To Fill the Skies with Pilots: The Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1939-1946 (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series)

A good history of a little-known, discussed, or studied aspect of pilot training before World War II. The account is rather dry and academic but still an important contribution to the history of the war. Reviewed by Peter Stekel, author of, Final Flight: The Mystery of a WWII Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra.

A great work and part of my aviation library. Pisano uses Pat Strickland's Putt-Putt Air Force, but provides the scholarly documentation to take it to the next level. A must-have book for anyone interested in WW II aviation, because the program Pisano writes about is the key behind the airpower the US employed during the war.

I was hoping this book would have included statements by pilots, not just facts about how they got into the air by legislation.

I needed this book for a research project in a hurry, and I received it promptly and it was in great condition. This book has a fascinating and detailed history.

The author takes a critical, objective view of the program vs. a romanticized one. The book describes the CPTP’s conflicting roles as a New Deal stimulus and a pseudo military training program. I expected a definition, but I didn’t really know what the CPTP was. The author walks through the legislation that formed the program. He describes the never-ending challenges it faced – defending its goals and the competing political agendas of the military. Meanwhile, the country is being dragged into a war. There’s a fascinating discussion about why private aviation didn’t materialize after WWII, the perspective that the public has towards private aviation, and the personal economics of flying. I feel these factors persist today. There are some insights into the CAA, the predecessor of the FAA, and the foundations of the regulations that we have now. I was surprised the author didn’t mention the current pilot training infrastructure. Our university and private flight schools seem to mirror the structure of the CPTP. I’d guess that the CPTP laid the foundation for our current programs. Overall, it’s an interesting history book about the CPTP, CAA and civil aviation in the U.S.