Civilian Pilot Training Program - Buildup

Buildup

The result was a revitalized CPTP and an expansion of its curriculum to a larger segment of the nation's colleges and universities. In May 1939 the first nine schools were selected, nine more were added in August 1940 (as the Battle of Britain was raging), 11 more in March 1941, and 15 more by October 1941 - four months after the formation of the USAAF - and just two months before the United States' entry into WWII. By the program's peak, 1,132 educational institutions and 1,460 flight schools were participating in the CPTP. Institutions such as the University of Michigan; Georgia Institute of Technology; Pomona Junior College; San Jose State Teachers College; and most notably, the Tuskegee Institute, all included the CPTP in their curricula. (See References below to access complete list of educational institutions participating in the CPTP.)

The inclusion of Tuskegee Institute in the ranks of CPTP participants, along with Hampton Institute, Virginia State University, and Howard University, helped open the doors for the first African-American military pilots. The onset of World War II and political pressure combined to compel the U.S. Army Air Corps to employ African-Americans as officers and pilots—the majority were graduates of the CPTP.

The decision to train civilian pilots also produced an unexpected, but welcome, side effect on the general aviation industry. As it turned out, the United States faced just as large a shortage of training aircraft as it did civilian pilots. The federal Civil Aeronautics Authority (predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration) regulations required a CPTP-participating flight school to own one aircraft for every ten students enrolled in the program.

Furthermore, the requirements specified for these aircraft narrowed down the field to only several models in production at that time, with most flight schools preferring the tandem-seat configuration of the Piper Cub. Seizing the opportunity unexpectedly thrust upon them, several light aircraft manufacturers quickly filled the market void with CPTP-compatible aircraft of their own, such as the WACO UPF-7 and the Meyers OTW biplane. Aeronca and Taylorcraft also produced tandem versions of their existing side-by-side seating airplanes, each of which would lead to their own military equivalents.