Training specific to their assigned position. The Advanced training took about 15 weeks to complete with an additional 2 weeks of aircraft gunnery training. Pilot training was divided into Primary, Basic and Advanced Flight schools

Pilot trainees were transferred from Preflight to one of the Army’s elementary flying schools, each stationed at a civilian airport with civilian instructors under contract to the Air Forces. Instruction was split between Ground School and flight instruction. Ground School courses included flight theory, engines, propellers, hydraulic systems, weather and navigation. During flight instruction cadets learned to fly straight and level, climb, make climbing turns, glides, gliding turns, use trim tabs and land in Primary Trainers, like the Ryan PT22. With proficiency, trainees advanced to short takeoffs and spins. Trainees were expected to solo following 8-12 hours of instruction. Cadets not soloing by 13 hours were washed out. After soloing, instruction emphasized stalls, spins, forced landings, loops, snap rolls and crosswind landings. Graduation from Primary required completing 65 flight hours and passing a final test flight with an army pilot officer.

Primary was a common wash-out point for cadets learning they didn’t have what it took to become a pilot.

In Basic Flight training, cadets received 70 hours of flight time over a 9-week course operating an airplane of greater weight, horsepower and speed, such as a North American BT-9. Training included instrument night flights, formation and cross-country flights and two-way radio operation. Basic Ground School included navigation and flight plans, weather phenomenon, 10 hours of Aircraft Maintenance and inspection, application of aircraft instruments and officer training. Based on test results, graduating cadets were classified for Bomber or Fighter training at the conclusion of Basic and were transferred to Advanced Flight training with twin or single engine aircraft, respectively.

In Advanced Flight School, cadets flew twin engine trainers, like the Cessna AT-17, to prepare for the type of multi-engine aircraft and flight conditions they would experience in bombers. The twin engine advanced trainers were heavier and faster aircraft than prior single engine trainers and, like bombers,  had adjacent pilot and co-pilot seats, wheel instead of stick control, hydraulic flaps, retractable wheels, constant speed props and more sophisticated instrumentation and navigation.

Following twin engine Advanced Training, cadets graduated directly to bomber training, typically with the Boeing B-17. The significantly heavier, four-engine, more instrument-sophisticated heavy bomber required training in simulators, passing instrument training and about 40 hours of instructor flight time before soloing. A common washout at this point was not passing instrument training.

The men selected for B-29 training and assigned to the 6^th Bomb Group arrived at Grand Island AAF, Nebraska in the July-August 1944 timeframe. Full crews were assigned and trained together for the first time. Initially, training continued on B-17s as very few B-29s were available at that time. Grand Island received its first B-29 in June 1944.

In addition to qualification training for the “super heavy” B-29 bomber, the crews extensively trained in long distance celestial navigation, remote control gunnery, precision Norden bombsight and radar bombing, including use of “synthetic” ground simulators. Camera bombing exercises were conducted in flights over major cities. The training included 15 hour open ocean flights over the Caribbean Sea from bases in Cuba and Puerto Rico with radar bombing, formation bombing and camera gunnery exercises. Crews needed to fly at least one 3000 mile non-stop B-29 flight to complete B-29 training.

Grand Island was also site to B-29 maintenance training. Maintenance personnel took 25 hours of classroom training by Boeing certified specialists in addition to daily training in their maintenance specialty.

Crew training continued after deployment to Tinian with regular live bombing missions conducted on targets of small islands in the Marianas, some still Japanese occupied. On-going specialized classes were also given at the 6^th Bomb  Group Camp. These were conducted prior to and after the start of initial 6^th Bomb Group combat bombing missions over Japan in February 1945.