football .
Along with two hangars and two 5,000-foot concrete runways , the Navy had 14 outlying landing fields : five in Wapello County , two in Jefferson County , three in Keokuk County and four in Mahaska County .
On March 10 , 1943 , the first group of cadets arrived at NAS Ottumwa from the University of Iowa ’ s preflight school . And on March 14 , flight training officially began with 110 hours logged on the first day alone .
According to Cofer , there were four types of pilots at the station : cadets , officer trainees , tarmacs and instructors . The Stearman Kaydet was the most popular training plane .
“ It was extremely maneuverable and could be controlled even at low speeds , giving student pilots time to think ,” writes Cofer . “ It was not the easiest plane to fly but by the time a cadet completed primary training , both instructor and student were confident he knew the fundamentals of flying .”
NAS Ottumwa instructors trained and graduated thousands of successful pilots . But for some , the station was their last stop .
The power of storytelling
Jim Peshek didn ’ t know his uncle personally — only through the stories passed down to him and his sisters from his mother and grandmother .
Peshek ’ s uncle , James Dayton , was tragically killed in a training accident at NAS Ottumwa on April 22 , 1945 , and was the last pilot to die at the station . This powerful oral history , coupled with photos , artifacts and written accounts , creates a connection between Peshek and Dayton after nearly 80 years .
Photos : Top : Cadets and their instructor on a chilly , snowy day at NAS Ottumwa . Middle : The base commissioning ceremony of NAS Ottumwa in front of the administration building on March 13 , 1943 . Bottom : Ottumwa Stearmans fly over the administration building .
“ There was a small , hand-built airplane that was probably one of my first introductions to my uncle . It was a model of the airplanes that they flew in Ottumwa for training , a Stearman ,” Peshek says . “ As a kid , I used to play with this .”
“ Through the stories that our mother and grandmother told of Uncle Jim , he was always a shining example for me and my sisters .”
Dayton was a flight instructor from Trenton , New
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