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These are the airplanes he flew:
First, an AT-9 Jeep.
The AT-9 was a trainer built to teach new Army Air Corps pilots to fly multi-engined aircraft. It was probably built with a tailwheel because the B-17, among other airplanes, had tailwheels. From its appearance, it would have been a handful during landing, takeoff and while taxiing.
A B-26 Marauder:
The B-26, a medium bomber, was a hot airplane to fly. It had a high wing-loading, which meant, among other things, that it took off and landed at jet speeds. It had propellers that had electrically-powered governors; a crew that forgot to switch on the generators after starting the engines would have the props go to flat-pitch and then overspeed very soon after takeoff when the batteries died, which would usualy have somewhat fatal consequences for the crews. The B-26 was nicknamed "the Widowmaker," given the slogan "One a Day in Tampa Bay" (a B-26 training base was there) and pilots were afraid to fly it. The Army Air Force fought that perception by having B-26s flown by all-woman crews flown to all of the training bases using B-26s, where the WASP crews put on mini-airshows.
The B-26 had the lowest loss rate of any combat aircraft used by the Army Air Force. The AAF got rid of them when Germany surrendered, as a final insult, the A-26 Invader was re-designated to B-26.
I miss the times that Dean-o and George Gobel got to smoke on national TV.
ReplyDeleteAnd is he drinking a beer - prior to it becoming an ashtray?
Bob Hope was holding a stein.
And what is that thing around Johnny's neck?
As to your questions, Oliver, I have no idea whatsoever.
ReplyDelete