March 30, 1944

War Eagle Field

Lancaster

Mar. 30, 1944

Dear Mother:

I have received several letters from home and elsewhere since I have attempted to answer any.  The chief reason is that time is rather short here and the schedule run pretty close.  That seems like an old story by now but each time we move we go to a place where time moves faster and intervals between are few and far between.  At Ryan I thought I was rushed but it was a schedule full of spare time compared with our present one.

We get up at 5:45 to meet reveille.  We make our beds and everything that has to be done gets done or else.  We eat breakfast at 6:45 and go to the flight line at 7:30.  We are on schedule there until 12:45.  We return and eat dinner at 1310 and go to first class at 1340.  We finish ground school at 1640 and then go to PT at 1655.  We have an hour of PT and have just time to take a shower.  At 1825 we have supper and then retreat at 1850.  We then have drill for an hour or maybe a little less if it gets dark early. About 2000 we should be free but if you have ground school at night or have flunked some class you don't get any time yet.  We have been having lectures at night that last about an hour and that means we get off at 2100 and taps at 2130.  In that last 30 min. you make your bed and shave.  Then your day is done and starts again before you have a chance to think again.  That's my day.

Flying is going all right I guess but I got kind of discouraged learning to fly all over again. I thought I could fly before I hit this field and here is where I am learning how little I know.  You fly with your right hand on the stick your feet on the rudder pedals and the left hand is flying all over the place.  You have a radio to control and a "mike" you carry if you want to use it.  You have a propeller pitch, a mixture control, a throttle and a couple of heat controls.  You also have a wobble pump, trim tabs, a gas tank switch and any number of instruments.  I sure looked sick in that plane the first day.  You also have a torque correction to take into account, and the altitude of the plane is the big problem.  You try to maintain an even bank, keep the nose on the horizon.  It is a very big job to take on all at once.  Right now I doubt if I could even fly a Ryan but I guess I could if I started to remember a few things.

BT-13A student cockpit

(About 24 hours have lapsed now)

I had to leave off the first part of this letter to go up to the ground school on business.  I had to write a 350 word essay so I could get out this weekend.  I have it all done now so I can go out.  

I don't know what I was thinking about yesterday so I will say something about our flying schedule.  I should solo soon and get in a little time in the air to myself.  Next week we go on our first cross country hop which comes about 300 mi in the form of a triangle.  We are going to have a lot of fun because we will do it solo.  It will be easy to get lost because we will fly over a lot of desert on the way and check points will be few and far between. However a lot of fellows have done it before me so I guess I can do it.

We were kidding the instructors last night about our getting lost.  I told him if I got lost I would fly the "iron beam" (the railroad).  He said that was all right but not to fly down the middle of the tracks but down the sides because the navy flies down the middle.  One leg of the trip will be over a road and near a railroad.  This road follows a rather circular form and goes around a danger area where heavy B29's, B17's, and B20's do precision bombing.  We often hear these boys talking over the radio because this area is not too far away.

I have been dreaming of coming home in the last few nights.  Is that a good sign?  I hope so because they are extending our course another week here and maybe a couple of weeks later on so I may not come home when I expect if I do get home.  It's a wonderful thing to think about anyway.

I will get into your letter now.  I guess the deal on getting out that class book so soon after the boy's death is that one complete page was added.  You can see in the back an empty page.  I guess they had the pages all printed and only had to add this one when they were bound.  It was a rather quick job.

A few of the boys from Beloit went to Ryan with me but only a few.  I think there were maybe 4 or 5 of them.  You see we were only replacements for another sqn. going there so that we got pretty well mixed up.  You will find a few all the way around.  Still fewer are here at War Eagle than were at Ryan.  I sure meet a new bunch every time I move.

As for the group  Richardson the nice looking fellow is here with me.  Rogers and Reynolds went to Marana which his near Tucson for Basic and Rowland was my bunkmate who washed out.  If you think Richardson would be nice to write to you had better write his girlfriend whom he may marry soon seeing he is now near home.  That seems to be the case of most of the fellows here.  Most have very nice pictures tuck up or they are married and their wives live near here.  I guess I am the only totally unattached one in the outfit.

A box will be very welcome you can bet.  We don't have too much we can eat after meals around here.  We can have food in the lockers if we don't keep it too long.  As for 5 and 10 cent candy that will do very well.  I like the licorice that was sent last time.  Any kind of candy that will ship always tastes good.  I suppose things are getting short everywhere except in the Army.

(Another 24 hours has gone by)

This letter seems to be extending over the best part of a week.  Well you can read it and imagine it is three letters all received on the same day.

Today is Saturday and we have just finished our inspection and have the day free soon if they will only have PT. After PT we can go to L.A. and see the town.

