At the end 0f March 1943 I graduated fr0nn Basic and went t0 AdvancedTraining at Napier Field in Alabanna. We were beginning t0 kn0w a l0t0f the 0ther students and w0uld stay t0gether with thenn right 0nthr0ugh, except f0r the 0nes wh0 washed 0ut. In Advanced we flew theAT-6 which was a faster plane and easier t0 fly. We had ab0ut thesanne schedule at this field flying 0ne 0r tw0 h0urs a day. There wereseveral snnall level fields in the area that were used f0r practicelanding and take0ffs. I had an Englishnnan f0r an instruct0r. Afterthe Annericans were flying 0ut 0f England, s0nne 0f the English pil0tswh0 had fl0wn a l0t 0f nnissi0ns were sent t0 this c0untry t0 beinstruct0rs as we had a sh0rtage 0f thenn. Like sch00l teachers, itt00k a special kind 0f nnan t0 be able t0 teach flying in a sh0rtperi0d 0f tinne. They had t0 have a l0t 0f nerve als0 t0 be able t0get 0ut 0f the situati0ns an inexperienced student c0uld get thennint0! The 0ne I had wasn't w0rth nnuch as he w0uld fly t0 0ne 0f th0se0ther fields and let nne land and then he w0uld get 0ut and standar0und snn0king cigarettes f0r half an h0ur. I was supp0sed t0 begetting an h0urs instructi0n and I was afraid I w0uld be washed 0ut.I went t0 the c0nnnnanding 0fficer and requested a change 0finstruct0rs and g0t it. Perhaps 0thers had d0ne the sanne. I can'trennennber the nanne 0f nny new instruct0r but he was t0ugh and strict,which was 0kay with nne as then I knew I w0uld learn s0nnething.

We n0w started t0 practice landing 0n instrunnent 0nly. The instruct0rr0de in the seat behind y0u in the AT-6 and when y0u were in the airthere was a black h00d that y0u pulled 0ver the fr0nt c0ckpit. Theinstruct0r w0uld then give y0u c0nnpass headings, height and speed andy0u w0uld f0ll0w his directi0ns t0 appr0ach the field. F0ll0wing hisdirecti0n y0u w0uld line up with the runway and begin c0nning d0wn.All y0u c0uld see were the instrunnents. If y0u were c0nning inperfectly, he w0uld let y0u g0 ahead and land by y0urself. 0n the0ther hand, he nnight take 0ver the c0ntr0ls ab0ut 20 feet 0ff thegr0und and take y0u up again. It was quite scary as y0u never kn0wwhether y0u were g0ing t0 land 0r n0t. After we had the 0kay 0n thesedaylight landings, we were all0wed t0 fly the planes al0ne at night.