The 35th Flying Training Wing is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

Western Flying Training Command The Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command (WFTC) was a command of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, stationed at Santa Ana Army Air Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 No ...

, and was disbanded on 16 June 1946 at the

Minter Field Minter may refer to: Places in the United States *Minter, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Minter Village, California, an unincorporated community *Minter City, Mississippi Minter City is an unincorporated community in Leflore County and ...

, California. There is no lineage between the United States Air Force

35th Fighter Wing The 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The wing (military aviation unit), wing is part of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)'s Fifth Air Force. The wing was first activat ...

, established on 10 August 1948 at Irumagawa Airbase, Japan, and this organization.

History

The wing was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Command and Control organization which supported Western Flying Training Command Flight Schools in California. Most of the assigned schools provided phase II basic flying training for Air Cadets, although the wing also commanded both contract basic (phase I) and advanced single and two-engine Army schools. In addition, an advanced navigation school at Mather Field for Air Cadets selected at the Santa Ana Classification Center was controlled by the wing. Graduates of the advanced schools were commissioned as Second Lieutenants, received their "wings" and were reassigned to Operational or Replacement Training Units operated by one of the four numbered air fores in the zone of interior. As training requirements changed during the war, schools were activated and inactivated or transferred to meet those requirements.Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas

Lineage

* Established as 35th Flying Training Wing on 17 December 1942 : Activated on 8 January 1943 : Disbanded 16 June 1946.35th Flying Training Wing, lineage and history document Air Force Historical Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Assignments

* AAF West Coast (later, AAF Western Flying) Training Center, 8 January 1943 – 16 June 1946

Training aircraft

The schools of the wing used a wide variety of planes to support its numerous training needs: * Primary training aircraft were the Boeing-Stearman PT-17 and

Ryan PT-22 The Ryan PT-22 Recruit, the main military version of the Ryan ST, is a military trainer aircraft that was used by the United States Army Air Corps during WWII for primary pilot training. Design and development The PT-22's fuselage is a simple ...

. PT-13 and PT-27 aircraft were also used which were basic Stearmans with varying horsepower ratings. : Beginning in late 1944 the USAAF (as well as the USN) began replacing the Vultee BT-13 / BT-15 Valiant from the Basic phase of flight training with the

North American AT-6 The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

Texan * The

Vultee BT-13 The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of th ...

was the basic training aircraft, along with the higher-horsepower Vultee BT-15 * The

was used as the single-engine advanced trainer * The

Cessna AT-17 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine ...

was the standard two-engine advanced trainer, along with the Cessna UC-78 variant of the AT-17; Curtiss-Wright AT-9s were used at Mather and Stockton Fields for high performance two-engine training in perpetration for

Lockheed P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

Lightning training by

IV Fighter Command The IV Fighter Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was activated under Fourth Air Force at March Field, California in June 1941, when it replaced a provisional organization. It was responsible for training fighter units and ...

. * Specialized two-engine bomber trainers at Mather Field were the

Lockheed AT-18 The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and pri ...

Hudsons along with North American B-25 Mitchells. The Beechcraft AT-7 was used for two-engine pilot training and also navigator training at Mather

Assigned Pilot Schools

;

Chico Army Airfield Chico Regional Airport , formerly known as Chico Municipal Airport, is north of Chico, in Butte County, California, United States. The airport covers , has two runways and one helipad. Its fixed-base operator, Northgate Aviation provides fuel, ...

. Chico, California : Army Flying School : 97th Basic Flying Training Group : Opened: September 1941, Closed: March 1944 (BT-13) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "M" Fuselage code "M" was originally assigned to Moffett Field when it was a USAAC base. In 1942 Moffett Field was returned to the USN and the USAAC transferred its assets to Chico. The BT-13's retained the fuselage code of "M";Flight Training Field Fuselage Codes of World War II
/ref> Transferred to IV Fighter Command, May 1944, became P-38, P-63 Replacement Training Unit; closed September 1945 ; Dos Palos Airport, Firebaugh/Dos Palos, California : AAF Contract Pilot School (Primary) : 13th Flying Training Detachment : Opened: June 1942, Closed: November 1944 (PT-13, PT-22, BT-13) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "B"; Operated by: Coast Aviation Corporation ; Gardner Army Airfield, Taft, California : AAF Basic Flying School : 98th Basic Flying Training Group : Opened: August 1941, Closed: February 1945 (BT-13) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "F" ; Santa Maria Army Airfield, Santa Maria, California : AAF Contract Pilot School (Primary) : 1st Flying Training Detachment : Opened: September 1939, Closed: February 1945 (PT-13, PT-27) : Operated by: Hancock College of Aeronautics, one of the original nine civilian contract Army Primary Training Schools; transferred to IV Fighter Command, May 1944, became P-38 Replacement Training Unit; had five auxiliary airfields, closed July 1945 ; Lemoore Army Airfield, Lemoore, California : AAF Basic Flying School : 97th Basic Flying Training Group : Opened: January 1942, Closed: August 1945 (BT-13, BT-15) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "R" Also operated advanced two-engine flying school (AT-17, UC-78), November 1943; both schools closed August 1945 ;

Mather Field Mather may refer to: People * Mather (given name), a list of people with the given name * Mather (surname), a list of people with the surname Places * Mather, California (disambiguation) * Mather, Manitoba, Canada, a community * Mather, Pe ...

