In the years immediately preceding World War II, several European countries, particularly Italy and Nazi Germany, began training thousands of young people to become pilots.

The program started in 1939 with two laws passed by Congress in April and June,[2] with the government paying for a 72-hour ground school course followed by 35 to 50 hours of flight instruction at facilities located near eleven colleges and universities.

It was an unqualified success and provided a grand vision for its supporters – to greatly expand the nation's civilian pilot population by training thousands of college students to fly.

A joint publication released in 1970 by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration recounts the historical success of the CPTP, stating the program "was planned originally as an experiment in vocational training.

"[3] The intent was to boost industry and aviation manufacturing, with the "added benefit to the Armed Services building a reserve of knowledgeable pilots."

Their efforts proved the necessity for a radical departure from conventional thinking, when required, to preserve failing sectors of industry and become a vital adjunct to national defense.

Isolationists branded the program as provocative saber-rattling that threatened the nation's neutrality; others slammed it as a pork barrel waste of tax dollars, while supporters touted the positive impacts on the aviation industry and the defense value of a vastly enlarged base of trained pilots.

The Army Air Corps deemed the situation to be so grave it proposed that private aviation be suspended and all pilot training (most notably the CPTP) be brought under the control of the military.

The onset of World War II and political pressure combined to compel the U.S. Army Air Corps – as it was known before June 20, 1941 – to employ African-Americans as officers and pilots, with the majority of its personnel being graduates of the CPTP.

Furthermore, the requirements specified for these aircraft narrowed down the field to only several models in production at that time, with most flight schools preferring the tandem-seat configuration of the Piper Cub.

Aeronca and Taylorcraft also produced tandem versions of their existing side-by-side seating high-winged monoplanes, each of which would lead to their own military equivalents.

The CPTP admirably achieved its primary mission, best expressed by the title of aviation historian Dominick Pisano's book, To Fill the Skies with Pilots.

This was her old dream of the Betsy Ross Air Corps come true, as she helped train the men who would fly fighter aircraft in combat.

Nothing gives her greater joy than to see them solo, to know she has taken them one step nearer to Uncle Sam's aerial defense line.” Later, at her home in California, she would recall her experiences with fondness.