As I hit the ground again, the oil filler cap came off and I was blasted with hot engine oil. Here was a clear case of plane failure and stupid ground work. As I reached the line, burning to crucify the inspector who had passed on a plane in that condition, the clerk ran out. Panic Over Chame Bay I made a dive on my 'enemy' and in pulling up I lost him under my wing. If you do get into trouble, keep calm and use your head about getting out.
Panic is many a young pilot's undoing.
The planes were fully loaded with combat ammunition, including 2,000 rounds of .30 calibre in each wing, giving this ship a very risky stall and spin characteristic. We'd been scrapping several minutes and the combat, unnoticed by either of us in the thrill of the fight, had dropped from 10,000 feet to 5,000 feet. In my eagerness to find him again, I completely forgot about altitude. Suddenly I felt an alarming looseness in my controls and at the same time I became aware that my plane was pointing almost straight up. When I realized I could never push over straight, I attempted to drop a wing and roll out.