OCR Text |
Show . " ' " ' . - . . f fI I ' 'or or ' . . . ' J.J JJ . fps 'a a ' , p D.k-IS D.kIS D.k Dk IS rt ; ) * , jt d r rA A : % . , 1 ' : .t t . , r , A 1J . wnt k .f f . rr . d ' > < . r14 a " , + .w w + t , wn " ' ' # ' u , * rintP a N ; t t tk ; M . T . , M1 , f.j fj 1'fcgJif 1fcgJif r . i iy y 7 / ' 1 1 ' \ t tM 1 ' ! } Plgf/O Plgf O q , f t ft ; 4 z i y oM I $ ; : 4 < r ru u y 1 + 'Y Y ' + i H , f \ . + irtl"3Yk irtl3Yk " + tt S $ r eC C : 1R $ ' Mur \R R : ' ] r'L 'L L ' \ e ej j v .ae.t.t aet.t aett . . . < . The .tor tor ttorf . ? thus 'afl afl fats ' YoafC 'l l ' 1IDI etJJlFOt & . , wbose whose great te " rlfnbIU.1 rlfnbIU1 ' bJU . R Lt . 10 to P1 11yY 11yYinjtjtsa . , v injtjtsa injtjtsabls . " . . bls bl . 01r1l own gilder Jkler at . . l4aeoa Ftacod 0 . * . . , paWj putts elf elffrom 'rom rom from ' a roo roof ' and sad era crashes . be . 67 . , feet ' , et Co to lite the literound theground ground ( round A C Cberotsee erolle . rQ rose " hush . . . . Proha probably probablyraved " , Ia raved ved hi hl . We life ne fle nOW sow roe goes ' lit In tit , . ; ; . b1l bulhk iS . + Inc fns scale model plaMa planes anel and .IDa IDa wtus . a O nay nayscout , Scout aviation merit b.d bd badge . . AI At aa en auc cue . tlon ton .ale ale sale . be he baya bays bll his tin ant ' pia plane . . f.r fr Mr . = $1 1 $ 76 ' . JIll IIe coe goes . to n Ft MoPberlOD McPherson aDd and enU.1a enU1a enlists . 1D In 1Dthe Inthe the recular regular army as . . a private WIJmIdC WIanIAg WIJmIdCa WIanIAga a Weat West Point competiUve competitive exam h he . U . Uadmitted admitted anel and fD In tbe the .anuo.r anuo.r anuor summer . . o of , 193a'after 193aafter 193a'afterbf'lnc 1832 ' alter alterbeing bf'lnc bflnc being ' .raduated raduated graduated . and eommlllloDecJ commissioned a as . asecond a a.econd .econd econd second . Ueut.DADt UeutDADt lieutenant . 01 of In&Dtl'7 InDtl7 Infantry ' & ' be goes oel Co to toFurope Cof'urope f'urope furope ' wblcb which be he toUrI tours on a motorcycle motorcyclelie lie ( ! e anally naUy arrive arrives . a at ' nandolpb nsndolpb Field , Texas TeIa . Tbl Thl . I U . I It & . . " - CIIAPTER CHAPTER III Though 1 I had flown own before in the theJ theI J I rehistortc rehistoric crates ot of the past thistact this thisfact fact tact had nothing to do with whethI'r whether wheth I'r Ir er ' or not I would get through the thel thec l c urse On the side against me meW mew W IS the tact fact that during my un- un un1 uns - s / > 1 I ervlsed ervised flying ylng 1 I had doubtless de- de tIe- tIe tIeveloped developed - - veloped many faults that were not notf f r the Army pilot to be proud of . . I a case like mine some pilotst pilotsti pilots t ti ! nk uk they know it all theretore therefore theretoretI thereforeU tI U ere Is nothing to learn Others Othersi 1 i ke such an effort to please their theirI I tructors structors < ; that thIs very eagerness eagernessI eagernessu \I I u \ . rks against them 8S as their own ownr ownrst r/ r rt rst / > t enemy-the enemy the - result ot of tense tenseis 1 is ( S sMy My case ase was more of this la teat teatr t tr r Jer ier 1 I knew I could fly the sblp ship sblpI shipI I t I tr1ed tried to carry out my instruc- instruc instruct instruct instructt . - t r s orders even before be he gave gaveU U em I Ustened listened almost spellbound spellboundtI tI r ugh our oral communications communicationssystem communicationssystem system In that primary trainer-that trainer that trainerthatSI trainerthats1 - SI s1 c eaking klng tube which we caUed called a ag ag g sport and which at best was I t rd to understand over the ratUe rattle ratUef rattlef f that Wright Whirlwind engine engineI I used to try to read his mind exe exewte execute wte cute his every Uttle little whIm I even eventried eventried tried to outguess Lieutenant Landon Lan Landon don and have the sUck stick and rtldder rbdder rtldderrnovmg rbddermoving rnovmg moving In the right direction be- be bef bef - - f re he