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Tours Aerodrome was a complex of military airfields in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, 6 km (3.2 NM) north-northeast of the city of Tours. They were used during World War I as part of the Second Air Instructional Center (2d AIC), American Expeditionary Forces for training United States airmen prior to being sent into combat. Today Tours Airdrome #1 airfield is Tours Val de Loire Airport (Base Aérienne 604). ==Background== The airfield complex is located about three miles northwest of the city of Tours, Department of Indre-et-Loire, on the main road to Vendome.〔Series "J", Volume 7, History of the 1st, 2d, 4th, 7th and 8th Aviation Instruction Centers, Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C. via http://www.fold3.com〕 Tours initially was established by the French Air Force ((フランス語:Armée de l'Air) as a training school for pilots prior to the United States entry into World War I. On 23 July 1917, a group of 47 enlisted Air Service men arrived in France on the SS Orduna. Ten members were ordered to Paris to receive ground commissions while the balance were sent to Tours for flying training. The training was provided by an agreement made with the French to train a limited number of Americans, then the entire school would be turned over to the Headquarters Air Service, American Expeditionary Force on 1 September. However, owing to a limited number of personnel available, the French retained overall control of the school until the end of the war in November 1917.〔 A number of secondary training airfields, along with the main complex were established:〔 * Spiral (later Combat) Field #3 * Farman Field #4 * Spiral Field (New) #6 * Mannaie Field #8 Also four emergency fields were located near Saint-Avertin, south of the Cher River about four miles south of the main airfield (#1).〔 In addition to the pilot training, the 2d AIC eventually developed specialist schools in Aerial Observation, Radio, Photography and Aerial Gunnery.〔 The training complexes at Issoudun Aerodrome (3d AIC) and Tours were the two largest training schools in France for Air Service pilots.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tours Aerodrome」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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