Subject: Why would an RAF pilot become a USAAC co-pilot?
From: Ed Rasimus
Date: 2/9/04 7:12 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 09 Feb 2004 01:44:22 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

Subject: Why would an RAF pilot become a USAAC co-pilot?
From: "S. Sampson"

Since the 80's they wouldn't waste time on anyone who wasn't
going to be an Aircraft Commander one day. They don't have
professional co-pilots :-)

This was in WW II. Everything that could fly had to fly. Pilots and crews
were
needed. Every seat had to be filled with aircrew.The future had to take
care
if itself.

Arthur Kramer

Been thinking about this situation since the question was first
posted. Here's what I think might be a reason. Art can fill the blanks
if he has additional info.

The original stated the guy was a private pilot who went to Canada and
then wound up in the RAF flying Hurricanes. It didn't indicate if he
had gone through a formal military pilot training course in Canada or
England. Certainly the needs of the service in those hectic Battle of
Britain days might have gotten the guy a seat in a military airplane,
but when the American ex-pats got transferred into the USAAC, the
records might have shown no military aviation rating, merely a FAA
certificate.

Since the guy had some experience, he could fill a space on the
schedule, but without a rating he couldn't be advanced to
pilot-in-command duties. Plausible explanation??



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8


Yes. I think that is very plausable. I even know of one case where an American
flew with the RAF and when transferred to the USAAC was refused flying status
other than a gunner spot. But he must have failed a test check flight. Can't
think of any other reason. He didn't survive the war and went down on one of
our many raids to the Cologne marshalling yards hit by ground fire,



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer