August 20, 1943

Dear Mom, Pop, Avis, Shirley and Marie,

I was excused from code class today and also from taking the final in Meteorology. We start on aircraft identification tomorrow. This is about a six hour course. The final exam take only twenty seconds. Each plane is flashed on the screen for one one hundredth of a seconds. If you blink your eyes you miss it.

Formation flying is about the only thing in the flying end of this deal I'm about half way through with that. This costs a guy dough. You see we have a star system. Every time we pull a boner they give you stars and each star costs you ten cents at the end of the week. They use the money for buying new equipment for the flight room.

In formation flying, every time you take your eyes off the lead ship you get ten stars or the equivalent of a buck. You can't even look at the ground when you're landing. Some of the boys pay out more in a day than they make. I pay a little myself.

Lights out Love and Kisses,

Al