of Buffalo N.Y.) and he was flying the plane, with me
in the front seat. When coming in for a landing he was going so slow
I thought we were going to stall and crash. I yelled at him and
pushed the stick forward and we landed okay. I was really scared and
told my instructor I never wanted to fly with Bill again. He must
have agreed with me because I never had to again.
During Basic training was our first experience with the Link Trainer.
It was a replica of the cockpit of an airplane and was used to learn
how to fly by instruments only. It operated about the same as the
"mechanical bull" they have in Western nightclubs now. It was
completely closed and dark with only the instruments lit up. It was
run by a sergeant who would put it into a spin, upside down or any
dangerous situation and you had to get back to level flight again. It
was frightening and exactly like being in a plane in fog or a cloud.
Fifteen hours of Link Training were required in Basic, Advanced, all
my flying in California, even in England while flying missions.
At the end of March 1943 I graduated from Basic and went to Advanced
Training at Napier Field in Alabama. We were beginning to know a lot
of the other students and would stay together with them right on
through, except for the ones who washed out. In Advanced we flew the
AT-6 which was a faster plane and easier to fly. We had about the
same schedule at this field flying one or two hours a day.
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