Dallas N.A.S. was a preflight training base where new pilots learned their fundamentals, soloed and qualified to move on to Corpus Christi, Texas for advanced training. The training aircraft were all Stearman N3N3, N2S1, and N2S4, aka the "Yellow Peril". Courses here also included Navigation and Communication. Aviation Cadets were housed in large, crowded barracks buildings and trucked out like cattle to Hensley field for flight instruction, weather permitting. Here is a brief summary of Guy's flight experience while at Dallas:
First logged military flight and duration:
Sept. 11 with Ensign Dawson for 1.5 hours
First military solo and duration:
Sept. 19 for 1.5 hours (following a 1.5 hour check out with Ensign Cassell)
Logged flight time to that date:
7.5 hours
Daily flight routine:
2 flights of 1.5 hours each
Total hours logged at Dallas:
75.2 hours
Time stationed at Dallas:
Approximately September through to the end of October, 1942
The N3N's flight characteristics were generally favorable, but it was on the ground that it became "perilous". When poor visibility from either cockpit was combined with barely adequate brakes and an ineffective rudder, taxiing became an adventure.
The name "Yellow Peril" originated from its distinctive color as well as from its use in Naval Aviation Reserve bases where prospective Aviation Cadets received their first training. In the event that a cadet failed to solo within a certain period of time, he was in "Peril" of not being appointed an Aviation Cadet.
