US Navy Flight Training

[tommywo]

Does anyone know how many student pilots the average US Navy flight instructor worked with in 1940-41? I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was a 4:1 ratio (1 instructor was assigned to train a group of 4 cadets), but now I can't find that source again.

 

[BobB]

Does anyone know how many student pilots the average US Navy flight instructor worked with in 1940-41? I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was a 4:1 ratio (1 instructor was assigned to train a group of 4 cadets), but now I can't find that source again.

I can't tell you that it was absolutely that for USN 1940-1941 but it makes sense to fly with two students in the morning and two in the afternoon. Morning flight students take ground school in afternoon and vice versa. I remember my father saying that was what they did in USAF primary training in 1950's. He also said that some instructors were known for washing out a student quickly so they reduced their workload.

 

[tommywo]

That sounds right. I was finally able to find my source related to USN flight training in 1941. As the USN worked to rapidly build up its number of trained pilots, the ratio of instructors ballooned to 1:10 (1 instructor / 10 students). However, they consistently kept the ratio at 1:4 for primary flight training and certain specialized branches where greater individual attention was warranted. I'm currently finishing a manuscript on 12 American flight instructors hired by the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1941 to train pilots on the island of Java. For comparison, the first 2 American instructors to arrive were assigned 7(!) primary flight cadets each a week after their arrival in the Netherlands East Indies.

 

[BobB]

That sounds right. I was finally able to find my source related to USN flight training in 1941. As the USN worked to rapidly build up its number of trained pilots, the ratio of instructors ballooned to 1:10 (1 instructor / 10 students). However, they consistently kept the ratio at 1:4 for primary flight training and certain specialized branches where greater individual attention was warranted. I'm currently finishing a manuscript on 12 American flight instructors hired by the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1941 to train pilots on the island of Java. For comparison, the first 2 American instructors to arrive were assigned 7(!) primary flight cadets each a week after their arrival in the Netherlands East Indies.

Handling more than 4 students in a day would start to get tough since you need time for pre-flight and post-flight briefings but maybe they had programs where students would fly every other day and did officer candidate training, Link training or ground school on the non-flying days.