To honor the men and women who flew and trained at Luke Field, Arizona, during World War II.

Flight Operations & Training

Prior to any flight training, there was ground training. Typically, after the first blast of academics, the Instructor Pilots would take the students up on an orientation flight in order to pick up key landmarks and procedures. After that point, it was a mix of academics on something new and then a flight to exercise those lessons.

Physical fitness has long been a part of being in the military. Flying requires a lot of physical exertion especially in fighters. This color photo was one of several black and white photos that were colorized to put on postcards. There were several different postcards like this one sold at the Exchange.

Ground training was a critical step in developing pilots. Capt. Barry M. Goldwater was one of the instructors at Luke Field. Read more about him on the Notable People page.

Starting in early 1942, Chinese Air Force began sending students to Luke Field. The first class with Chinese students was Class 42-E. The photo shows a Chinese Instructor Pilot in front of a Luke Field aircraft pointing to something in the distance.

Part of learning to be a pilot included learning to communicate over the various systems aircraft carried. Shown here is a student working on his Morse Code.

Instructor is discussing various aspects of flight to some students using a wooden model of a North American AT-6 Texan.

Mission planning is a critical step that occurs prior to every flight. It covers everything the airmen expect to do. Some of those components include navigation (like way points and turning points), who flies in what position in the flight, flight formation, pre- and post-flight briefing times, step time to the aircraft, engine start, taxi time, takeoff time, time to the target or working area, what should happen there, route and time back to a base, land time, etc.

Colonel John K. Nissley, the Commander of Luke Field, points to a navigation map as part of ground training with a route already planned. He could be covering a number of things for the pilots and students to consider or watch out for.

Students receive a last-minute mass briefing on the flight of which they are about to take part. Chances are, it is a flight to orient them to the area. This color photo was one of several black and white photos that were colorized to put on postcards and sold at the Exchange.

The Instructor Pilot talks the students through some last-minute aspects of their upcoming fight.

A student climbs into an AT-6 Texan possibly for his first solo flight in the aircraft.

Photo taken by the Instructor Pilot of the student in the front seat. From the way he is looking, chances are he is scanning the sky for other aircraft. During WWII the Army Air Force wanted to get pilots used to combat, so any aircraft could intercept any other aircraft as though they were shooting the unsuspecting plane down.

It did not take the Instructor Pilots and students to become shade seekers, especially in the summer, when it feels like the sun is etching your exposed skin. These men are taking a break under the wing of a Luke Field AT-6 Texan.

Training at Luke Field was not just confined to flight training, The Fire Department was a critical piece in pilot safety. Fighting a petroleum fire is not an easy task, to do their job satisfactorily, they needed to practice. Here, the Fire Department is putting out a fire on an aircraft hull at their training site.

To find out the wind direction and other factors at higher altitudes, they used weather balloons. Here, a weatherman is about to release a weather balloon.

The Weather Station was also responsible for monitoring the temperatures, air pressure, along with other readings. All of the weather information was important for the pilots and students both prior to and during flight. It still is today.

Women held all types of jobs at Luke Field. Sgt. Helena Donahue was a Ground Trainer Specialist, and part of the US Army Air Forces Women’s Auxiliary Corps. Sitting in the cockpit, she is checking the communications equipment of an AT-6 Texan. Many women took on non-traditional roles in order to freed up men for the Army Air Corps.

Three Luke Field AT-6 Texans in formation flying low of the Arizona desert.

Massed formation flight training was heavily stressed during WWII. Here 17 AT-6 Texans fly in formation over Luke Field.

Carrying Luke Field’s “X” marking, this Curtis P-40G, tail number 42-14264 flew from Luke Field until March 31, 1943, when it was written off and scrapped.

Ready to start the engine, the pilot looks at the camera while sitting in P-40 tail number 39-174. On May 25, 1943, 39-174 was sent to fly off of the USS Sangamon (CVL-26/CL-26) to support Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa.

Luke designations X-870 and X-885 join a formation lead by X-833. X-824 and X-830 are also in the photo. Of the five aircraft, the only identifiable tail number with a record is Tail number 41-13639. It flew at Luke Field until May 30, 1944 when the Air Army Corps surveyed the aircraft.

An interesting photo with three different aircraft carrying the Luke Field designation. The bottom one is an AT-6, tail number 41-17237, carrying the X-215 Luke Field designation. It flew at Luke until May 3, 1945 when it was sent to Ryan Field, near Tucson, Arizona. The aircraft at the top of the photo is a P-40, carrying the Luke designation X-50, but the tail number is undecipherable. The one in the middle is a Curtis P-36A Hawk, tail number 38-098, Luke Field designation X-964. Interestingly, on December 7, 1941, that aircraft was at Wheeler Field in the 6th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group in the Territory of Hawaii. While all kinds of aircraft were assigned to Luke Field during WWII, only the AT-6, P-40, P-38 and P-51 were counted as primary aircraft.

The 43 cadets that made up Luke Field’s first class were all part of Class 41-F, pictured here. Class 41-F graduated on August 15, 1941. Some of its members were in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Eleven of the 43 did not survive the war.

Taken on February 23, 1942, this photo shows the seven pilots who were squadron commanders when the training opened in June 6, 1941, along with Lt. Col. Ennis Whitehead. In eight and a half months since starting training, the pilots of Luke Field completed 100,000 flying hours.

Also taken on February 23, 1942, this photo is of the fourteen Instructor Pilots who were instructors when training started on June 6, 1941, along with Lt. Col. Ennis Whitehead. They helped fly the 100,000 flight hours.

Photo of the largest class, Class 44-C, shows its 485 members. By the time they graduated, Big Week was a thing of the past in the European Theater, foreshadowing the fall of Hitler’s Germany. Therefore, the Army Air Force began to slow down pilot production.