Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-12-11
FLIES THUNDERBOLT
Tor q while, anyway.


FLIES THUNDERBOLT
Paul snapped and rolled the
ship a couple of times in the
best approved precision style
and then worked myself up so
] could reach the stick over his
shoulder and made a couple of
IS" turns just TO see how the
ship 10 handled.
II was the first time / had
been able to adjust any con-
trolls In a fighter plane although
have flown transports and
medium and light bombers from
the oo-pilot's seat quite often.
As q consequence, when first
started q turn ! overcontrolled
Il some but corrected it in a
split second.
II Ia without doubt the east
est plane to fly that ] have ever
laid hands on.
Add to that It's ruggedness
and you can rest assured your
Uncle Sam has given your boys
as near perfect piece of equip
ment as there is in the air.
EASY 10 NAVIGATE
Flying over broken clouds and
playing around as we were, you
do not have TO be constantly navi-
eating and worried about your
location In relation to the field,
40 you would ordinarily. because
all you have to do when you want
%. start that is to call in by radio
and ask the flying control to tell
you what course to steer to bring
you back over the field, and when
you are over the field they tell
sou, and you Just let the plane
down through the clouds.
Yesterday, though, all we needed
was the course Of direction as the
clouds were broken enough to
enable us to see the field when we
were over II.
Paul set the plane down as
smoothly as he had taken il off.
So now II IL rains until dooms.
cay and / never get the mission
m, / have at least had the fun
and experience Of flying and ham
ding q Thunderbolt.
DICTATED STORIES
After lunch, I sat alongside
S/Sgt. Leo Karp, a New York
lawyer, and dictated a couple Of
stories TO him In the group admin
tstration tent
Even though no missions could
be run on, the weather here was
good enough to permit practice
flights and any other nonopera-
tional flights the boys wanted to
ret In.
So most Of the time I was die.
tsting at the top of my voice to
overcome the sound of planes
taxing by outside. buZzing the
field ut low altitude, or just plain
roaring overhead.
We were interrupted OCCASION
ally by ground officers dropping
IN on business, including Mai. Jim
Wernh. ground executive officer,
Capt. John z. Cox. medical officer;
Capt Franklin Dick, intelligence
officer who went TO Lawrenceville
prep with my younger twin
brothers, and Capt. Johnny Baear,
operations officer. all of the
Thunderbun" squadron.
A PIONEER COMBAT PILOT
The latter is a pilot, one of the
original ones. with plenty OF com
bat hours and battle experience
but NJ yet no enemy fighters to
his credit.
He Is an awfully cute round
faced character. with plenty OF
what IL takes both in gray matter
ana courage and an infectious
htue grin. He has a terrific crush
on . certain girf back home to
whom he Is engaged and the
reproduction OF whose portrait he
ID having painted on the cowlins
q his brand new ship.
His last ship. which his crew
chief Schrnitt still thinks was a
better one, was shot down and the
plot who was flying il that day
wus killed.
Ground crews, particularly the
crew chief, have a very personal
relationship TO their pilot and
thstr plane.
FUSS OVER PLANES
They think their own particular
pGpt h thu best In the business
81 WORK and fuss over their
- - D mother c',inken.
- - 6af 81 their stcfnschs