September 1941, U.S. Army Air Corps, Florida. Never been off the ground before, aged 19 - soloed in a Stearman after 8 hours dual over 17 days. About average for my Course.
They had a novel idea - our (rear) cockpits had no ASIs. We were taught to fly our first 60 hrs by Feel and Attitude alone (no sweat, what you've never had, you never miss).
Very useful to me in later years.