I received a letter from Cousin Emma in Hollywood the other day and she said she had Dana's wife is living with her so I guess I had better not expect to stay out there.  I can find a hotel room easily if we get to town early.

Yesterday I soloed that BT13A.  It is quite a thrill of course and I bet I got a dozen grey hairs in the process.  there are so many things you could forget and anyone might make a trip very uncomfortable.  How I would like to get into an auto where you can live with a peaceful mind knowing that if anything goes wrong you have just to stop and think about it.  Up in the air that is rather hard to do.  I guess anyone can fly if they put their mind to it even though there is a lot to remember.

BT 13A Vultee

It is so different flying a closed cockpit plane.  You can't hear the wind as well and you can't feel the air rush by when you do a slip in a turn.  You can easily let the airspeed drop until the plane stalls because the controls are so heavy.  They are so smooth to handle though.  You can maintain your altitude by just moving a trim tab and it will fly at that altitude even when up and down currents of air bounce the plane around a lot.  

I have a lot of fun with my instructor.  He is always trying to screw me up and when I do something a little out of the ordinary he makes some witty remark.  Sometimes he gets awful mad at me for some of the things I do but I guess I am slowly catching on.

I may not get a chance to answer Aunt Emma's gift right away.

I have started now to finish this letter but for good this time.  I won't tell you how much time has gone by.  I guess I have quite a manuscript now and I have run out of things to talk about.  I may get a chance to write during the time we are on the flight line.  I may write to Aunt Emma tonight so if I mention my thanks for the sewing kit that hasn't yet arrived I guess I will be in the clear.  I am sending Mary a few additions to her charm bracelet.  They came from L.A. (maybe you can guess how long it has been since this letter started).

Well I think I will close up for now and get some sleep.  I had a long week end.  I will write about it in my next letter.

With love

Austin.

March 17, 1944 Postcard

Mar. 17

Dear Bill,

Here is a picture of the plane we will start flying the day you receive this card if not before.  It really got warm today and I expect we can use the swimming pool soon   How about finding time for a letter.

Love
Austin

March 16, 1944

War Eagle Field

Lancaster

Mar. 16, 1944

Dear Mother:

I received your letter of the 9th yesterday.  It took quite a time catching up with me but it did all right and I was very glad to get it.

I don't like California for more reasons than one.  The weather around here is such a disappointment.  All the mts. around here have snow on them and it feels like there should be snow here soon.  Actually the snow has come and gone and it should warm up soon.  We get so much wind here that it makes it seem a lot colder.  You see we are situated between 2 good size ranges of mts and the wind just howls down through this valley.  I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we had an idea that they had a winter out there but they always tell you how wonderful it is, this land of the sunshine and flowers.  Well I guess everything like this is bad when it is new.

We started ground school yesterday and it promises to be hard but interesting.  We get code and radio theory and the procedure for running our B.T. all in one class.  That radio procedure in BT is a lot of fun because they have a real radio upon which they can p ice up all kinds of stains you can tune in the tower here and listen to the operations control officers giving orders to ships landing.  You can pick up radio beam signals and radio range station signals which are not at all interesting.  They send out code all the time and its the same thing all the time.  We have a course in navigation which is not too much of a course.  It is just a case of learning how to plot a course and learning how to stay on the course with wind, magnetic variation and deviation.  We will do a lot of work plotting our cross country courses.  There is really not too much to a navigation course if you do contact flights.  However we have a lot to learn about radio beams and such but I don't know if that comes in navigation or in radio.  We also have a final course in meteorology which is the final course we will have on weather.  We will be able to predict weather conditions and future weather when we finish.  We also have a course in aircraft identification.

We had 2 tests that we had to pass if we didn't want to go ground school.  I think I passed both.  They were identification and code.  We had a 6 words code check which was slow enough even after laying off for 2 months for me to pass.  The aircraft test was not too easy because they had shots of German and Jap planes we had never studied.  Even so I just passed.  I guess I will have a chance to get "sack time" at night and write letters.  You may get a pick up in letters.

We have very little time in the morning to do anything.  We get up at 5:45 and have our first class at 7:00 which gives about 1:15 minutes to do everything that is required.  After we have eaten breakfast and made our bed we have little time to clean up around, however everything must be spick and span for inspection.  As we haven't had an official inspection yet we don't know just what is wrong so we may have a lot more to cram into this morning than we have now.  Things are getting organized slowly but surely and we are all getting acquainted so it is not going to be such a tough life after all.  In fact when we get to flying and get to use the PX and some of the recreational facilities it will be rather nice around here.  I guess they are just trying to make officers out of us and some of us don't catch on so quick.  I guess none of us catch on too quick.

