February 17, 1944

Ryan Field

Tucson Ariz.

Feb. 17, 1944

Dear A.P.

I vow right now to not write later than 2000 (8:00 p.m.) because I am very tired and need the extra hour of sleep.

I got your letter today and as I haven't written to you for some time I guess this one is due to you.  I got 4 different letters the day before yesterday but I can't answer them for a couple more days because I am again short of paper but have enough envelopes for the whole outfit.

A "Link trainer" isn't much of a plane.  It has all the instruments in it for cross country blind flying.  It has a two way radio although we only use it one way, instructor to student, no back talk.  They have 10 or 12 of these in a hanger and the instructors are non-coms who have had the training required to train others.

The instruments in the plane have identical sets upon the instructors table so that he can watch your altitude, air speed, rate of climb, etc while you watch them in the little plane.  You get a series of exercises on each lesson so that you get so that you can control your speed with the stick and not the throttle.  In the last lesson you get a chance to fly a course and to trace circles on a paper.  They are drawn by a machine that is synchronized to the trainer so that you can fly a course and have it traced for you to show your mistakes.

Link only lasts 5 hours so that every thing we learn is very elementary and little or no use in our present flying.

In our planes we have one way communication and it is of course from the instructor to student, again no back talk.  They use gas ports which is a rubber tube more or less that is attached to the helmet in such a way that the instructor can be heard very well.  The planes are equipped for electrical communication but we are not so we don't worry about it.

Today I had a check flight and it was not very much of a ride.  I gave him a pretty good ride and all he had to say afterwards that I had no dangerous characteristics and that my sight for a "forced landing" was not quite what he had picked out, my lazy 8s were appropriately what he wanted.  He didn't have any unfavorable comments however.

3 days ago I had a civilian check ride which was not quite so good.  He said that my torque correction in stalls was weak, my chandelles were not too good, my forced landing field was not too good but otherwise all right.  I also didn't try to gain enough altitude after a spin recovery.  I passed it all right. I don't have to sweat out any more check rides until I have completed 40 hours or more and that is not too long from now as I now have 36 hours to my credit.

From now on we will have to get 2 hours a day to finish on schedule.  I have 12 hours of solo now but must have 30 before the course is over so you see I have quite a way to go yet.  Everything is going according to schedule.  I have passed the 90 degree stage and the 180 degree as well and have only the 180 degree cross wind stage to go.

I got a letter from Aunt Emma the other day and she seemed to think that grandpa was coming along very well considering.

Well I must close now.  Tell Mother to write as soon as she gets her box and tell me what she thinks.

With love

Austin.