On the 6th October 1941 Eric Langlois made the familiar trip down to Victor Harbour. This time, however, it was not for a pleasant family holiday that he had, over the years, enjoyed so much. His journey would take him to Number 4 Initial Training School (4ITS) at Victor Harbour for his basic training and assessment of his suitability for a trade within the RAAF. For the next four weeks, Aircraftsman Langlois was put through his paces to see if he had the aptitude necessary to become a pilot.

The course was basically in two parts, physical and mental. They were pushed to their physical limits with daily PT and parade drill and then bombarded with more theory studies than most had ever done in their lives.

Besides learning about the structure and procedures of the RAAF their studies included:

4 Initial Training School, Victor Harbour, South Australia

• theory of flight
• armaments
• aero-engines
• navigation
• astronomy

• meteorology
• instruments
• map reading
• photography
• aircraft recognition

By the end of the four weeks all of the recruits had been assessed as to the type of training they were best suited to. Aircraftsman Langlois passed his initial training and was deemed suitable for training as a pilot.