April 24, 1944

War Eagle Field

April 24, 1944

Dear Mother:

I guess you heard the Kay Kyser program the other night. {Link is not the to actual program, but to another from the same year in DC}.  It sure was a lot of fun to put on.  Everyone here enjoyed it immensely.  Kay Kyser really has quite a sense of humor.  Also his program is well gone over and planned before he goes on the air.  There was nothing hap-hazard about the way it was put on.  The contestants were the only unknown quantities and one didn't even seem to be a quantity at all.  I refer to L. Pounds who by the way is a big wingding around here.  He had himself put on the program even if he didn't know what goes on half the time.  He really has one of the slowest functioning minds I have seen.  I suppose I could do no better myself.

Kay Kyser

The fellow Shearin flies with me.  He is from Tenn. which you found out from the program.  He is a great big fellow and is some character.  I guess he is just a typical southerner.

Of course the program was full of over statements about the country and the weather.  However once you have been here and know a conditions in other parts of the U.S. you are very glad to leave.  Not that it is dusty all the time but we live in a kind of funnel here so that 3/4s of the time we get pretty strong winds.  The ranges of mts around tend to send the wind down this valley.  All the program amount to was a lot of fun for everyone.

I have had 3 different instructors for transition flying already and have had one instructor for instruments and will get another next week.  Most of the men have taken the chance of getting into the A.T.C. rather than get another job when this school closes next month.  I guess I am just hard on them anyway.  I lean a lot from each one because each has quite a different style of flying.  Each one harps on different details and therefore I should get most of them pretty well straightened out.  However what I learn helps and of course hinders in that each time I spend too much time learning a new technique and not getting some of the essentials such as chandelles and lazy 8's and acrobatics.  However they are not as important as just plain flying ability.

I think I am pretty nearly ready for check rides so my career in the Air Corps will be determined pretty soon.  I feel sure that the next 40 hours will put me over the hump.  They are getting rid of men in Basic pretty fast and when they get to advance they are too valuable to wash out for no consequence.  I am sorry to hear that Fred B. was washed but that is just one of those things.  

We have the floor to clean now so I will close.

With love

Austin

April 7, 1944

War Eagle Field

Lancaster

April 7, 1944

Dear Mary:

Please pardon the pencil but I have had trouble with my pen leaking when I fly so I have given up carrying it. When I get up to 10,000' it must leak because on such days my pocket always has a new ink spot on it. 

I went to L.A. last week and got you a couple of my pieces for your bracelet.  They don't mean anything special as far as I know.  Maybe I have duplicated some of the others but I guess it won't be too noticeable, however I hope I haven't.  I guess you can get William to put them on the chain.  I guess the bracelet was rather bare but should be something to look at when you get a few more.  The little airplane is a replica of what I would like to fly but probably won't.  You can guess what it is.

There isn't much going on here except the flying.  That is coming along all right I guess.  They are beginning to put the old squeeze play on us the way they are through out the whole A.C.  They have washed out about 20% of the upper class in the last 4 days.  Right now they are more interested in getting officers rather than flyers because they can make a flyer out of most anyone but officers can be made only by personal effort.  We are going to be on the ball if we get through.

War Eagle Field is going to be closed by the Army after next class so all the instructors are tying to get into the Air Transport Command.  Our instructor was lucky and got in right away as so is leaving us right away.  He was a swell egg and even though he made you feel miserable most of the time he was teaching us to fly which is the important part of the training to me.  Well we are sorry to see him leave but he was getting himself a commission flying rather than being drafted in a couple of months. (Just had supper)

I must tell you what we had for supper.  I guess some plane crashed into a den of rabbits because we had them tonight and they tasted real good.  I guess Mother knows how they taste but maybe you have never had any.  They taste a lot like chicken and have a lot of white meat on them.  The ones we had were very tender but I guess they could be as tough as old hen.  (By the way this is Saturday now and I have just come in from a practice parade and my hands are so cold I can hardly write.)

Have I written that Kay Kyser is going to make his appearance here on the 19th of this month.  He is going to do his radio program and remain as long as he can furnish fun for the fellows.  I guess the show will be in a big hanger because it is the only place that all the cadets can be assembled.  I guess everyone should hear the broadcast.  You know that there is a chance I could get on it and that would be something.

Kay Kyser and his orchestra

There is going to be a big parade here today for the graduating class. They have all their flying time in (70 hours) and will leave here in about 10 days.  Some are going to get 3 day passes this weekend and some may get longer ones because 10 days is a lot of time especially when there are no scheduled formations.

A message just came over the speaker system saying that there are no busses going to L.A. this weekend.  That means that 600 or more cadets are stranded here on the "Mojave" 4 miles from Lancaster and 80 miles from the bright lights.  I am a lucky exception.  I have a ride in a '39' Dodge convertible.  I can get down but how will I get back.

'39 Dodge D11 Graber

This letter must be getting very boring but I can't find your last letter to find out something to tell you.

Oh yes.  Tell Mother that the plane she sees flying around is probably a B29; that is what I gather from her description.  The B29 looks an awful lot like the B17 only it has a longer nose and longer stinger in the rear and a wing that looks like a B24.  The plane could be a British "Sterling" but I doubt if they have any of them around.  However B29's are going overseas soon so they may be getting transition training on the East Coast.

Well I must close now.

With love

Austin