I am aware that they changed the training to be a lot faster during the war as the need for more pilots increased, so I am interested in both how the training was before this and also during this period of change ie what they decided to drop from the training, what they kept, hours needed to clock in planes etc. Any info or sources I could go to for very detailed information about training would be helpful, not just in the planes but also what subjects were studied in classrooms, hours/days a week studied etc. Looking for as much information as possible and generally looking at just before WWII and in the beginning of it, less so at the end, but anything is helpful.
A brief overview, from [a previous post] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/53fm10/how_extensive_was_pilot_training_during_wwiii/):
Initial training, covering basic military training and ground instruction, could last from a few weeks to a couple of months. Successful candidates progressed to Elementary Flying Training where they would be taught by an instructor in a simple biplane such as the Tiger Moth; training covered take-offs, landing, stall and spin recovery, basic manoeuvres and such, with pilots expected to be able to fly solo after around eight hours of dual-control instruction. Elementary training could last from around eight to ten weeks with 50 hours of flying time, though more was desirable.
Candidates who failed elementary pilot training could try for other aircrew positions or ground roles; those who succeeded proceeded to the next phase, Service Flying Training. This lasted 16 to 20 weeks with 100+ flying hours on more advanced training aircraft like the Harvard or Oxford. After completing Service Flying Training the successful pilot gained his wings, but only had experience in training aircraft, so needed a period of transition to the front-line aircraft being flown in combat. This was mostly done at an Operational Training Unit (OTU) where the pilot would, ideally, fly the same type of aircraft as his ultimate squadron (often battle-worn or outdated marks). Instructors at OTUs were often pilots who had completed a tour of duty, who would pass on their experience to the trainees. Later in the war, as time allowed, there was also a period of further advanced training between a pilot gaining his wings and going to an OTU. From the OTU the pilot would then be assigned to an operational squadron, though unless the situation was absolutely desperate they would generally spend some further time on familiarisation and non-combat flights rather than being plunged straight into action.
Pilot training was shortest early in the war as the RAF desperately expanded; around the time of the Battle of Britain it could be as short as six months with around 150 hours of flying, followed by 20-50 hours at an OTU (or skipping the OTU entirely with direct posting to a squadron). As the situation became less desperate the training programmes gradually expanded to 18-24 months, by 1944 new pilots could have 300+ hours of flying time, followed by up to 100 at an OTU. A key element in the expansion of the RAF (and RCAF, RAAF and RNZAF) was the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The British climate is far from ideal for flying training, and space is limited, so schools were set up in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia and (primarily) Canada; over the whole war only 13% of pilot were trained in the UK, almost 50% in Canada.
The RAF museum has some more detail in its "Taking Flight" section:
[Inter-War training] (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/taking-flight/historical-periods/inter-war-flying-training.aspx)
[Second World War training] (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/taking-flight/historical-periods/second-world-war-flying-training.aspx)
[Pathway to Pilot] (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/taking-flight/pathway-to-pilot.aspx)
A [May 1940 edition of Flight magazine] (https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1940/1940%20-%201391.html) covers initial training at the time in some depth.
A user on the WW2 Aircraft Forum also made a couple of posts about [training in general] (https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/raf-pilot-training-in-ww2.26347/) and [training hours] (https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/raf-pilot-training-hours-1940.25873/), the latter with some National Archive documents.
Perhaps the best way to get an idea of what training was really like would be via memoirs and first-hand accounts; the [BBC People's War archives] (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/) are one source, you can also search them via Google using e.g. "RAF training site:http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/". The Imperial War Museum have a large [collection of recordings] (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/sound), using the "sound" filter on the search and/or "oral history" can work well though harder to pick out the most applicable results. Most veteran's autobiographies also cover their training; to grab a couple of examples Geoff Wellum's First Light cover a Battle of Britain pilot who was posted straight to 92 Squadron out of Service Flying Training with 168 hours, Norman Hanson's Carrier Pilot is an interesting contrast (though he was Royal Navy rather than RAF) as he trained with the US Navy.