Gaining An R.A.F. Pilots Brevet in WW11
Back at Terrell and the mighty AT6. A new instructor who was quite severe and impatient. First we had eight hours just sitting in the cockpit memorising all the bits and pieces. It took me five hours to solo but then it was O.K. The Harvard, as all who flew it know, would bite you if you didn't watch it until you stopped after landing. Then it was forced landings, precautionary landings, stalls, spins aerobatics and lots of instrument flying. Usually the pupil sat in the back seat under the hood on return cross countries Then it was formation flying and night flying. This usually at our satellite,Tarver, where a flare path would be laid, hopefully into wind. On my twentieth birthday on a solo night cross country I developed mumps. Obviously it had been brewing but became apparent on the trip. I was hospitalised by the American Flight Surgeon on the base. There were five of us. And the American happily regailed us with it'S complications!! We were given two weeks leave on discharge and a fellow sufferer and I decided to hitch hike to Los Angeles. My American Mom was horrified and thought that I should rest. It was very easy to hitch then. One lift took us to Fort Worth and the U.S.O. Where we could get a bed for a dollar. An American Sergeant was offering a lift to El Paso if we could drive. Mom had taught me to drive her very nice Pontiac and Pop had let me drive his pick up so, though we were not supposed to drive in the U.S. "Blind eyes" seemed to be the rule. It was a long drive and we reached El Paso at dawn. We thanked our Sergeant and spent the day in Juarez having a guided tour of the prison, where the inmates were able to have their wives with them! The next day we had one lift with a Liutenant Commander of the U.S. Navy who took us via a night stop in Phoenix to Riverside, a short distance by Greyhound bus to LA. Hollywood beckoned and we ended up in the Stage Door Canteen. There I met an executive of Universal Studios and his wife who invited me to stay with them over the Easter Holiday.
Charlie wanted to stay in the Canteen so we agreed to return to Terrell independently. My friends took me to the Easter Sunday Sunrise Service at the Holywood Bowl. Later they took me to the city limits and I was back on the road. Further lifts took me to the border with Arizona at Blythe. There was a customs post there to stop people bringing in or taking out oranges. (can't remember which) the Customs officer found a man going to Flagstaff instead of having to go via PHoenix. People would give servicemen a bed for one dollar which was great for we hitchers.
Next day two hitches to the Grand Canyon. I should have liked to have spent the night at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon but no time and no money. Then it was back to Terrell via Albaquerque and Amarillo.