Dear Mother,

I just received your letter and finished "brewing and stewing" over that article about Junior Penny. In my opinion, he did just about the most dumb thing any pilot could do. About the best way to explain what I mean is by enclosing a certain little, "special order." I see this type of thing happening every day and it may happen to Junior, especially if Mrs. Penny doesn't keep her mouth shut. Ed hasn't been anything but a burden to the Air Forces lately and they might jump at the chance of making an example out of him.

Frankly, I thought that Ed had better judgement. I'd like to ask a few questions about the plane that Penny was flying. Did it have only two engines? He was flying a B-26 and a B-26 isn't any huge ship. It has a wingspan of about 64 feet, while my B-24 has a wingspan of over 110 feet. So think what would happen if I "buzzed" Madisonville with a plane twice as big, with four engines, each as powerful as his engines.

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So far, all is coming along O.K. down here. I have about 6 hours in the new ship so far - I'll have at least 125 hours before finishing the course here. I've attempted two take-offs and landings and both turned out to be fairly good (much to my surprise). It's no easy job trying to guide 28 tons of airplane through the sky. But I'll get the job done if I work hard.

I have to go to class now - will write again soon.

Lots of love,
Jack

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