Labeled 'my gang' by its owner, this informal group portrait captures the camaraderie of a wartime flight training field, likely one of the civilian-operated elimination bases associated with the Navy's V-5 Naval Aviation Cadet program. Posed before a light biplane, the group includes cadets in khaki work uniforms and a young woman in flight coveralls, a reminder that women served in numerous supporting and instructional roles at civilian flying schools during World War II. Snapshots such as this preserve the personal, human side of a training program that prepared thousands of young Americans for naval aviation service. Project: 218579