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Old 25th April 2014, 00:36
Tim O. Tim O. is offline
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Re: Aircraft Commander

I don't think the observer was always the captain of the aircraft, although it seems to have been common early in the war. Due to the attrition of highly trained officers, the rules changed in 1940 to discourage more than one officer in any aircraft. Thereafter far more officer pilots were also captains of the aircraft as well. You are absolutely correct though that the tradition from WW1 of the pilot being a 'taxi' driver lasted much longer in the Luftwaffe than in the RAF or USAAF.
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