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"Dad never went to college, so prior to 1943, he
trained as a weather observer and other things, dreaming all the while of somehow becoming a pilot.
While training at Chanute Field in Illnois in'39 - '40, he kept a photo album which included
pictures of the various planes. Under this one, he wrote, "Curtiss ~P40 Fastest Ship in the U.S. Air
Corps." At that point he never knew he'd be flying them in Italy, where they'd be considered old
clunkers."
I feel the need to add a comment here. I was a pilot in the squadron when we flew
P-40F's. The airplanes had been condemned once after a long and valuable service. They were called
out of retirement so we could continue to function. No other planes were available. They had my
respect. But they were worn out and we did have trouble. Our marvellous mechanics managed to
keep them in the air and us pilots alive with crescent wrenches. The engine was metric and they had
no metric tools. My aircraft had a number of strong peculiarities but I respected it and its problems
and accomodated them. I will always resist any deprecating language. (C. D. Dills)
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