If you are looking for some documented proof that the movie ignited an
armed forces aviation craze, you won't get it from me.

No, I don't care; I was just responding to a post on the topic.

Timing makes a difference in your chance of getting flight training.
The Air Force shut down Air Cadet recruiting near the end of WW II,
just two weeks before my 17th birthday. I was bitterly disappointed.

A couple years later, the Marine Corps offered a chance to go to
flight training and I grabbed it. Lucky break, actually; I learned to
land on a carrier, which I wouldn't have in the Air Force.

vince norris