MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Some years back Flying Magazine had an anniversary issue where they asked people why they had gotten into aviation. Here is a story that stuck out.
The author was an infantryman in the ETO. They encountered a German tank and called for some air support to take it out. A P-47 showed up, dived down and blew up the tank with a bomb, and after the airplane pulled up the engine quit. The pilot pulled the Thunderbolt around and made a belly landing in a muddy field not far away. The P-47 slid to a stop, the pilot got out and walked down the wing just as a Jeep pulled up and put its hood against the wing. The pilot stepped into the Jeep and rode off.
"Shot down and crash landed and he didn't even get his boots muddy!" thought the infantryman, "That's it! I'm going to be a pilot after the war!"
The author was an infantryman in the ETO. They encountered a German tank and called for some air support to take it out. A P-47 showed up, dived down and blew up the tank with a bomb, and after the airplane pulled up the engine quit. The pilot pulled the Thunderbolt around and made a belly landing in a muddy field not far away. The P-47 slid to a stop, the pilot got out and walked down the wing just as a Jeep pulled up and put its hood against the wing. The pilot stepped into the Jeep and rode off.
"Shot down and crash landed and he didn't even get his boots muddy!" thought the infantryman, "That's it! I'm going to be a pilot after the war!"
