Morse Code.

This is coolbert:

During World War Two [WW2], a very interesting phenomenon was observed.

This phenomenon was observed from among the flight school cadets who desired to be "officers and gentlemen". Cadets who were training to be military pilots.

Cadets who were trained in the tens of thousands.

"But one of the most demanding for many was the daily session, totaling 48 hours, of instruction aimed at achieving proficiency in reading Morse code, visually and aurally, at the rate of six words a minute-a requirement for successful completion of preflight training"

[this taken from the memoirs of a flight school cadet. This man is talking here about pre-flight school and learing Morse at the speed of six words per minute!!]

It was found that the inability to copy Morse code at even the slowest of speeds was the SINGLE biggest reason for cadets failing flight school.

NOT an inability to fly a trainer aircraft. This was not a cause of excessive failure.

NOT an inability to pass a rigorous physical exam [flight physical].

NO, these were not the reasons why a whole bunch of cadets "washed out" of flight school.

COPYING MORSE CODE, OR, RATHER, THE INABILITY TO COPY MORSE CODE WAS THE SINGLE BIGGEST REASON FOR FLIGHT SCHOOL CADET WASTAGE!!

Why this was so seems to be a real mystery. Why could these folks not copy code, but COULD fly an airplane must have been surprising.

At the time it was essential for all pilots to copy Morse code, at the very slow speed of five words per minute [5 WPM]. This IS a slow speed. If you can copy all the letters of the alphabet in Morse, you are probably copying at that point five words per minute minimum.

Copying Morse was essential to being able to "home" in on radio-navigational beacons used at airfields. Beacons that emitted a constant stream of Morse characters identifying that particular beacon and airfield.

If you could not copy Morse at even the slow speed of 5 WPM, you could not successfully navigate your aircraft as navigation was done at the time.

[this skill was especially acute for Naval Aviation. Flying as they do over vast stretches of water where NO landmarks for guidance exist. Radio-navigation was a must.]

Radio-navigation beacons of this type STILL exist, although of ever diminishing numbers, almost to the point of non-existence. Have been supplanted by Ground Positioning System [GPS].

I am sure, much to the delight of prospective military pilots.

coolbert.