24 June 1937

Dear Dad:

Just finished afternoon tea after flying all day. Tonight I go across country. Time of take-off is 11:00 p.m. P.S. I'll bet I take off exactly on the dot. They are nasty if you don't. Ha! Ha!

I will say the word Fury looks good in my log book. It's surprising how you black out (temporary blindness) on these types. One of the things we do is vertical climbing. We gain speed well over 200 and then pull the plane up into vertical and stop suddenly and go straight up. This sudden check at high speed causes a lovely blackout for a split second. The Fury is very steady upside down and one of my favourite ones is to glide upside down for long periods. Of course the engine doesn't run upside down. I only wish that it would. After awhile being upside down tires you and your eyes nearly pop out.

Our Flight Commander takes us in formation to different stations for lunch, so we have a pretty good time. I often wonder at myself - gliding upside down hanging on a fighting harness - calmly checking air speed, altimeter, and other instruments. Is this little "Willy" who used to reside at 1608?

I had a very interesting time with Flt. Lieut. Gosnell this morning. He led me through plenty in formation. We flew through clouds and did vertical turns. Imagine a vertical turn in formation. I took care not to slip in on him. Flying in clouds we close up together very tightly so we don't lose each other in the "steam." This practice is very necessary here in England. P.S. Once I saw an absolutely clear blue sky here for half an hour, but don't let me discourage you.

We almost had an epidemic of air sickness today - fortunately only the bomber people. Must be the food (or late nights).

They have to tie on their stomachs in the aeroplane looking through a hole in the bottom aligning their sights on the target. Not altogether a comfortable position. The radiator hangs in front of their places and hot air coming back doesn't help any. They all got sick on that long, slow, sickening glide into land I think.

I haven't driven a car much since I've come to England. I am just itching to get back home and drive you around the country. Some ambition for a flyer, what?

Friday Morning

Lovely morning, and as I get the morning off because of flying last night I am listening to the radio. This afternoon I shall fly again and tomorrow morning I am going down to the display in London at Hendon. I shall come back the same night as I am not exactly flush with money these days.

Aeroplanes these days can do many aerobatics the old ones couldn't, such as upward rolls, etc., because of their excessive power.

Last night was lovely (repetition), perfectly blue, but the big cities showed up nicely like a mass of stars against the dark. The Rolls kept ticking over very nicely and didn't let me down. I flew over Corby last night at 2,000 feet. They have huge blast furnaces and the flames could be seen a long way. Even at 2,000 feet I could feel the heat on my face from the furnaces. Cars on the roads look like fire flies -but you should know what it all looks like, except for the misty cloudiness of the atmosphere. Even there you had clouds, though.

Three of our Fury boys are just coming in over the near boundary of the drome in a perfect V - the snap and crackle of their exhausts really announcing their arrival.

Our Flight Commander likes leading us just on the top of the clouds, with wheels just grazing the cloud top. If a mountain of cumulous is ahead, we just go through it. You wouldn't think you could see the other machines in cloud, but in formation you can see the other machines. Of course if you open up a bit, you are lost.

I am afraid I am boring you.

Love Bill