Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-07-04

n sarrnd azF se sssiEte1 via
he c~uafrols - tk.rd day. si4ziar
and fyinr arua1a ths cu1rse he
feurth day iEaziHr ard In farf -
ues algEcfto I'm fnyl TIE ship asg
TIE i~nstrlrtoF izzt zen alour zs
passenger o. cntE We had abSat
thirty ninutes % one h0ur WITH the
instrucior. usually flying ar0und =.
three nile courze then dive down and
land from a heght u from 500 -.
100 feet 0coosianally We Wonld 90 .
nile OF two q the course and NJ
higher and practice banking. easy
spirals eights. 81; then after about
six hours Of dual Instructions. they
took M up Aboat $500 FEET 70 gct ne
accustomed to side slips. shdding.
nose dives. tail spins. and a Few 9th
CT thrills Tien ! had % go through
the various stunts and get out Of the
awkward positions before they got
serious Il was real sport ] put the
machine in tail spin that was very
successful. We turned around hree
times and fen about 1900 feet before I
got the ship Strengthened out with
considerable assistance from the in
structor. We were still up about a
half mile so there was no real dan
ger and ] might as well have ,et IL 20
some more"
They turned me loose last Tuesday
and now ] am s0loing (not vocally). Il
It much more fun to fly alone for now
! don't have an instructor IN front Of
me TO turn around and "euss me out"
when ! don't keep exactly on the
course, or when the wind or an air
pockets tips up n wing, or ! don't
land without bouncing and countless
faults that only an instructor can
see. fly exactly one hour a day
now but / think l shall get in second
stage solo and tomorrow and get an
hour and a half a day.
They have about l25 planes here,
mostly Custiss ]. Ma. DIS with Cur
tiss o. X. Motors, but we don't use
al Of them for instructors are scarce
and the school isn't nearly full. There
are only about IS or 90 cadets here,
some with considerable experience,
and a few get commissions every
week. Twenty men came up from Dali
lac today, some from Henry Kunkel's
squadron. l am sorry he was not
with them, but perhaps he has been
sent to some other school. Some Of the
cadets have been waiting at Dallas
for three or four months, so / am
doubly glad that l was not sent there.
However, it is said they are moving
the boys out of Dallas rapidly now, as
the flying schools are opening up in
full force, so / guess tie fellows
there won't have to wait much longer
in captivity. The conditions must be
pretty bad there for they say our
meager accommodations are more ike
home Or heaven than anything they
have een for a long time. Their only
regret was leaving the splendid hos
people Of Dallas.
| am acting as barracks guard to-
day and am relieved of all classes and
except my hour of flying.
1t is not a very difficult job, and / am
supposed to stay indoors so / am pass
ing the time of by writing letters,
hence this rather lengthy one 10 you.
If we have good fling weather, /
ought to finish training here in five
or six weeks more and then get my
commission. | dom know what they
viii do with me then, perhaps send
me TO some advanced training school
for specialized work or possibly a
few Of US will be kept as instructors.
Ny greatest hope is that they will
send me to France as soon as posi-
bic.