At Mineola Field, instruction was given to the men in the maintenance of Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" aircraft and the Liberty V-12 engine which powered them.
Arriving on 5 July 1917, the men began assembling Standard J-1 and Curtiss JN-4 training airplanes shipped direct from the factory, and they took part in the training of the flying cadets that began pouring into the field in late July.
After a short period of organization, which included "snake-chasing and cactus-cutting", the squadron was moved to Wilbur Wright Field, Ohio in the beginning of July where its aviation cadets began flight training on the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny trainer.
After several days, the squadron was moved to Wilbur Wright Field, Dayton Ohio where it received its first training in the handling of Curtiss JN-4 and Standard J-1 aircraft.
However, within a week, the training aircraft, Curtiss JN-4 Jennies had been uncrated, assembled and flying.
Many of the men had experience flying or maintaining the Curtiss JN-4B "Jenny" trainers.
From November 1917 to 20 January 1918 the 186th operated at the flying school there at Kelly Field, flying Curtiss JN-4 trainers and learning the basics of flying.
On 29 July the squadron moved to the Wilbur Wright Aviation Field, Dayton, Ohio, where it received its first training in the handling of Curtiss JN-4 and Standard J-1.
In Canada, the squadron trained on the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", and detachments attended schools at locations around the Toronto area.
Further instruction on aircraft maintenance continued, and on 15 September, several crews from the squadron were sent over to the airfield to take charge of some Curtiss JN-4As and LWS, which were flying daily from Kelly Field #1.
The squadron was trained in various mechanics skills with the Curtiss JN-4D trainer, and other necessary skills for duty in France.
Training continued at various locations in the Toronto area until the end of October, when the squadron was sent to Fort Worth, Texas, and assigned to Hicks Field on the 22d where it received flight training on the Curtiss JN-4D trainer.
At Everman Field, those men selected as pilots were taught to fly the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" trainer.
The mechanics frequently went up in the Curtiss JN-4 training planes and on two or three occasions got involved in crashes.
After about a month of basic training as soldiers, the squadron was moved to the newly opened Kelly Field #2 where they began training with Curtiss JN-4 Jennys as a school squadron.
At Selfridge, the flight cadets completed primary aviation flight training, including soloing on Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" trainers.
Charles left in 1920 to attend college and returned only once, in 1923, arriving in his Curtiss JN-4 plane and landing in a field on the west side of the property.
Since Vollick weighed a mere 89 pounds and was only 5 feet 1 inch tall, she used pillows to prop herself up to see out of the cockpit of the Curtiss JN-4.
The Curtiss JN-4, known as "Jenny," was made by Curtiss in 1915, and it was filmed by Lee De Forest in Flying Jenny Airplane (1921), a short film with the sound of the aircraft.
The brewery's Dawn Patrol Gold Kölsch is named in honor of the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane that was built in a factory on Niagara Street in Buffalo and flew dawn patrols off the east coast of England during World War I.
Formed on December 15, 1916, when the Imperial Munitions Board bought the Curtiss (Canada) aircraft operation in Toronto (opened in 1916 as Toronto Curtiss Aeroplanes), Canadian Aeroplanes Ltd. manufactured the JN-4 (Can) Canuck, the Felixstowe F5L flying boat, and the Avro 504.
Curtiss JN-4 | Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company | Glenn Curtiss | Curtiss P-40 Warhawk | Curtiss-Wright | Curtiss | Roy Curtiss | John Curtiss Underwood | Curtiss V-1570 | Curtiss OX-5 | Curtiss-Wright CW-19 | Curtiss Robin | Curtiss NC | Curtiss Flying School | Curtiss Candy Company | Curtiss C-6 | The aircraft Curtiss Robin "St. Louis" (right) during the record flight July 13–30, 1929, St. Louis, Missouri. Its operators were Dale Jackson and Forest O'Brine. A Flight endurance record | Louis Curtiss Studio Building | Louis Curtiss | Curtiss-Wright CW-12 | Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company | Curtiss PN-1 | Curtiss Model H | Curtiss F11C Goshawk | Curtiss A-8 | 1918 Curtiss Jenny airmail stamps |
A more significant type was the Standard J series trainer, similar to the Curtiss JN-4, which began with the SJ prototype, followed by the production J-1 (or SJ-1), of which some 800 were built.