The Seas Divide Us, The Air Unites !
Ian BB,
No question of culpa, at all, Sir (and in any case "ego absolvo te" !) The beauty of this our Thread is that all points of view and opinions are of equal value, corrections and contrary views are always welcome, save always that argument "ad hominen" and sharp words are totally unacceptable (I'm sure that I speak for our Moderators here). So you weigh in as often and as hard as you like !
As to the matters before the Court:
First, your man from 42F (which would place him about nine months after me) I quote:
"....It was mostly nonsense and new to us. In fact, several in my class were eliminated because they had too many demerits for not obeying rules that didn't make sense to them..".
In my day, your demerits were expunged with punishment drill ("Walking the Ramp"). You would have to do something really serious to warrant washout and return to Canada on that account. IIRC, all washouts on 42C were flying-related (mostly for not coming up to solo standard in 8-9 hours). It is heartening to learn that some got a second chance in Canada - we were told at the time that this would never happen (obviously so that we wouldn't "opt" for the softer option).
"....The United States, still in a position to pick and choose..."
That was the key to it, as I said before.
Your Jim Cousins, U.S. civilian instructor, became a flight commander and later squadron commander at 5BFTS, retired 1977 as an Eastern Air Lines captain said:
"As a matter of fact, the British were miles ahead of us in training techniques and we (American civilian instructors) were happy to train the RAF cadets strictly under the British system....."
Long ago, regle (RIP) said on this Thread that his training in the Arnold Scheme was "the finest flying training in the World" (IIRC). The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence !
"....The concept of the BFTS program targeted one primary goal: to turn out pilots by concentrated training within the proper allocated time. The Arnold Scheme didn't zero in on the real needs of the British...."
In a war, that has to be your "primary goal !"
"....To begin with, the Army Air Corps did all of those ridiculous things like hazing underclassmen and making them eat at the mess while sitting at attention. Stuff not connected in any way with flying.... It's no wonder that the washout rate in the Arnold Plan was so much greater than that of the BFTS. Some of the boys who washed out at Carlstrom got a second chance and were reassigned to Riddle. Several of them completed our course with no problem and went on to become great pilots".
It wasn't quite as bad as that at Carlstrom for 42C. Admittedly we had to "sit at attention" - but only for a few moments before the command "Parade, Rest" - then we could eat and talk normally. The "hazing" was only a problem there when the last US Course (41F ?) was followed by the first British one (42A). (41F tried it on 42A; there was a riot (I have tried, for the long time, to get the full story - for naturally it would have been exaggerated by the time it filtered down to us on 42C - but the facts seem to have been suppressed (for the sake of Anglo/American good relations ?) and "hazing" was suspended TFN. As I don't think any of the Arnold schools had any mixed classes, so "hazing" can only have occurred on the first "changeover" at each school.
So, all in all, Ian BB, we're not too far apart. Let's hear more from you, please.
Cheers, Danny.