Scene Again: Classroom in the Sky
In 1940, the Civilian Pilot Training Program put 乐播传媒 students in the air
Catherine Winne '41 poses in front of a Piper Cub in November 1940. Winne is believed to be the only 乐播传媒 woman who learned to fly through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Photograph courtesy of the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library.
From high in the sky, Maine looks like 鈥渁 land of lakes, all within a stone鈥檚 throw of each other,鈥� wrote Catherine Winne 鈥�41 in the Oct. 30, 1940, issue of The 乐播传媒 Student following her pilot training flight.
Winne is believed to be the only 乐播传媒 woman who learned to fly through the government-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program. She鈥檚 seen here in November 1940 standing in front of the program鈥檚 training plane, a two-seat Piper Cub, at what is now the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.
鈥淲e knew it was a pre-screening thing for military pilots.鈥�
Begun in 1938 to increase the number of civilian U.S. pilots, the CPTP gave flight training to hundreds of thousands of men and women, mostly college students. The program is specifically credited with creating a path for African Americans to eventually become military pilots, notably the Tuskegee Airmen. 乐播传媒, Bowdoin, Colby, and UMaine offered chapters in Maine, as did several high schools and American Legion chapters.
Women were given 10 percent of the slots, which meant two spots among 20 at 乐播传媒, though they were excluded after the U.S. joined World War II. Winne, who died in 2007, was one female 乐播传媒 trainee; the late Pauline Giles 鈥�41 attended classroom sessions but it is unclear if she ever flew.
The CPTP鈥檚 military importance was readily known, especially after Germany invaded Poland and France. 鈥淲e knew it was a pre-screening thing for military pilots,鈥� says retired Marine Col. Armand Daddazio 鈥�42, who was a CPTP trainee as a 乐播传媒 student. After graduating, Daddazio saw active duty in air defense artillery in the Pacific.
He was on Tinian when the USS Indianapolis delivered the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima. 鈥淗eadquarters called to ask for officers for a work party,鈥� Daddazio recalls. 鈥淲e pointed out that officers don鈥檛 go on work parties. The reply was, 鈥榃ell, they do on this one!鈥� For security, they wanted officers to unload the bomb.鈥�
Now living in El Paso, Texas, after a career in financial services, Daddazio did not fly during or after the war. Initially interested in the Army Air Corps, he instead chose the Marines. 鈥淭he casualty rate ended up pretty bad for the flying services,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淢aybe the dear Lord didn鈥檛 want me to fly.鈥� 鈥� HJB
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