Evening star., 1946-12-12

Cdpeu QedGu WHICH, tiiCy SAooh-
landed their B-25 Mitchell bomber
late yesterday after helplessly circl-
ing Andrews Field for nearly five
hours with a disabled landing gear.
The dramatic plight OF the men
was witnessed by large crowd
The planes trouble began when II
appeared over the field after a rou-
tine training flight from Boiling
Field. 4
when 1t became apparent that a
belly" landing was inevitable, Col
Paul T. Cullen. the pilot, brought
the ship down onapne wheel and, by
deity using his brakes after 200
foot run, turned the bomber slowly
and tipped its right wing to bring
1t to stop near assembled crash
wagons.
Engineers Hand Cut.
In addition to the 45-year -old
pilot, who lives at 800 Nineteenth
street NV, others aboard were
LIST 1t. Arnold D. Lehardy. Is, of
Baltimore, co-pilot; SfSergt. Frank
Odinetz of Glenn Lion, Pa, me-
chanic, and S/Sergt. r. H. Noll of
1888 Hillside road Sc. engineer.
The latter suffered few hand cuts.
When the crew stepped out Of the
landed craft Col. Cullen said he
was glad to be down." As officers
congratulated him on his almost
perfect landing, he gave this ver-
sion of what had happened:
1--WE lefrBolling at 1880 am. On
arriving over Andrews, half an
hour later, we found the landing
gear had stuck when we tried to
drop it. It wouldn't bulge We
few around trying to get it into
position"
AS the B-25 continued to circle
aimlessly, with about four hours
fuel left, plans were completed for
a midair transfer of lubricating oil
to the bomber, for use in loosening
the landing gear.
Third Attempt Succeeds.
Capt. Kirke B. Everson, jr., 26. of
2699 Second street s.e., pilot of a
Cas- transport and holder of 16
Oak Leaf Clusters to the Air Medal,
was ordered aloft at Boiling Field
by Brig. Gen. B. M. Hovey, COM
mandant there, to try to make the
oil transfer.
With Tech. sergt. Aleck L. MarfB,
1869 Quarles street NE, co-pilot and
crew chief; SfSergt Carles T. Egolf,
of Philadelphia. and Corpl. Theo-
dore F. Polinsky of Minersville, Pa,
also in the crew, the Gas went up
to $500 feet. When it was 20 feet
above the Mitchell bomber, the
second plane suspended a bag con-
tanning three gallon cans of lubri-
eating oil on the end of a rope. The
bag was snatched through window
by the bomber crew on the third
attempt.
The oil succeeded in loosening the
main part of the bomber's forward
tricycle. landing gear and the left
main-wheel gear, but the right
main wheel gear remained stuck.
Another. Plane Sent Up.
Meanwhile, Col. G. D.. Sluman,
commandant at Andrews Field, sent
an Ats training plane aloft to at
tempt a similar transfer of lubri-
eating oil. But when this plane was
In the air, it was found the Cas-
transport had already made the
transfer. The Ats was manned by
Capt. "A. r. Ensley and First 1t. E.
w. Hughes.
When it was then decided to
crash-land the bomber, fire e-f1ghting
apparatus was summoned to Rum
way 28 on the west side Of the field.
The B-25 made one last despairing
circle and came in fast. After its
long run, the plane suddenly slack
ened speed, its wheels inscribing q
long, black k-curved line on the rum
way as the brakes were applied. It
rolled to stop as its wing tipped.
It did not catch fire.
A bent propeller and wing hip
and some metal work on the right
motor casing appeared to all the
damage evident as the crash wagon
crews sprayed chemicals on the
plane, preparatory to hauling II
away. Il.
The ship had been directed to
land at Andrews instead Of return-
ing to Boiling because of longer and
wider runways and fewer obstruc-
tions at the Maryland base.
Among those who saw the dis