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Nile Kinnick correspondence, January-May 1942
1942-01-11: Front
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Sunday afternoon January 11, 1942 Dear Family: This is a typically lazy Sunday afternoon. Bob and Ken are lolling around reading the Des Moines Register and Tribune which I picked up on my way back from Church. Outside the sun is shining brightly and gradually dispelling the cold which clamped down on us a week or so ago. And I, with a little time on my hands, have decided that in this letter I shall set out in some detail my usual daily routine. At 5:45 AM, while it is still quite dank and forbidding outside, an enlisted man snaps on the lights and yells, hit the deck, or rise and shine. Slowly, almmst painfully, with much mattering and some swearing we pile out to begin a new day. It is extremely cold and most of us find that we haven't slept any too warmly. However, in a few minutes the barracks begin to warm up and we forget about it. Happily, the new phys. ed. instructors decide that it would be better to hold the exercises inside while it continues so cold. For fifteen minutes we comply with the exercising routine precribed which includes the jumping jack, the windmill, the explosive punch, running in place, pushups, and a few others which are just as assinine as they sound. Although 1 think the form of most of the calisthentics are kind of silly, I do enjoy getting a short workout right off the bat. It kind of tones you up for the tasks of the day. Following the exercis period we all rush into shave and wash up, then make the beds, and finally try to grab a bite to eat before mustering at seven oclock-- the new time decreed for the morning flight wing. We'll assume that I am student O.D for these 24 hours. That means that I have to be aboard all day and see to it that the barracks patrol and student watches are carrying out their duties correctly. Moreover, I have to muster the student watch in the foyer at 7:25 AM and give them their instructions. Since 1 am flying the first hour I just have time to tear in and get my flight gear and get situated in my plane before the instructor climbs in. After much adjusting and readjusting I finally get my safety belt the way I want it, the pedals the proper length, my face mask fixed so it won't fog up my goggles, and my gosports attached. Oh, oh, here comes Bergen my new instructor, the fellow who took Thatcher's students. I throttle down so the prop wash won't hit him full blast as he clambers in. Now he is all set and asks me if I can hear him through the gosports ok. I nod my head yes, and he says, ok, test the mags. That done I nod to the men on the wings to remove the chocks and swing us around onto the taxiing ramp. Now we are moving out toward the end of the runway we are going to use. The yellow flag is up indicating the doctor is aboard and that we will be making right hand turns from the field into the traffic circle. Not so fast my instructor warns me, slow it down; don't jab at those brakes, apply the pressure evenly , anticipate the need of application. Ok, now we are headed into the wind and ready to go. I take a glance at the fuel cock to see if both tanks are being used, lock my tail wheel, put my tab at zero, look carefully back over my shoulder to be sure no one is coming in for a landing directly over me, then give it full gun and we are on our way. Just as I give her the gun I push the stick hard forward to get the tail off the ground and also push evenly on the right rudder pedal to offset the torque of the engine. Hold her straight, hold her straight my instructor is intoning. Now I relax the pressure on the stick and it begins to come back a little, the plane, is getting light and buoyant, we almost have gained flying speed. A few seconds later I ease the stick back and we are into the air climbing for altitude at 65 knots. Almost immediately after leaving the ground 1 crack the throttle back to 1700 r.P.M. which is the tachometer reading at which we climb the N# N3Ns. At 200 ft I begin bank a little to the right still climbing. Don't bank too steeply when climbing I hear my instructor say, or you will slip. At 1000 ft. (we never leave any field until that altitude is reached) I head up the valley. Ok my instructors says lets have a few S turns. Following these we do a few 360 degress descendig turns, then we climb to 3500 ft. and do a few stalls and spins, all of which I have had before. Head back for Fairfax my instructor says, and we shall shoot a few landings. Just as we pass over the bridge NW of the airptt I throttle back to 1400 rpms and descend to 600ft and enter the traffic circle. Bergen shoots the first landing and then tells me to do the same. I don't do too well the first time or two finding out that he lands faster than Thatcher had