could get the orders out of oft t 1 1s s < ; mouthNow mouth Now thereby hangs a tale 1 I was wasr 1 r ut of only trYing to look In his rear rearv v ew mIrror and actually read his hisI hisIts Its I s when 1 I couldn couldnt t hear through throughtI tI a { ' gas gosport port but was diligently lookII looku look II u g about the sky tor for other hare- hare hareI - - I rd ra ned student pilots He must haveralized have haven n ralized ( dllzed my eagerness for he gaveme gave gaveme me every break-and break and - for the many manybOl bOl 1)07 107 ) 'rs rs era { ' 1 I pulled I needed lots of ofore.ks ofbreiks ore.ks oreks breiks . breiksOne One d.y dy by . at a bare tour four hundredfret hundred hundredflet flet fret altItude I thought 1 I heard theinstructor the theInstructor Instructor say Okay Scott put i1 it i1In itin In a dive I peered around first and andtlln andti tlln ti en at the nearby ground for it itI itoked I 1 1oked oked very low to be going into a ai1 alive i1 live ve Then like lilce a flash I thought I In In n lerslood ! { , rbtood Why he s trying to see seeIf seeif If I m grou d shy-I shy I - II 11 show him I m mt mt mw t W th my teeth clenched and prot prob- prob probiHy > - - 'Illy Illy iHy ' With . my eyes closed I pushed pushedtt pushedti tt ti at PT 3 into a vertIcal dive atI at 10 I o nt blank altitude Just as the II tt n fields down below seemed seemedat at out to corne come right into my lap I Ifdt Ifcli fdt fcli Ted Landon grab the controls controlsand controlsand and saw him hastily point to h1a his h1aI I 1 1cad 'ad ad cad { ' wIth the sign th that \ he was tak takI takt I t g over We came carne out just over overthe overthe the mesquite trees and he roughly roughlyslipped roughlyslipped slipped the shIp into a bumpy land landr r g In a cotton field Then wbile while wbileI whileI I was trying to add things up andrealizing and andreal1zmg real1zmg realizing already that 1 I had tled tied It Itup itup up again I saw Ted very method methodi methodirally ! cally rally raise bls his goggles and with withgreat withgreat great delIberatIOn cUmb climb out ot of the thefr thefr fr nt cockpIt He glared at me but butb8 butsa b8 sa d sweetly enough enoughScott Scott what In the g- g gd - d- d dhell - hell hellIre hellire Ire you trying to dl -what what dlwhat do-what do > - - was that thatr r aneuver ? I saId gUde-G gUde G glide-G glide - - L-I L I - - D E EDon EIon Don Ion ) t you at least know wbat what ai a aI I ormal glide Is In aU all this time ? Weakly I 1 IsaId 1said saId SIr 1 I thought you youI I d a Jilve Ijive I could see Ted fight fightf fightr f r r control then he told me the theext theext ext lime time I had him at an altitude altitudes s < ; low not to a ttempt attempt to think but butJ J 1 t try to keep the ship straight straightd d level levelUi 01 Ui another day after about two twowicks wicks ' " l 'ks ks { ' ot of nstruction we had been beenk beenr k 1 r h , only take-ofTs take ofTs take-offs offs - - and landings landingsJ landingsi J i I kr ew the time was approach approachh approacht h t , when I would solo As usual usual . . I t r.llzatlOn rllzatlOn re { ' . ilization made me more and andre andre re Ie to 'ie ie se ' as the end of the period periode.r'd periodeircd e.r'd e.rd erd eircd . { ' On the take offs oils I d tense tenseI I an I ! forge forget I aU all about holdmg holding the thetie tie e straIght and on the landmgs landings landmgsI I 1 d jerk back on the sUck stick Instead 01 of 01f off f asmg asing it slowly back into the ap- ap apI apI - - I r aeh ach to tanding landing stall AU 1 I could couldj couldi j i was day-dream day dream - - about Here weare we weace ace are Scott just about to take over overn n d prove to the world that we cand can cand d all 01 of this by ourselvesAround ourselves Around the field In traffic I couldn t th th h Id the correct altitude and my in instructor instructor structor was cussing a blue streak . . He lie d yell about my baving having graduated