Page 11 - Continued 

 

 

nine wingspans across, eight fuselage lengths front to rear, and fifty feet vertical space. You can readily see how important it is for each flight to be formed on the ground and approach the runway in proper order to make this work.

The standard operating procedure was for someone from the ground crews to assist us in pushing our airplane back from the line on the ramp where all the planes were parked and standby with a fire extinguisher while we started each engine. When we reached our airplane the other planes in the flight we were supposed to follow were already started and ready to move out but there were no ground personnel ready to help us. Since we were parked at the left end of a row of airplanes and had room to turn around without being pushed back, I had Corporal Noble stand by with a fire extinguisher while I started the engines. He then boarded the plane and we taxied to the left with the right wing passing over a fire extinguisher cart which was there on the ramp. The other two crews in our flight followed. What I didn't know was that after our wing passed over that cart the tail section struck the cart and there was a hole about six inches across torn in the underneath side of the tail fuselage. We didn't even know that the incident happened. We continued with our run up and took our place in the taxiway and flew the four-hour mission.

When we returned about midnight the ground crewman who was supposed to have helped us met us as we parked the airplane fussing and fuming about how we knocked over his fire extinguisher. I didn't want to get him into trouble but I refused to take the blame for him not being there when we were ready to go. I had to write a report of what happened from my perspective. I expected to perhaps hear from the incident later but never did.

 

Another thing I will never forget about one of those mass formation night missions is the sense of vertigo I experienced one time. We were flying a night training mission under blackout conditions. In other words, the running lights were all out with only three small lights on the top of the cabin just ahead of the tail section the only visible lights. These three lights and the exhaust flame from the engine on our side of the plane on which we were positioned were our only reference points. We were way back in the formation so we could also see the three top lights of the planes slightly below and in front and to each side of us. It was hypnotizing to watch that uniform pattern of lights moving across the sky. All was well until we were in a slow turn to the left when we passed over a small town whose street and business lights also made a uniform pattern of lights of about the same intensity. Only this pattern of lights seemed to be turning to the right. For a moment I had the very strong impression that I should be following that pattern of lights that was going to the right. It took all the concentration I possessed to continue following the correct light pattern and ignore the other pattern. Soon though we were past the small town and the other lights were no longer directly under us and the sensation left me. My instruments told me that I was turning to the left and not to the right. Otherwise, I might have followed those streetlights right into the

 

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