Oct. 12, 1943
Tues. 9:00 P.M.
Dear Folks:
Well folks I had a big day today. This morning I flew a P-40 for 1 hr. 5 min. There is only one seat in those babies so we have to go solo the first time. Boy that old engine looked big sticking out there in front of me. I couldn’t see straight ahead on the take-off or landing because that old nose is so big. That plane has a 1200 H.P. engine in it, so I am now qualified to fly an 1800 H.P. plane. I went up to 10,000 ft. but the clouds closed in below me so I had to come down. I found a hole and went down through it. I was hitting about 300 M.P.H. We are allowed to go 350 M.P.H. here. Boy that old plane is really nice. I made a wonderful landing and surprised myself almost speechless.
This afternoon I really had fun. I had 2 hours of what you might call follow the leader. For this we have 3 planes string out not too close.
Then the following planes do everything the lead plane does. Well the first time up I was in the lead plane with my instructor and that passed as my acrobatic check. I did some slow rolls and barrel rolls etc. Then we were just doing climbs and turns and dives. Then we got to going in circles and then we started playing around the clouds. There was a solid overcast and we were above it. We were monkeying around those clouds that stuck up further than the rest. We would drive down and go round and round and every which way. The idea was for the lead ship to try to shake the other ones off and lose them. Well I blacked out on this flight and my instructor got sick. Then we went down and I got in a different ship while another kid rode with my instructor. I started out in 3rd place but we had a little mix-up and first thing I knew I was in the number 2 position. Then we were back at it again. I had my throttle wide open most of the time. And I passed out and when I came to I could see at first but I couldn’t seem to move my arms or legs.
Once when I was still in 3rd position the lead plane did a sort of Immelmann. There we were all 3 planes in the same hook. I was afraid I was too close to the plane in front of me and I was sort of undecided what to do. Then I stalled out and my engine conked out when I was going straight up. Boy I really had fun today.
I got a letter from Dort yesterday and one from Ma today. Say what happened to that calf that you found dead?
I wrote a couple of letters tonight to see if I could make any plane reservations. If I have to come by train I probably won’t have more than 3 days at home. Three days isn’t enough to suit me.
Well folks I better close for now. Three weeks from tomorrow and I will graduate.
Yours truly,
Alva
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