graduat- graduat graduated - - ed from West Point and end say that he heknew heknew knew 1 I was supposed to have some somebrainS somebrains brainS but be hadnt badn t been able to tofind tofind find them After each bumpy land landIng landing Ing he d look around at me and bold boldhIS boldhis enoughfor hIS nose-that nose that - - was symbolic enough for me 1 finally bounced Into an another another other landing that nearly jarred histeeth his histeeth teeth out . . Then as usual usual . , he heshowed heshowed showed wba what t a prince 01 of a fellow be he bewas hewas was and showed me that an instruc- instruc instructor instructor - tor had to become accustomed to tostudents tostudents students making mistakes-knowl mistakes knowl mistakes-knowi knowi mistakesknowiedge mistakesknowledge - - edge which stood me In good IItead stead IIteadyears steadyears years later when I became an instrucior in instructor structor strucior struciorLieutenant Lieutenant Landon got & : ot out outf \f f pt ( \ the thetroDt thefront troDt front seat seat " , taldne taking his paracbute parachute with with111m withhim 111m him . , and J I knew the moment 01 of mo- mo - ' ' qtt # ' # 4 ome come $ . ; .Ai Ai " . dtt e . It ironed ed Qvet pv m7 N ! QvetN , ob obIp1t Ip1t Ip1ts Ip1titc t s et.AAt etAAt . itc cl1l\d cl1l d ed \ ! iQs1de hside h htr htrbook liDI for tl\ tl \ tlrom rom : One , the ttmcj that- that thatI . ! - inns book bo k alway always . tllrrJed eferfled In ahps ! . bewa ghtwas 1 I saw aaw on nJi > , + bin hf . hud band .and and . tl a ght ghte eht be e wa was withtne withins . offering to make shake bans blU ) . with tne ins . , So J I gtabbe\i gtabbe i gtabbeQ \ , the band d anet and endgrowled andgrowled .book book shook anet.book andshook . it it . . He just erlnned grinned end and growled ' "With With " landings like tho thot4 o I c can del do cando YOu Very IJttle little good . , 8 apd d I'U IU I'll Ill ' be damned bedamned If I'm Im Fm ' going to let YOU I 11 km 11me kmme me thisthing Do you think you can t take e this thi . thing around the fteld field aU all by your , , self and get It back do dowq 1 ? " "Yes Yes " , Sit SiJ'l SiJl ' ; " ' J I yelled yelled"TheI yelled"There "TheI\ "TheI TheI "There There "TheItake " \ take It around and make makee 8 e landing 'S S 'SI . ' , 88 us close to me a as . 70U you 70Ucan youcan can can'S I had never felt so good T"axyma Taxyma Taxying Taxyingout " : out I could see the world only in a arosy arosy rosy light My head wu was reaDy really reaDywhirling reallywhirling whirling Pointing the ship into the thewind thewind wind , lover I over controlled inW inp ( a nor nor- normal . - inthe mal studer'lt studerlt student ' tak takeoff ot ! and was in inI I the lllite thislife air HonesUy Honestly , the living of U this ll anI lite life was wonderful-here wonderful here - t I twas Iwas was an anactual anactual I actual l\rmy l rmy Army \ Pilot wft with my own ship , and up bere here free from the shackles shacklesof of the earth I envied no one Cir- Cir Circling Circling - - cling In traffic traflfi I'd Id ' ' get my bead head in inthe Inthe the clouds and gain or lose altitude altitudebut altitudebut but that didn t matter I was solo- solo soloing solotog - ing tog ingThen togThen Then , at the fourth leg ot of my mytraffic myframe traffic frame pa pattern ttem I began my glide in intowards intowards towards Lleutenan Lieutenant Landon By the thegods thegods gods be had said "Land Land " as close closeto closeto to me 8S as you can can . , ' and 1 I was surely surelygoing surelygoing going rightby to make that ship stop right by hIm-I hIm I himIwouldn't - wouldn't wouldnt ' bave have my niy in instructor instructor structor being ashamed of his stu- stu student student - dent . . Even before I got to the e mo moment momeat ment meat to level off , I 1 could see tha that t I Iwould Iwould would land right on top ot of h1m hits But , a F , x xF fit b bi bGen i Gen C L CbenuaaJ Chennault & , who was