Well I hope Pop sells a lot of houses so you can come out when I graduate (If I do) and pin my wings on.  You will have to come all the way because I will never get out of the west coast area now.  They have so many fields for all kinds of training here that they won't send me near home for any of the training.  I might get to Western Texas but that is none to near home.  I guess it is time for chow so I will sign off.

Your loving son

Austin

Just for fun, a news clipping of A.P. describing him as the oldest builder of houses in Wilmington.

March 11, 1944

Ryan Field

Tucson

Mar. 11, 1944

Dear Mary:

This is a short note just to let you know that I haven't forgotten you.

The bracelet is something I bought in a little curio shop in town. It is supposed to be sterling silver but I doubt it very much.  Maybe you can buy a few more pieces for it and make it more interesting.  I will send along pieces for it as I buy them.

I hope you like it.  Incidentally I got it in the same place I got the cactus.  They are pretty good to servicemen and this one especially to me because he also has done traveling in Mass. and said he liked the country very much.

With love

Austin

March 10, 2944

Ryan Field

Tucson, Ariz.

Mar. 10, 1944

Dear Mother:

I should have written long ago but besides being rather busy the last few days I guess I am rather lazy.  I don't write as often as I should but I like to relax and read a magazine once in a while.

I received your box the day before yesterday.  It was somewhat of a surprise.  Of course everyone was interested in what I had so it got pretty well spread around.  I like the bag of candy very much.  We don't get much candy here.  I will start using the eye drops right away.  Did I ask for some rags?  Well I have a lot of them now.  They will come in handy as shining cloths.  I guess I better use this writing paper up before I start on yours.  As for envelopes, I don't need any.  I have lots of them left over from all that have been sent or I have bought.  It sure is swell to receive a box once in a while.

We have completed our flying at Primary.  I got in 65 hours and 18 minutes and 5 hours and 45 min of link.  I wish it was not over because we have had so much fun learning.  I suppose you are glad to have me on the ground for a couple of weeks but I sure envy the underclassmen who are flying today.  They keep buzzing over the barracks and I wish I were up there.

I guess it is all right for me to tell you where I am going.  I am heading for California again.  I am going to a field near Lancaster, Calif. and it is about 30 miles by air from L.A. or about 60 by road.  I guess I will see L.A. again and see your cousins again.  I am going to a pretty good B.T. (Basic Trainer) school and it has a good record.  I don't know what I will fly there but we are pretty sure of getting A.T.s near the end of the program.  We haven't been sent to the fields of our choice but were sent according to a rating we received at classification at Santa Ana. 

I am still hoping to get my choice of planes.  I saw a plane, maybe I should say the plane I have been wanting to fly ever since I started my training.  It is of course the A20.  One landed here last night.  It took the whole diagonal runway of the field and he ended up with his brakes smoking like everything.  It sure is a wonderful plane to fly.  You see I have a chance to fly one because I am pretty big to fly a fighter but not too big for this one.  The pilot was a little bit shorter than I am but a lot beefier.  He was a big boy anyway.  The only trouble is that you have to be good to fly one and maybe I am not good enough.  Well I can do my best and see what happens.

Douglas A-20 Havoc

Today we graduate and tomorrow we ship.  I am going to get another overnight ride on the government.  I sure like to travel around this way.  Just think I am getting all these free rides where it will cost you quite a lot to come out here if and when I graduate.  All I have is about 4 or 5 more months and I may get my wings.

The governor of the state is going to be here to see us graduate.  In fact he is here right now and is going to have a chance to say his piece this afternoon. You see it is election year out here and the old boy has to have a little favorable publicity.  Just because of him we don't get any extra time off and don't get a few of the open parts that are scheduled.  That's what happens everywhere.  I sure would like to give that old boy a ride.  I guess I could make him wish he never saw a P.T. 22 when he got down.  I guess I could make any earth bound human wish he were down for a while anyway.  I sure would like to give Pop a ride.  I guess I won't be able to anyway because my rating will be above any plane available near home or near the money we could pay to rent a plane.  I would have to learn all over again.  That won't be hard to do.

Governor Sidney Preston Osborn of Arizona

I have some more I could write but I have 5 minutes till chow and I have some work to do.  I have a lot of stuff that I should get started your way but I hate to send it by mail since it costs so much.  Anyway I will send the most important stuff right away.

With love

Austin

March 8, 1944

Mar. 8, 1944

Dear Mother:

Well here comes another set of cards with a little story.  This card has nothing to do with the story but was picked out because it was rather nice looking and seemed to be a place I would like to see.  I have never seen any water like that but the rock formations are very familiar because on cross country I flew close to a mountain side and the side really looked about that close as I went by.

