They Flew Proud crisply tells the story of the Civilian Pilot Training Program through the Army Air Force Cadets at Grove City College (PA.) and the Grove City Airport where the flight instructors (including Gardner Birch) trained the cadets to solo. Across the U.S., more than 435,000 men and women were taught to fly under the CPTP in pre and post WWII. In Grove City, the 8th Detachment s 486 students received almost 5,000 hours of instruction, and then went forward to serve their nation in WWII. In Part 2, Gardner Birch, manager/instructor refocused the airport to teach civilians to fly after the CPTP was abruptly cancelled. He created five boards to record the 127 students and their solo dates ( 44- 48). Narratives from these men and women retell of learning basic flying skills through many wonderful and humorous aviation stories. Those lessons learned in aviation s early days prepared them for a smoother flight through life and created friendships and passions for flying and airplanes. Numerous photos and visuals add depth, feeling, and understanding to the expressive text and draw us into the special time when some of the greatest generation learned to fly proud. The National Aviation Hall of Fame announced today that the recipient of its 2007 Combs Gates Award with a $20,000 cash prize is Jane Gardner Birch, for her book They Flew Proud inspired by the WWII experience of her father, Gardner Birch, a flight instructor in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Judges reveiwed each submission for historical accuracy, creativity, potential for long-term impact, and for value to the NAHF's mission of honoring America's outstanding air and space pioneers. The first time writer will formally receive the award tomorrow at the NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention in Atlanta, Ga. --National Aviation Hall of Fame, Sept 2007 Jane Birch's extensive research enabled her to outline, in book form, the big picture behind the seldom heralded CPTP one of the largest federally funded vocational education programs in history. They Flew Proud also shares many personal accounts of personalities and pilots who comprised the CPTP, and includes the recollections of many living today. A few will become notable, but most remain anonymous, yet everyones contributions are important, wrote Birch in her award application. The award is given for the project that best promotes or preserves America's air and space heritage. Birch's project was significant in that it dealt with the role of aviation during WWII, Kaplan said. Jane took a regional look at a national program, he said. The result was a book that fills a gap in military history. Kaplan was interviewed for a Discovery Channel program on air combat. There was a roster of prominent pilots who went through the CPT Program, he said. As a result of the program's significance, They Flew Proud has become part of the pantheon of aviation history. --Ron Kaplan, National Aviation Hall of Fame Winner of the National Aviation hall of Fame 2007 'Combs Gates' Award, They Flew Proud by Jane Gardner Birch is the story of the national Civilian Pilot Training Program that was a local course of study at Grove City College and the Grove City Airport, Pennsylvania from its pre-World War II founding, to the war years when the college contracted to teach Army Air Force Cadets their academic studies, and the airport provided fixed base operator and flight instructors support for cadets to embark on solo flights. More than 435.000 men and women were taught to fly under the CPTP. In Grove City, 486 students of the 8th Detachment received almost 5,000 hours of instructions before seeing service in the war before the CPTP was abruptly canceled by the government. They Flew Proud is also the story of how manager/instructor Gardner Birch refocused the airport to teach civilians to fly, creating five Solo Boards to record the 127 students and their solo dates between the summers of 1944 to 1948. Jane Gardner Birch includes interviews with a number of men and women who retell learning basic flying skills and their solo flights, sharing their memories of their instructors who prepared them to fly some 60 years ago and the strong bonds they experienced with their fellow students, the instructors, and others who shared their enthusiasm for flight. A unique bit of American aviation history, "They Flew Proud" is a very strongly recommended and much appreciated contribution to 20th Century Aviation history and a singular addition to any personal, academic, or community library Aviation Studies reference collection or supplemental reading list. --Midwest Book Review Part 1 of They Flew Proud tells the story of a national Civilian Pilot s Training Program through the local program at Grove City College and Airport. Briefly detailing the CTPT s founding in pre WWII, the story moves to Western PA where the college contracts to teach Army Air Force Cadets their academic studies. And at the Airport flight instructors (incl