Turner Air Force Base - World War II

World War II

The Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, Southeast Training Center (later Eastern Flying Training Command) 75th Flying Training Wing offered elementary & advanced training in two-engine aircraft at Turner Army Airfield during World War II.

Turner was initially operated as a school for navigators. The initial core of navigators, slated to become instructors, received the training at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. In July 1941, fifteen navigator instructors arrived at Turner Field with the rank of cadet. For the next two months, the nav instructors oversaw the construction of the navigation school while organizing a training syllabus. When navigation training began in September, the instructors were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants. The aircraft used exclusively for navigation training at Turner was the Beech AT-7, a modification of the C-45 Expeditor. The AT-7 carried three navigation students, each with a navigation table and instruments, an instructor, and a pilot. Navigators received approximately 100 hours of navigation training in the AT-7. In September 1942, the navigation school moved to Selman Field in Monroe, Louisiana.

Turner was also used during World War II to train Free French and Royal Air Force aircrews. By June 1942 training of British students resumed. At the end of the year, aircraft complement numbered 33 Curtiss AT-9s, 80 Cessna AT-17s, nine AT-6 Texans, seven BT-13 Valiants, and a few miscellaneous types. In the fall of 1942, one half of the AT-9s were removed and replaced with the Cessna AT-17 "Bobcat. The AT-17 was a military version of Cessna Model T-50 with wooden wings, fabric covered steel tube fuselage, and fixed-pitch propellers. The AT-17 was described by pilots as having the characteristics of a twin-engine Cub. Although the AT-17 was one of the safest trainers, some instructors felt it lacked the performance to properly prepare students for the combat aircraft they would eventually fly.

To meet the Army's immediate need for two-engine trainers, Beech Aircraft designed the AT-10 Wichita in 1940, with economy and ease of manufacture in mind. The aircraft was made of wood with the exception of the engine cowls and the cockpit enclosure. Even the fuel tanks were wood with a covering of neoprene rubber. The use of wood allowed Beech to subcontract the manufacture of many components to furniture manufacturers and other firms. The wooden construction resulted in a light aircraft with excellent performance – as long as both engines were running. Part of the AT-10's economy was achieved by providing the aircraft with propellers that could not be feathered. Therefore, if an AT-10 lost an engine, sustained flight depended on the temperature and aircraft weight. When an AT-10 peeled off from a formation flight at Moody and entered a high-speed dive, the fabric tore off the flight controls and the aircraft crashed, killing the pilots. Thereafter, the AT-10 was red-lined at 180 mph (290 km/h).

During July 1944, Turner AAF began transitioning to the TB-25 Mitchell medium bomber for the twin-engine training role. In September, Turner received its first class of Free French students. In November 1944, aircraft complement stood at 183 TB-25s, 38 AT-10s, plus a few miscellaneous types. Turner also had a contingent of four WASP pilots that flew utility missions.

Turner was inactivated on 15 August 1946. Although inactive, Turner Field was under the control of the 2621st AAF Base Unit arrived from Barksdale Field, Louisiana which acted as a caretaker unit. The airfield remained under the overall control of Army Air Force Training Command.