January 13, 1944

Ryan Field

Tucson Arizona

Jan. 13, 19434

Dear A.P.

I just got the letter you sent on Jan 2 and I noticed that it took quite a while to get here but some of that was in a re-route to me here.  I guess mail will take the same time here as any where out in this direction.

I hope you have got the card I sent back in that direction so you know a little about what goes on here.  Those little planes have a lot of pep and are something to fly properly.  Right now I can't fly worth a darn and even though I had time at C.T.D. I am having to learn all over again.  I thought I would be a hot pilot when I got here but the opposite seems to be the case.  I do everything wrong or seemingly so.  Even though I can do turns and climbs and banks and everything I can't do them well.  I don't know if that is normal or not.  I guess that 1 hour and  46 minutes is not too much on a ship like this.  They certainly are a lot different from one of those Cabs we flew at C.T.D.  When you do a maneuver in a PT22 it takes a lot of skill and smooth handling.  However it is really a lot of fun and I guess I am coming along pretty well.

We are pretty well taken care of here in the way of reading matter.  I used to get a look at "Time" when ever I went to Los Angeles, on that long stretch between Santa Ana and the "big town" but no I don't know if I will have time except in the weekends and then we will be getting open post and may not then.  We are required in a way to keep up on world affairs although we never get a test or anything on it.  Once every 2 weeks we have to go to the barber and to get there we have to go through a "War Room" where all the latest maps and military information is available.  As you go through something is bound to draw your attention and from then on one thing just leads to another.

Some one had better get busy on the watch because I will need it in several weeks when I do some solo work.  After we have 9 or 10 hours we are supposed to solo.  We have to keep our own time and there is no time piece available in the rear cockpit of a trainer.  The Swiss watches seem all right to me.  Some of the fellows have them and they seem to stand up O.K.  In fact they seem better than some of these American made.  Well see what can be domes and let me know what the results are.

We don't have code any more.  It doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference to me if I take it or not while on this post.  We will get it later on and I know that I can learn all over quickly all I forget here.

I don't know how much time you spent in this state but I guess you couldn't have experienced a worse dust storm than we had last week.  It was Texas dust they say but to me it made no difference.  It came in everywhere and got on everything.  It came so thick you couldn't see 100 ft and how it blew. The wind must have been 40 m.p.h. or more and you can bet we walked around half blind while we were out.  Inside although it didn't blow it looked like cigarette smoke.  You can bet we spent some real rough days trying to sweep it up and have it fly instead of sweep.  There was no flying of course. What would Mother say if some day she should come home and find 1/2 an inch of red dirt on everything?

Tucson Dust Storm 

I have got to get studying now so I can pass a weather exam tomorrow.  By the way we are having classes in Engines and Weather for awhile.  I will write my schedule in the next letter if I remember.

With love

Austin