wasColonel wasColonel Colonel ScoU Scott s a superior t ih Burma Burmaand Burmaand and China Chinathe the Lieutenant was running throw throwIng throwtog Ing tog his parachute away just to get getdear getclear dear clear ot of a student who had really reallytaken reallytaken taken him llterall literally ) ' Anyway I missed him and andplunked andplunked plunked the ship Into the ground aft after after er levellIng off too higb high Well 1 I 1beld Iheld beld held It straight and there was no noground noground ground - loop As It stopped I Ibreathed Ibreathed breathed again and I could teel feel teelthe feelthe the smUe smile that cracked my face A Apilot Apilot pilot ! ! I bad had landed the ship and andit andit it was actually In one piece ! Looking back over my shoulder I Isaw Isaw saw Lieutenant Landon . . He was wasjust wasJust just standing there about balt half a amil amile mil mile away Then J I made anothermistake another anothermistake mistake He raIsed hi his . hands and andI I thought be he waved me In-I In I - dido ditto t tknow tknow know unW until the next day that he bad had badbeen hadbeen been shaking his fist at me for trying tryingto to land right on b1m him b1mSo himSo So I taxied in never giving a athougbt athought thougbt thought to how my instructor was wasgoing wasgoing going to get in with his chute-you chute you chuteyousee - - see Randolph Is a big fleld field and I Ihad Ihad had lett left him more than a mUe mile mUetrom milefrom trom from our hangar I bad had parked the theplane theplane plane and was In and beginmng beginning to todress todress dress when 1 I began to realtze reabze what whatI 1 I had done Looking out the win window window dow 1 I could see him trudging across acrossthe acrossthe the hot soil of Texas In the sun sunwIth sunwith wIth ships landing all around him himMy himMy My Lord Lord . , 1 I had tied It up again ! I tried to get my feet back Into my myflying myflying flying SUIt tripped and tell fell got up upfind upand find and ran out of the hangar door I Iguess Iguess guess 1 I was going to take the ship shipand shipand and taxy out and pick him up But ButI I I had lost again-the again the - shIp was being beingtaken . taken from the line by the next stu student student dent . . I just stood there with sink sinkiDg sinklug iDg lug beart heart as be he came up But he hedidn hedidn didn t even look my way except to tosay tosay say It s a kinda hot out there Then Thenhe Thenhe he just glared and threw his chute chuteiD chuteIn iD In bls his locker lockerWell lockerWell Well Well . , 1 I nearly worried myself to todeath todeath death that night 1 I knew he d more morethan morethan than likely teU tell me atter after the next nextday nextday day s ride that 1 I was the damnedest damnedeststudent damnedeststudent student he d ever seen and that I Idldn Iditto dldn ditto t have 8 a prayer of making a apilot apilot pilot . . But next day he dido dicta t say saya saya a word All day I started to go goover goover over BDd and teD tell blm him bow how sorry I was wasbut wasbut but 1 I guess I didn 1 t have the nerve nerveDurfbg nerveDuring Durfbg During my flying ing trafnlng training I bad had badgirl hadgirl girl lroubte trouble too You would no nodoubt nodoubt doubt caU call it trouble- trouble troublebut trouble , ' , " - but I knew it itwas itwas was the real thing 'I I ' had a Chevrolet Chevro- Chevro Chevrolet - - let then and every week-end week end weekend - I justhad just justbad bad had to see my girl . , even It if she did didUve didlive Uve live over thirteen bundred hundred mile miles milesaway . away in GeorgIa To g get t to see her herI I would drive that thfrteen-bundred thfrteen bundred thirteen-hundred thirteen hundred thfrteenbundredodd thirteenhundredodd - - odd miles mites to ber her college or her herhome herhome home in Fort VaDey Valley IIpend spend 8117 any 8117wbere anywhere wbere where from ten minutes to two bours hours bourswith hourswith with her then jump back |