Post by bearcat on Mar 30, 2010 9:33:21 GMT -5
I'm an aviation nut myself. I have taken up RC flying because looks like that'll be the only kind of flying I do. But I still read a lot of aviation books. The one I'm reading now is written by Pappy Boyington in 1955, titled "Baa Baa Black Sheep". As you can guess, it's about his flying exploits. Almost half the book is dedicated to his days flying for the AVG in China, or better known as the Flying Tigers.
This one interesting story talks about when he led a detachment of 6 P-40's to escort Generalissimo and Madamme Chiang from Rangoon to Kun Ming so that they don't get jumped by Zeros. They had escorted too far, however, and by the time Pappy noticed their fuel level was less than half, it was too late to get back. They turned around and got as far as they could and ended up having to look for an emergency landing site in rugged mountains when they were on fumes. They found a mountain top that was actually a cemetery. It was only a couple of hundred feet across and 6000 ft up. So they all landed wheels up, bending propellers and denting up the bottom of the planes a little. (Tough planes).
Eventually after a couple of weeks, they made it back to base by truck. But Pappy was told to get the planes back home, since they weren't getting anymore planes. So he went back with mechanics and fuel, and they repaired two planes, which Pappy himself flew back. He held on the brakes and revved the engine until the tail would lift up, and then ran it as hard as he could until he went off the cliff. Then it wobbled for about a mile until it built up enough airspeed to get flying. He only had enough fuel to make it over the ridge and had to dead stick the two planes into base. But before he could get back to retrieve the other 4 planes, he was told to stop because it was making him look too good. (I don't understand that either).
This was an extremely remote mountain. If the Chinese communists haven't destroyed those planes, that means that there are FOUR P-40 Flying Tigers still stranded on the top of that mountain somewhere in China. And in 1942 at least, they were flyable, with only minor damage.
Hmmm... Wish I was a millionaire. Wouldn't this be a fun documentary to watch, if they took a camera crew and went back to find these planes and bring them home???
(Pappy Boyington)
This one interesting story talks about when he led a detachment of 6 P-40's to escort Generalissimo and Madamme Chiang from Rangoon to Kun Ming so that they don't get jumped by Zeros. They had escorted too far, however, and by the time Pappy noticed their fuel level was less than half, it was too late to get back. They turned around and got as far as they could and ended up having to look for an emergency landing site in rugged mountains when they were on fumes. They found a mountain top that was actually a cemetery. It was only a couple of hundred feet across and 6000 ft up. So they all landed wheels up, bending propellers and denting up the bottom of the planes a little. (Tough planes).
Eventually after a couple of weeks, they made it back to base by truck. But Pappy was told to get the planes back home, since they weren't getting anymore planes. So he went back with mechanics and fuel, and they repaired two planes, which Pappy himself flew back. He held on the brakes and revved the engine until the tail would lift up, and then ran it as hard as he could until he went off the cliff. Then it wobbled for about a mile until it built up enough airspeed to get flying. He only had enough fuel to make it over the ridge and had to dead stick the two planes into base. But before he could get back to retrieve the other 4 planes, he was told to stop because it was making him look too good. (I don't understand that either).
This was an extremely remote mountain. If the Chinese communists haven't destroyed those planes, that means that there are FOUR P-40 Flying Tigers still stranded on the top of that mountain somewhere in China. And in 1942 at least, they were flyable, with only minor damage.
Hmmm... Wish I was a millionaire. Wouldn't this be a fun documentary to watch, if they took a camera crew and went back to find these planes and bring them home???
(Pappy Boyington)