, Sacramento, California : AAF Advanced Single-Engine Flying School : AAF Specialized Two-Engine Flying School, also Two-Engine Transition : AAF Navigation School : Opened: May 1941, Closed: August 1945 (AT-6) : Former World War I flying training airfield, reopened May 1941; also AAF Navigation School, August 1941 (AT-7, AT-9); Specialized Two-Engine Flying School, June 1943 (AT-18, B-25); Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "T" and "I", "I" for aircraft assigned to the Centralized Flight Instructors Program; became permanent training airfield after World War II as

Mather Air Force Base Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...

; Closed 1993. ;

Merced Army Airfield Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in unincorpora ...

, Merced, California : AAF Basic Flying School : AAF Advanced Single-Engine Flying School : Opened: September 1941, Closed: October 1944 (BT-13) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "E" Advanced Flying School (AT-6) opened June 1944; became permanent airfield after World War II as

Castle Air Force Base Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in unincorpor ...

; Closed 1993. ;

, Shafter, California : AAF Basic Flying School : AAF Specialized Two-Engine Flying School, also Two-Engine Transition : Opened: June 1941, Closed: June 1944 (BT-13) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "L" Basic Flying School closed June 1944; Two-Engine Flying School opened June 1944 (AT-6, AT-17, UC-78. B-25), closed December 1945. ;

Palo Alto Airport Palo Alto Airport is a general aviation airport in the city of Palo Alto in Santa Clara County, California, United States, near the south end of San Francisco Bay on the western shore. Facilities Palo Alto Airport covers and has one asphalt ...

, King City, California : 3d Flying Training Detachment : Opened: March 1941, Closed: October 1944 (PT-13, PT-17, PT-22) : transferred to Navy April 1945 ;

Rankin Field Rankin Field is a former airport and military airfield located approximately southeast of Tulare, California. It was a United States Army Air Forces basic (Level 1) flying training facility during World War II. It is now an agricultural and ...

, Tulare, California : AAF Contract Pilot School (Primary) : 4th Flying Training Detachment : Opened: March 1941, Closed: October 1944 (PT-13, PT-17) : Operated by: Rankin Aeronautical Academy ; Sequoia Field, Visalia, California : AAF Contract Pilot School (Primary) : 8th Flying Training Detachment : Opened: September 1941, Closed: September 1944 (PT-13, PT-17, PT-22) : Also known as

Visalia Army Airfield Visalia Municipal Airport was the first airport in Tulare County, California, United States, designated in 1929. The airport is west of downtown Visalia. The airport is eligible for the Essential Air Service program, but has no scheduled air s ...

; Operated by: Visalia-Dinuba School of Aeronautics; primary flight school closed September 1944, transferred to IV Fighter Command and became P-61 Black Widow Replacement Training Unit ; Stockton Field, Stockton, California : AAF Advanced Flying School, Single-Engine : AAF Basic Flying School : AAF Advanced Flying School, Two-Engine : 316th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: December 1940, Closed: December 1942 (AT-6) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "M"; Opened initially as single engine school; May 1942 added Basic School (BT-15) two-engine school opened November 1943 (AT-9, AT-17, UC-78); closed February 1945; Transferred to

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

as a C-47 training base, March 1945; closed January 1946. ;

Victorville Army Airfield Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. Victorville is the principal city of a Victor Valley–based urban area defined by the United States Census Bureau: ...

, Victoville, California : AAF Advanced Flying School (Bombardment) : AAF Advanced Flying School, Specialized Single-Engine : AAF Advanced Flying School, Specialized Two/Four-Engine Transition : AAF Glider Flying School : 98th Basic Flying Training Group : Opened: February 1942, Closed: August 1945 (AT-6, AT-9, AT-11, AT-17, BT-13, B-24, CG-4, C-47) : Aircraft carried Fuselage Code "V"; had at least four auxiliary airfields; remained open after the war ended, became George Air Force Base; closed 1992

Stations

* Merced Army Airfield California, 8 January 1943 * Minter Field, California, 11 September 1943 – 16 June 1946

References

{{USAAF Training Bases World War II Training wings of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in the 1940s