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Sunday afternoon January 11, 1942 Dear Family: This is a typically lazy Sunday afternoon. Bob and Ken are lolling around reading the Des Moines Register and Tribune which I picked up on my way back from Church. Outside the sun is shining brightly and gradually dispelling the cold which clamped down on us a week or so ago. And I, with a little time on my hands, have decided that in this letter I shall set out in some detail my usual daily routine. At 5:45 AM, while it is still quite dank and forbidding outside, an enlisted man snaps on the lights and yells, hit the deck, or rise and shine. Slowly, almmst painfully, with much mattering and some swearing we pile out to begin a new day. It is extremely cold and most of us find that we haven't slept any too warmly. However, in a few minutes the barracks begin to warm up and we forget about it. Happily, the new phys. ed. instructors decide that it would be better to hold the exercises inside while it continues so cold. For fifteen minutes we comply with the exercising routine precribed which includes the jumping jack, the windmill, the explosive punch, running in place, pushups, and a few others which are just as assinine as they sound. Although 1 think the form of most of the calisthentics are kind of silly, I do enjoy getting a short workout right off the bat. It kind of tones you up for the tasks of the day. Following the exercis period we all rush into shave and wash up, then make the beds, and finally try to grab a bite to eat before mustering at seven oclock-- the new time decreed for the morning flight wing. We'll assume that I am student O.D for these 24 hours. That means that I have to be aboard all day and see to it that the barracks patrol and student watches are carrying out their duties correctly. Moreover, I have to muster the student watch in the foyer at 7:25 AM and give them their instructions. Since 1 am flying the first hour I just have time to tear in and get my flight gear and get situated in my plane before the instructor climbs in. After much adjusting and readjusting I finally get my safety belt the way I want it, the pedals the proper length, my face mask fixed so it won't fog up my goggles, and my gosports attached. Oh, oh, here comes Bergen my new instructor, the fellow who took Thatcher's students. I throttle down so the prop wash won't hit him full blast as he clambers in. Now he is all set and asks me if I can hear him through the gosports ok. I nod my head yes, and he says, ok, test the mags. That done I nod to the men on the wings to remove the chocks and swing us around onto the taxiing ramp. Now we are moving out toward the end of the runway we are going to use. The yellow flag is up indicating the doctor is aboard and that we will be making right hand turns from the field into the traffic circle. Not so fast my instructor warns me, slow it down; don't jab at those brakes, apply the pressure evenly , anticipate the need of application. Ok, now we are headed into the wind and ready to go. I take a glance at the fuel cock to see if both tanks are being used, lock my tail wheel, put my tab at zero, look carefully back over my shoulder to be sure no one is coming in for a landing directly over me, then give it full gun and we are on our way. Just as I give her the gun I push the stick hard forward to get the tail off the ground and also push evenly on the right rudder pedal to offset the torque of the engine. Hold her straight, hold her straight my instructor is intoning. Now I relax the pressure on the stick and it begins to come back a little, the plane, is getting light and buoyant, we almost have gained flying speed. A few seconds later I ease the stick back and we are into the air climbing for altitude at 65 knots. Almost immediately after leaving the ground 1 crack the throttle back to 1700 r.P.M. which is the tachometer reading at which we climb the N# N3Ns. At 200 ft I begin bank a little to the right still climbing. Don't bank too steeply when climbing I hear my instructor say, or you will slip. At 1000 ft. (we never leave any field until that altitude is reached) I head up the valley. Ok my instructors says lets have a few S turns. Following these we do a few 360 degress descendig turns, then we climb to 3500 ft. and do a few stalls and spins, all of which I have had before. Head back for Fairfax my instructor says, and we shall shoot a few landings. Just as we pass over the bridge NW of the airptt I throttle back to 1400 rpms and descend to 600ft and enter the traffic circle. Bergen shoots the first landing and then tells me to do the same. I don't do too well the first time or two finding out that he lands faster than Thatcher had
Nile Kinnick Collection
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