NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Just read about this for the first time today.
USAAF Lt. Bruce Carr was given the distinction of being the only pilot in the war to take off for his mission in one plane and landed in another.
In November 1944, USAAF Lt Bruce Carr of the 354th FG was shot down over Czechoslovakia. He headed toward what he believed was a Luftwaffe airfield to hand himself in, as he was hungry as hell and tired.
He got to the perimeter of the field which was based in a forest and laid low watching aircrew finishing servicing and rearming of the fighters concealed just off the strip, before they disappeared back towards the crew areas for the night.
Thoughts of surrender turned to escape and as it got lighter with dawn, he climbed into the cockpit of the nearest fighter, by now thoroughly miserable with cold gnawing away at him as well.
He couldn’t make any sense of the placards but by basically pressing things he got the inertial starter going and kicked the engine into life. Fearing detection, he crash-coursed flaps, screw pitch, undercarriage up etc and finding the park brake, set off for the strip. He needn’t have worried, none of the Germans thought the dawn ground-running of an aircraft to be anything out of the ordinary.
He got it off the ground, headed for his own strip and only then began to wonder what the home team airfield defences would make of him. It didn’t matter, his only problem turned out to be getting the undercarriage down again and he ended up bellying in.
Carr finished the war with the dubious distinction of being the only pilot to take off for a mission in one aircraft type, a P-51D, and return in another, a Fw190A.
Excerpt:
He had been so intent on figuring out his airplane problems, he forgot he was putting on a very tempting show for the ground crew. “As I started up the last time, I saw the air defense guys ripping the tarps off the quad .50s that ringed the field. I hadn't noticed the machine guns before, but I was sure noticing them right then.”
His antics over the runway had drawn quite a crowd, and the airplane had barely stopped sliding before there were MPs up on the wings trying to drag him out of the airplane by his arms. They didn't realize he was still strapped in. “I started throwing some good Anglo-Saxon swear words at them, and they let loose while I tried to get the seat belt undone, but my hands wouldn't work and I couldn't do it. Then they started pulling on me again because they still weren't convinced I was an American. I was yelling and hollering; then, suddenly, they let go and a face drops down into the cockpit in front of mine. It was my Group Commander, George R. Bickel. Bickel said, “Carr, where in the hell have you been and what have you been up to now?””
Bruce Carr was home and entered the record books as the only pilot known to leave on a mission flying a Mustang and return flying a Focke-Wulf.
For several days after the ordeal, he had trouble eating and sleeping, but when things again fell into place, he took some of the other pilots out to show them the airplane and how it worked. One of them pointed out a small handle under the glare shield that he hadn't noticed before. When he pulled it, the landing gear unlocked and fell out. The handle was a separate, mechanical uplock. At least he had figured out the important things.
USAAF Lt. Bruce Carr was given the distinction of being the only pilot in the war to take off for his mission in one plane and landed in another.
In November 1944, USAAF Lt Bruce Carr of the 354th FG was shot down over Czechoslovakia. He headed toward what he believed was a Luftwaffe airfield to hand himself in, as he was hungry as hell and tired.
He got to the perimeter of the field which was based in a forest and laid low watching aircrew finishing servicing and rearming of the fighters concealed just off the strip, before they disappeared back towards the crew areas for the night.
Thoughts of surrender turned to escape and as it got lighter with dawn, he climbed into the cockpit of the nearest fighter, by now thoroughly miserable with cold gnawing away at him as well.
He couldn’t make any sense of the placards but by basically pressing things he got the inertial starter going and kicked the engine into life. Fearing detection, he crash-coursed flaps, screw pitch, undercarriage up etc and finding the park brake, set off for the strip. He needn’t have worried, none of the Germans thought the dawn ground-running of an aircraft to be anything out of the ordinary.
He got it off the ground, headed for his own strip and only then began to wonder what the home team airfield defences would make of him. It didn’t matter, his only problem turned out to be getting the undercarriage down again and he ended up bellying in.
Carr finished the war with the dubious distinction of being the only pilot to take off for a mission in one aircraft type, a P-51D, and return in another, a Fw190A.
Excerpt:
He had been so intent on figuring out his airplane problems, he forgot he was putting on a very tempting show for the ground crew. “As I started up the last time, I saw the air defense guys ripping the tarps off the quad .50s that ringed the field. I hadn't noticed the machine guns before, but I was sure noticing them right then.”
His antics over the runway had drawn quite a crowd, and the airplane had barely stopped sliding before there were MPs up on the wings trying to drag him out of the airplane by his arms. They didn't realize he was still strapped in. “I started throwing some good Anglo-Saxon swear words at them, and they let loose while I tried to get the seat belt undone, but my hands wouldn't work and I couldn't do it. Then they started pulling on me again because they still weren't convinced I was an American. I was yelling and hollering; then, suddenly, they let go and a face drops down into the cockpit in front of mine. It was my Group Commander, George R. Bickel. Bickel said, “Carr, where in the hell have you been and what have you been up to now?””
Bruce Carr was home and entered the record books as the only pilot known to leave on a mission flying a Mustang and return flying a Focke-Wulf.
For several days after the ordeal, he had trouble eating and sleeping, but when things again fell into place, he took some of the other pilots out to show them the airplane and how it worked. One of them pointed out a small handle under the glare shield that he hadn't noticed before. When he pulled it, the landing gear unlocked and fell out. The handle was a separate, mechanical uplock. At least he had figured out the important things.
