August 29, 1943

                                                            Aug 29
Dear Folks:
            Got your letter, Dispatches, and magazine last week. We had a busy week last week. Flew Thurs. and Fri. nite until 1 P.M. and had final exams in all our ground school subjects. The upper class is graduating Monday. We start on a new schedule Monday. Have reveille at 9:20 and day flying 3 days a week and night flying 3 nights. Also P.T. and 1 hr. ground school a day.
            We do formation and cross country work at night also. There are quite a few oil wells around here and each one has a light on it so the ground is pretty well covered with lights. Not that they do any good for it would less confusing to see just the towers lighted instead of the whole country.
            Have been doing a lot of instrument flying last week. It includes finding the field by flying in on the “beam”. We will make a cross country using the radio beam.
            Mr. and Mrs. Topperwein, famous shooting experts, put on an exhibition for us Thurs. He looks 70 and she 60 and they really could shoot what they were looking at. Any time he missed a shot she would yell, “Daddy!”
            I see Bob Davis is stationed at Clovis, N.M. Its not far from here and we went over it the other day while on a formation trip. What color is your car, Arlan? How many pigs have you by now? Can’t think of any thing else right now.
                                    Yours truly,
                                                John