Aug 6, 1943
Fri. 7:00 P.M.
Dear Folks:
I guess I better write you folks. I’ve been trying to find time all week but I just couldn’t manage it. We flew Tues. and Thurs. night (last night). You know that makes a good long day of it. On the nights that we fly it makes about a 21 hr. day. That just about knocks the stuffings out of us. Everybody is just about dead tired. When we fly nights we sleep until 8 the next morning which gives us about 5 hrs. sleep. The other days we get up at 6 which gives us less than 8 hrs. sleep. So I really miss my sleep.
Last night we shot landings without lights. All we had to see by was these flare pots along the runway. It was so dusty we could hardly see what we were doing. One fellow got lined up wrong and took off in the wrong direction. He knocked a corner marker light down and finally ended up in the fence. He was lucky he didn’t even get hurt. He is one of my instructor’s students too. I now have 62 hrs. time in.
Yesterday was a big day for me. First I went up and did so many acrobatics that I made myself sick. I just over did it. Well I went up again. You see we can only stay up for about 1 hr. at a time. I went up again and flew until it was time to come in. I came in but I overshot so I opened the throttle to go around again. I got about halfway up the field and right over the parked planes when my engine spattered and stopped dead. I lowered the nose and switched gas tanks. At the same time I headed for a strip of ground in between the two cement runways. I couldn’t land on the closest runway because that was the end the planes were taking off from. Then finally my engine caught and started up again. All the trouble was I had let all the gas drain out of the right hand tank. I thought sure I was going to have a forced landing.
Then yesterday I also had to meet the Group board. This consists of 3 lieutenants. It was like this. About Tues. we were coming back from P.T. The cadet officer in charge gave us “Double time march”. None of us started to run except himself and one other fellow. We didn’t feel like running because all the rest of the fellows had been dismissed and were already to the barracks. There were only 10 or 12 of us left. Well the Captain in charge of the P.T. department saw us and called us back. He was pretty mad. He said that was mutiny. So we were turned into the command of cadets. So yesterday we all had to go before the board and try to explain the situation. Well they didn’t like it much. So they decided to make an example of us. Here is what our punishment is going to be. First, at all formations after the report is taken us 10 fellows fall out into a formation of our own and double time to our destination. Second, during P.T. period after calisthenics instead of playing ball we get into a formation and spend the whole period going around the block. We run 50 steps and walk 50 steps. Third, we each have 12 tours to walk and are confined to the post for 2 weekends. We only have 3 weekends left here. So you see I will be doing a lot of running in the next 3 weeks. It is getting sort of boring already. It is real hot here again.
Well folks I better close now. You know I haven’t found time to write to Murell or Pug or anybody for a long time. At the rate we are going I won’t get any time for a long time. You see they just put a new schedule into effect. It was supposed to give us more spare time but it worked just the opposite. I guess they forgot to figure in our flying. So we are on the run all day.
We had to designate our choice between single or twin engine school. I took single engine. I decided I would rather have a fighter plane so I took single engine. Of course they will put me where they want to.
I better close now. It’s 9:10. I got a letter from Dort today. Well goodbye folks.
Yours truly,
Alva
Ancestors Across the Ages 