I’m often asked if the AAF Collection has information on a specific person. The collection does have hundreds of training class books. These are like high school year books, except they were produced for a training class at a particular Army Air Field or other training facility. Classes lasted anywhere from four to ten, or even twenty, weeks. Separate classes sometimes overlapped their training at the same base.
Thus at a particular facility, there may have been dozens of class books produced during a given year. Once a class graduated, cadets were generally stationed at another Army Air Field to begin their next class. For example pilots underwent pre-flight, then Primary Flight, then Basic Flight, and then Advanced Flight classes, all at separate Air Fields.
Unfortunately I do not have additional information or records about individual cadets or instructors beyond what you see in the class books. At one time I wanted to index the names and hometowns of those pictured in the class books. That would now be a monumental undertaking, but I may do so in the coming years.
How Do I Find a Particular Person?
There have been many interesting comments posted by visitors to the AAF Collection. Some were posted by actual veterans who reminisced about their time during World War II. Some were posted by relatives of veterans who were excited to find a picture of their loved one. These comments are becoming a useful resource in and of themselves.
You can now browse the collection by class or unit number. Suppose you know a relative who was in class 44-D, but you’re not sure at which air field he or she was stationed. You can display the items associated with all classes that were numbered 44-D. This narrows down the book in which your relative might appear.