At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

recognised that it would need to train a large number of pilots. A number of flying and aircrew training schools were set up across the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...

where pilots could be trained without risk of enemy interference. The British Flying Training Schools (BFTS) were set up in the United States of America from 1941 as a result of the Lend Lease Bill.

Locations

Seven schools were opened. These were: *1 BFTS at Terrell Municipal Airport, Terrell, Texas. 9 June 1941 *2 BFTS

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, California. 9 June 1941 *3 BFTS at Miami Municipal Airport,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Oklahoma 16 June 1941 *4 BFTS at

Falcon Field Falcon Field may refer to: * Falcon Field (Arizona), an airport in Mesa, Arizona, United States * Falcon Field (Georgia), an airport in Peachtree City, Georgia, United States * Falcon Field (Corinth, Texas), a baseball field * Falcon Baseball Fiel ...

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

, Arizona. 16 June 1941 *5 BFTS at Riddle Field, Clewiston, Florida. 17 July 1941 *6 BFTS at Ponca City Regional Airport,

Ponca City Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 c ...

, Oklahoma. 23 August 1941 *7 BFTS at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. May 1942 but closed August 1942

References

{{commonscat, British Flying Training School Program Flight training Aviation schools in the United States