Darlings,
Thank you for the lovely card Jocie-it’s nice to remember your big brother. They don’t have valentines here so I missed out.
Our schedule now is much tougher than before. I can notice it because it is hard for me to find time to write. Gunnery is very interesting. It makes a guy feel powerful when those guns bark at your command. We follow two types of gunnery-Aerial and Ground Gunnery. Aerial trains us for combat in the air while Ground gunnery teaches us to strafe targets. Just yesterday I fired live rounds for the first time. It was mainly to become accustomed to the gun. Boy! It certainly is a lot harder than rifle shooting! There are so many things to allow for. When we dive on our target we must first allow for lead-then the line of sight must be perfect-then we must be sure the plane isn’t skidding. Also the wind must be accounted for. If we have a tailwind we must place the center of the site below the target. Headwind above.
Yes, darlings, I am beginning to realize why they washed cadets out because of poor coordination. If you can’t keep the plane flying straight and true you can’t hope to hit the target. I do hope I qualify-I don’t think they will wash you if you don’t but it is nice to say you are an expert aerial gunner.
Write soon-Jim