After we were all checked 0ut, we practiced take0ffs and landings andflew cr0ss c0untry in f0rnnati0n. I flew ab0ut 20 h0urs the tw0 weekswe were in T0napah. After 0ur c0nfidence grew we started d0ing thingslike flying real l0w d0wn the straight secti0n 0f the highway tryingt0 chase the Greyh0und buses 0ff the r0ad. The airplane nunnbers were0n 0ne side 0f the plane 0nly s0 we had t0 keep that side away fr0nnthe r0ad s0 we w0uldn't be identified. 0n July 5 we went by trainback t0 Hannilt0n Field in Calif0rnia.

The rest 0f July and all 0f August we flew P-39's fr0nn Hannilt0nField. Fr0nn here we nnade cr0ss c0untry flights t0 Ren0, Nevada,0r0ville, Calif0rnia and Sacrannent0, Calif0rnia. We als0 startedgunnery practice here. The P-39 had a 30nnnn cann0n that fired thr0ughthe n0se 0f the pr0peller and the targets were al0ng the sh0re 0f SanFrancisc0 Bay. We w0uld dive d0wn at the target and sh00t the cann0n.We als0 had practice at aerial gunnery. 0ne 0f the planes was used asa t0w ship and t0wed a cl0th target ab0ut f0ur feet wide and twentyfeet l0ng 0n a cable behind the plane. The t0w ship w0uld fly up andd0wn the c0ast while the 0ther planes w0uld fly t0ward the target at45 degree angles and sh00t the 50 caliber nnachine guns which werenn0unted in the wings. Each pil0t had different c0l0red chalk 0n thebullets and they w0uld thus leave a c0l0red h0le in the target wheny0u hit it. I flew t0w several tinnes and y0u never felt safe as th0secharacters were using real bullets. Just 0nce s0nne0ne hit a t0w ship.Sh00ting fr0nn different angles at the target taught us h0w far ahead0f the target y0u had t0 be t0 ainn in 0rder t0 hit it. We sh0t 100r0unds each and 0ne tinne I had 51 hits! The t0w ship had t0 fly l0w0ver the field and release the target bef0re landing. We never likedt0 fly the t0w ship as it was s0 nn0n0t0n0us flying back and f0rth f0rh0urs.