Civilian Pilot Training Program. Collection, 1939 - 1944

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: SMHC Collection 0246

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Civilian Pilot Training Program collection consists of materials from the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which was a division of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, that was called the War Training Service during World War II. Included in the collection are course syllabi from the ground school portion of the training held at Mankato State Teachers College, lodging, board and transportation forms from the cadets, enrollment forms, and other miscellaneous materials related to the program. Part of this collection is restricted for research purposes until 2025.

This collection is divided into two series, restricted and general materials.

General Records: This series contains information about the ground school program the cadets attended in correlation with the flight training and receipts that the school submitted to the Civil Aeronautics Administration to be reimbursed for the ground school. All the materials in this series are available for research purposes.

Restricted Materials: This series contain student grades and application materials. The application went from simple application to the program, called Individual Student Applications, to Declaration by Trainee forms. This happened in correlation with the program helping with the war efforts, and the students had to declare they would enter the army or navy upon completion of the program. There is also Advisory Board reports, which give information about discontinuation actions the Civil Aeronautics Administration took against different cadets in the program. This series is currently restricted for research purposes until 2025, and any access to this series is at the archivist discretion.

Dates

1939-1944

Biographical / Historical

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to help expand programs that taught pilots to fly planes. The main purpose of the program was to provide the nation with more aviators. From there, the CAA created the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) which taught civilians how to be pilots. This program became known as the War Training Service (WTS) between 1941 and 1944. During this time period, pilots were required to sign a contract that they would join the military upon completion of the program. Under specific regulations from the government, colleges and air fields worked together to train future pilots. There were many schools across the United Stated that offered this program. The government would reimburse the colleges and flight schools for 72 hours of ground school and 35-50 hours of flight training, both with instructors and solo flights. The Mankato State Teachers College courses ran from 1939-1944.