February 3, 1944

Ryan Field

Tucson Ariz.

Feb 3, 1944

Jan 2         .    

Dear A.P.

You were not home when mother wrote her congratulations for the solo.  Well I guess your letter will be along soon so I will be a little ahead of you.  Yes, it was quite a victory but it was not so great as you think.  It is much the feeling of learning to drive so that after you do get so that you can go alone it gets to be an old story.  In getting to be an old story you also get very sloppy and don't learn as fast as you could if under instruction.  However you do learn confidence and self reliance.

All the time you are learning you are under constant tension but up alone you can really relax and get so that flying becomes second nature.  You no longer feel wrong to dive at the earth, or see it above you instead of beneath you.

Around and around and around you go

I never got sick until I had my first unsupervised solo the other day.  I went up to do stalls and split S out of several.  When you pull out you are going so fast that it feels like your stomach is going out through the seat.  I got sick after a while and had to come down.  I had never been sick before.  you really want to get out.

Video on how to do a split S turn

You can't get too laxy up there because your will to live is stronger than your laxness.  Unconsciously you keep looking for other planes, beside you, above you or climbing up beneath.  You never can tell if some dumb son of a gun isn't looking for you.  I really keep away from the others.

Now that the lower class is doing a lot of solo work the junk yard out back is getting larger.  Broken wing tips are out there galore.  One fellow spun in from 500' and luckily wasn't killed.  The airplane absorbed most of the slack and he only lost a few teeth on the head safety.  One other fellow nosed over on a forced landing and broke a prop and tail.

To see more airplane boneyards, click here.

There really is no need for anyone getting seriously hurt because the planes are practically fool proof.  They can completely pull out of a spin if you keep your hands off the controls.  They will fly themselves.  They are unpredictable but if you can climb, dive, fly straight and level, and can turn or recover correctly from either of those altitudes you can flit a P.T.  Of course wind makes a difference on landings but the only thing you can do there is drag a wing.  

I get a heck of a kick out of flying.  You are really free to do what you want within reason.  If only the plane didn't make so much noise you could really live while you fly.

Today I really scared the wits out of myself.  I had to make a cross wind landing and consequently nearly scraped a wind.  When I had recovered completely I took off again and wished to heck I hadn't after it was too late.  After I was up 300' I wished I had stayed on the ground instead of coming around again and trying to figure out the wind.  Well it all worked out O.K. because the next landing was very good and no trouble at all.  It was rather a victory for me.

Some of the fellows are riding the old "Maytag Washer".  None seem to know just why they are up there except that they give pretty enough rides or that they continually or occasionally break regulations.  They are given a good chance to prove themselves because they get 4 check rides before they are washed.  They get 3 civilian check rides and an Army ride.  If they flunk all the civilian but give the Army a good one they pass them all.  If they flunk the Army and pass the civilian they still stay.  Right now I do not worry too much but everyone worries about them at some time or another.  You wouldn't be normal if you didn't.

Today I got an hour of training that is worth about $25 an hour if you tried to buy it.  I rode for an hour in a Link Trainer, an instrument worth $25,000, often called the "infernal machine" because you could go bats if you stayed in there too long.  You probably know what they look like from pictures.  You get in and pull down the hood and you could swear the plane is diving, climbing, turning, or anything but the dials don't move which means you are going straight and level.  They are a lot of fun but will be a lot of work to figure out the new instruments.  There are a lot of misconceptions of instruments made but get straightened out after a few rides.  You can see that the training I am getting is invaluable right now.

Link Trainer controls taken from this rebuilding effort.

Not much room here!

A tight fit!  I hope you're not claustrophobic.

I sure would like to come home and give you a ride in a plane.  We could really get a ride.  I guess planes are scarce right now so there is not much sense in coming right now.  I could give you some low level flying that would make your hair stand on end. (Here I am talking like a veteran.)  Well anyway I could have some fun.  The more you fly the more confidence you get and the quicker you learn to make decisions.  That's what makes pilots I guess.

With love

Austin