|
In 1943 I was an 18 year old army draftee. My first assignment after basic training was to Guadalcanal. I was assigned to an anti-aircraft outfit guarding the airstrip. This airstrip was used for bombing runs
along the island chains including New Guinea. P39 Bell Aircobra pursuit planes were used to escort the bombers on these missions.
In those days the air force was not a separate service but was a part of the army. However, even back then the aircrews were pretty much daredevil maverick types, unlike the spit and polish army. For example
no pilot would wear his garrison cap without taking out the wire support inside the upper crown of the cap. The crumpled cap then sort of resembled the cap of a New York cab driver.
The P39 was a beautiful single engine aircraft. The Allison V-14 water cooled engine was mounted behind the pilot, with power to the propeller provided by 2 crankshafts, one on each side of the pilot.
While I still believe the P39 was one of the most beautiful planes ever built, it had one major problem. Designed and produced before WW2 it was underpowered. It simply could not compete, toe to toe, in the South Pacific, with the Japanese Zero. In addition the army required all planes be painted olive drab, a flat finish, with almost a sandpaper roughness. As a consequence the rough finish produced wind drag that
reduced maximum speed by 40 mph.
When I got to Guadalcanal the P39 was being phased out in favor of the twin engine, twin fuselage P38 Lightning, which not only solved the P39 problem of being underpowered, but had radar built in the nose which enabled it to be used at night.
One hotshot pilot, however, wanted to keep his P39. He and his pit crew proceeded to sand off the olive drab paint, leaving the plane with a beautiful polished aluminum finish. It stood out like a diamond bracelet
from Tiffany's among the other olive drab planes.
This particular pilot was an ace. Painted on the side of his pretty plane was a scoreboard of the Jap planes he had "killed". I think there were about a dozen rising sun emblems on it when I last saw the plane.
Naturally the polished aluminum finish and the emblems of the "killed" enemies made this plane a target for every Jap pilot in the sky.
And sure enough, a week or two after this daredevel pilot prettied up his plane he left on a mission to Bougainville, New Guinea, I think, from which he did not return.
A more cautious person would perhaps say that by being so flamboyant and conspicious this pilot surely had a death wish. I don't think so. I met several pilots in those days. To a man they felt invincible. They would readily tell you that a particular mission would be dangerous with casualties expected to be 50% or more. And they knew some of them would not be coming back. But they themselves always expected to get back; maybe some of the other fellows wouldn't.
There were many brave who served in all branches of the service in WW2. And some of them, like the pilot described here, never came home. And I sometimes wonder if we will ever see the likes of them again.
Morris Ellington: M.Ellngton(at)Juno.com
|
