American Military Training Aircraft

The U.S. did not become the world’s foremost military air power by accident. The learning curve—World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and more recently the war on terror—has been steep. While climbing this curve, the U.S. has not only produced superior military aircraft in greater numbers than its foes, but has—in due course—out-trained them, too. This book provides a comprehensive historical survey of U.S. military training aircraft, including technical specifications, drawings and photographs of each type of fixed and rotary-wing design used over a 98-year period to accomplish the first step of the learning process: the training of pilots and aircrews.

E.R. Johnson, an attorney, has flown 25 different types of aircraft as pilot-in-command. He is the author of six books and more than 100 articles on aviation and lives in Mountain Home, Arkansas.
Lloyd S. Jones, an aviation artist and author, researches, designs and writes for major airplane model companies, and creates detailed aircraft illustrations. He lives in Costa Mesa, California.

E.R. Johnson. Drawings by Lloyd S. Jones
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 480
Bibliographic Info: 275 photos, 166 illustrations, appendices, glossary, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7094-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1789-3
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 0
Foreword by Walter J. Boyne 1
Preface 3
Training the American Air Armada 5
Series I—Fixed Wing Trainers, 1917 to 1947 23
A. USAAS, USAAC and USAAF 23
B. USN, USMC and USCG 178
Series II—Fixed Wing Trainers, 1947 to 1962 222
A. USAF and U.S. Army 222
B. USN and USMC 297
Series III—Fixed Wing Trainers, 1962 to Present 332
Series IV—Rotary Wing Trainers, 1942 to Present 410
Appendix 1: Training Gliders 437
A. USAAF, USN and USMC, 1934 to 1945 437
B. USAF, 1957 to Present 444
Appendix 2: Fixed and ­Rotary-Wing Trainer Aircraft Designation Systems 453
Glossary 456
Bibliography 463
Index 465

“invaluable”—U.S. Navy Aircraft History; “This well-researched and thorough guide is one of many authoritative books by the author on American military aircraft. It is undeniably an enjoyable cover-to-cover read, but more importantly this comprehensive guide fills a gap in the current literature…highly recommended”—ARBA; “excellent drawings…a complete reference on the subject and is a book that every aircraft enthusiast should have on their shelves…highest recommendation”—Modeling Madness.