This evening has been used for a little bit different kind of bird research than I have typically been doing. I have noticed that there are good
birding guides available for the Gulf Coast of Texas - the specifics below are not found in the
ones I have been browsing on the Amazon Website. The plumage coloring is vivid, but not regular, and quite distinctive for the species.
The official step leading to the construction of the
Naval Air Station was initiated by the 75th Congress in 1938. A board found that a lack of training facilities capable of meeting an emergency demand for pilots constituted a grave situation. They recommended the establishment of a second air training station, and further, that it be located on Corpus Christi Bay. NAS Corpus Christi was commissioned by its first skipper,
Captain Alva Berhard, on March 12, 1941. The first flight training started on May 5, 1941. Former President
George Bush was in the third graduating class, June 1943, commissioned just three days before his 19th birthday, which made him the youngest naval aviator to that date. In 1941, 800 instructors provided training for more than 300 cadets a month. The training rate nearly doubled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. By the end of
World War II, more than 35,000 naval aviators had earned their wings here. Corpus Christi was the only primary, basic and advanced training facility in existence in the United States. At one time it was the largest pilot training facility in the world. Today, the training program is much longer, approximately 18 months, due to the increased complexity of today's aircraft. Currently, Training Air Wing FOUR produces approximately 600 newly qualified aviators each year.
Training Air Wing Four (
TRAWING 4), one of five training air wings under the
Chief of Naval Air Training Command, was established in March 1972. Four individual units make up the wing. They are Training Squadrons Twenty-Seven (VT-27), Twenty-Eight (VT-28), Thirty-One (VT-31), and Thirty-Five (VT-35). Training Air Wing Four has a Reserve Component composed of squadron augment units (SAU) assigned to each squadron respectively.
Training Squadron TWENTY-SEVEN was initially established on July 11, 1951 as Advanced Training Unit-B at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi. The command moved
to Naval Air Station, Kingsville in 1952 and again to Naval Air Station, New Iberia, Louisiana in 1960. It was there the squadron was redesignated
VT-27. In July 1964, the "Boomers" were returned to Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi
where we continue to be an important member of the community. One of just five Navy primary training squadrons, VT-27 is one of two located on the Coastal Bend; we take pride in representing our area and the State of Texas. In 1973, the squadron began a transition to the role of primary training squadron with the
arrival on 1 August of the first
T-28 Trojan. By 1 October 1973, the last TS-2A, had departed, signifying the end of the advanced training role and the completion of the transition to primary training. In August 1983, the squadron took delivery of the first T-34C Mentor aircraft. Since March 1984, when the last T-28 ever used for naval flight training departed, the T-34C has been the mainstay of the Navy and Marine Corps primary flight training. The "Boomers" average well over 11,000 training missions a year, and more than 70 sorties per training day. Since taking delivery of the T-34C, our safety record sets the standard for excellence in CNATRA. Expected to achieve high levels of production while maintaining the highest standards of safety, VT-27 consistently accomplishes its important mission by producing Navy and Marine Corps pilots of the highest quality for our nation’s defense.
Future Naval Aviators checking into Training Squadron TWENTY-SEVEN are trained in three categories of basic flying skills. These categories are represented by the tri-colored trail left by the
speeding boomerang. The red symbolizes the initial familiarization and basic instrument phase; the white for Radio Instruments and Acrobatics; and the blue for Formation and Night Flying. The lightning bolt, which signifies the dynamics of flight training, occupies the central position of the insignia. In the forefront of Naval Aviation Training, the Boomers, symbolized by the
boomerang design which adorns all squadron aircraft, represent a new breed of instructors and students alike. Infused with a
new patriotism, these aviators have rededicated themselves to their tasks at hand, training and becoming the best pilots in the world.
Developed in the 1950's as a primary trainer for both the United States Navy and Air Force, the T-34 is used to instruct student pilots in basic flying skills. The original aircraft was designated as the T-34B and was used from 1955 to 1976. In 1978, the turbo-prop version of the T-34 entered service with the Navy. Built by Beechcraft Inc., the T-34C "Turbo Mentor" utilizes a turbo-prop engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada (
Model PT6A-25) large turbo-prop engine combined with a light airframe to produce flying qualities similar to, but safer than, those of military jet aircraft. The T-34 is an unpressurized, two-place tandem cockpit aircraft. It is used as the primary stage training aircraft for all Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard pilots as well as pilots from numerous other foreign countries.
