They Flew Proud

Part 1

Starting in 1937, world tensions were palpable and could be keenly felt in the United States.  The nation witnessed Japan�s flagrant acts of aggression in China, then Germany taking over Austria.  President Roosevelt was fully aware that many Americans were isolationists with thei heads in the sand.  Even though the U.S. had adopted an official policy of neutrality, FDR was observant and kept a wary eye on events unfolding in Europe and Asia for several years preceding WWII.  �Let no one imagine that America will escape, that it may expect mercy, that this Western Hemisphere will not be attacked.�  In practical terms, FDR knew how difficult it would be for simultaneous wars in Europe and Asia, especially with America�s sagging aerial capacities.  The aggressors were far superior in numbers of military aircrafts and in pilots to man them.  Despite pockets of resistance, Roosevelt gave the green light to a new military expansion.

            The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 contained language authorizing and funding a trial program for what would evolve into the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP).  FDR unveiled the program on December 27, 1938, announcing at a White House press conference that he had signed off on a proposal to provide a needed boost to general aviation by providing pilot training to 20,000 college students a year.  The brainchild of Robert H. Hinckley, a quintessential New Deal Administrator, the CPTP was the first full-scale, federally funded aviation education program and one of the largest government-sponsored vocational educational programs of its time.  It would use the classrooms of American colleges and universities and the facilities of local flying schools certified by the CAA, be supported by government funds and provide a pool of young civilian pilots who could be available for military service if war came.  If a young cadet with only basic flight training could land a plane in peril, lives and money could be saved.  Dominick A. Pisano, curator of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, nailed the purpose of the CPTP with his book�s title �To Fill the Skies with Pilots.�...

The beginning of the end to the war would occur on D-Day: June 6, 1944.  Western Allies (Americans, British and Canadians) invaded Germany-held Normandy.  This was a defining turning point, though a lot of rough fighting lay ahead in the next 14 months.  Out at the airport, transition to civilian income was the focus.  New ideas and new students were needed.  One of the favorite recruiting places for Birch and Fuzzy was the Grove City Diner.  The Diner (in business until 2005) was built in 1938, directly across from Grove City College.  It was a favorite hangout for all the locals, but especially for the college gang who smoked, since this was a �no-no� on campus!  Students ran across the street at breaks for a drag on a Camel or Lucky Strike.  Many were solicited to take flying lessons.  A long-standing tradition in the aviation industry was that when a pilot made his solo flight, a piece of his shirt was ripped off and his name printed on it.  This scrap of memory was then hung at the airport of the flight.  Gardner Birch had a more permanent memento in mind and possibly a marketing tool to sell flying lessons.  He created five plywood boards (19.5 inches wide and 45.5. inches long) that would list the names and solo dates of the students trained under his management.  Names and dates are uniformly scripted in black paint (probably by a sign painter).  Five boards list 127 students, starting in May of �44 through July of �48.  Fifteen of them are women, including the first solo student, Helen J. Arnold, and they now hang at the current Grove City Airport.

            Everyone at the airport called Gardner Birch simply �Birch.�  Nicknames were common.  Dick Double, one of Birch�s students recalls, �I would say that your father did 90 percent of the instructing with three words: �Follow Me Through!� That is you (the student) placed your hands and feet on the dual controls, then Birch would fly the aircraft through the maneuver using his controls.  Then he would say, �Your turn.�  The student, by feel, and with his own controls, would then simulate what your dad had just done.