 That cactus is very familiar because they grow like trees and are just as hard when you hit.

This card shows a very familiar scene, one which we see every time we go to town.  The desert, mountains and the cactus are the most seen things out here.  When you get in the air they are now more distinguishable but on the ground that is all that can be seen.  I don't know much about them but I am sure that I would not like to run into any of them unexpectedly like one fellow did running the Burma Road.

A.P. was very interested in the architecture of many of the beautiful buildings here.  Well this card shows a typical farm and I might say a dormant form of habitant.  "Old Tucson" which is mentioned was originally a movie set built several years ago.  The film "Arizona" was filmed out there.  However the post office shown is a typical structure.  They are made out of mud bricks which stand up rather well under the beating they get.

As we got our first look at town each week it looks much like this.  There isn't much of a "skyline" but it looks pretty good to us.  The "A" Mt. is a dairy in the valley beneath the mt.  It has a huge "A" on the side and is a distinguishing feature.  The fields are kept green by irrigation and I might say that the green looked rather good.

Google Maps street view of Tucson today at 6th and Congress

You can see a few trees grow there and they also look good although they are rather dried up looking.

This picture is taken almost at the corner of 6th and Congress, the corner we get off.  The 2 theaters are the ones we go to often and the bus shown is just like our only means of transportation.  I guess you can get some idea of what the town is like now.  I guess I will be able to remember it better also.

Love

Austin

This is what A Mountain looked like back in the day.

Updated and patriafied

March 1, 1944

Ryan Field

Tucson Ariz.

Mar. 1, 1944

Dear A.P.

I have a chance to write a short letter because I want to get to bed early.  I have a check ride tomorrow which I can pass if I stay "on the ball" and it will be easier if I get a little extra sleep tonight.

Today I got a dual cross country ride of about 45 miles.  We had a little head wind so we made it in about 38 minutes and came home in a somewhat shorter time.  The plane wasn't too good and would only cruise at 85 miles an hour.  It also would not climb too well because we were about 11 miles from the main airport before we got to our altitude.  We went over some rather mountainous country and as I had a map I got a little used to picking out check points along the way.  As a whole the ride was rather uneventful.

We made a stop at a little airport and then came back over the same route.  on the way back we ran close to a pretty good size range of mountains.  We had a little fun watching them go by.  The air was pretty rough but not too much so.

I guess I kind of mislead you with this link trainer business.  All a Link Trainer is is a gadget to teach you instrument flying while still on the ground where you are still safe.  They can stimulate any kind of conditions in the plane that you can encounter in the actual flight.  You can do stimulated maneuvers of any kind in the ship but stay on the ground and move only around the axis of the plane. All the instruments are run by little .... and not by actual conditions.  They are called all kind of names and the name of "Infernal Gadget" really describes it.  It really is a series of gadgets and things can certainly go haywire if you don't know how to make the thing work for you.  I think I can find a picture of one if you want one but all you have to do is find a flying magazine around and you can find a picture.  They are not all you expect.

Well we are getting pretty well done here.  I have 10 more hours to go to finish the course and I could finish that in about 4 days easily or even less if they would let me.  As it is I guess I can't get my time in so fast now as I have been doing.  The instructor keeps talking about "when you get to Basic", so I guess I may get there yet.  We are scheduled to leave here the 11th or 12 of this month.  When we do go I can't say right now I am sorry.  The trouble is that the next place is likely to be much the same as this only a lot worse.  The only complaint is that most of these places are out in the desert and rather uncomfortable places weekends.

Pretty soon I am going to have to make a big decision, shall I go in for fighter or light bombardment training.  These are the only two choices we have.  If I go in for Fighter I may get assigned to P38s which is not too bad or I might get my choose of fighter planes.  I would kind of like that .  However if I go in for light bombardment I may get an A20 light bomber which would be just the thing but probably I would get a B17 or B 24 which are heavy bombers.  That is not so much to my liking.  You see twin engine fighters (P38) and multi-engine bombers are the only schools available out in the command area.  If I qualified for anything else I doubt if I could get it because they hate to train men out here and then lose them to other sections.  Right now I don't have a lot of choice to make anyway.

P38

B17 Bomber

B24 Bomber

It seems I am not too big to fly P38s or P47 and most of the modern fighters because they are really building big planes around the present motors.  I hate to think of driving a B24 or maybe a B29 because they handle like Mack Trucks even thought the training is the only training I can use after the war.  Very little in a commercial way has been done with single engine fighter training.  Well I won't be too disappointed which way it goes.  It isn't a choice of picking the least dangerous because none are safe.  I guess I have a lot to do before I get to fighter planes.  So I must get some sleep.

With love

Austin