oldcrowcv63
Tech Sergeant
I have long had an interest in and an intent to start a thread to discuss and learn about epic flights made by pilots (aircrew) and aircraft during years around the war.
I am sure there are many epic and heroic efforts to transport men and material across vast distances of the globe, frequently made in an environment threatened by both enemy action and natural elements.
As two examples:
I thought there might be interest in this account of an epic flight made by the pilots of Patwing 10 (VP-101) during Operation Gridiron at the start of WW2. A resupply and rescue mission flown from Perth to Corregidor and back including a near-disastrous landing in Lake Lanau on Mindanao in the PI. They extracted something like 50 people in two PBYs.
AGOM\PBY-TP
There are two books written that describe Operation Gridiron in some detail:
Escape from Bataan: Memoir of a U.S. Navy Ensign in the Philippines, October 1941 to May 1942.
by Phillip Hoffman
and In the Hands of Fate by Dwight Messier
Also a you tube video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uscEbFYl_Vs
Another epic journey made over sea and land by USAAF fighter pilots at the start of the war is recounted by Bill Bartsch in Every Day a Nightmare, his account of the defense of Java by the FEAF's 17th pursuit squadron and others in February to March, 1942. The epic flight is by a squadron of P-40Es from their training base in south eastern Australia to Java.
In another thread, RCAFson appropriately mentioned a flight by Spitfires from Gibraltar to Malta and the epic distance flown by A6M's escorting IJN strike aircraft during attacks on Guadalcanal. I would add both to this list, not restricted by nation or aircraft type.
Just pre and during the war. (Truculent Turtle's epic flight doesn't qualify due to it occurring outside the time frame.)
I am sure there are many epic and heroic efforts to transport men and material across vast distances of the globe, frequently made in an environment threatened by both enemy action and natural elements.
As two examples:
I thought there might be interest in this account of an epic flight made by the pilots of Patwing 10 (VP-101) during Operation Gridiron at the start of WW2. A resupply and rescue mission flown from Perth to Corregidor and back including a near-disastrous landing in Lake Lanau on Mindanao in the PI. They extracted something like 50 people in two PBYs.
AGOM\PBY-TP
There are two books written that describe Operation Gridiron in some detail:
Escape from Bataan: Memoir of a U.S. Navy Ensign in the Philippines, October 1941 to May 1942.
by Phillip Hoffman
and In the Hands of Fate by Dwight Messier
Also a you tube video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uscEbFYl_Vs
Another epic journey made over sea and land by USAAF fighter pilots at the start of the war is recounted by Bill Bartsch in Every Day a Nightmare, his account of the defense of Java by the FEAF's 17th pursuit squadron and others in February to March, 1942. The epic flight is by a squadron of P-40Es from their training base in south eastern Australia to Java.
In another thread, RCAFson appropriately mentioned a flight by Spitfires from Gibraltar to Malta and the epic distance flown by A6M's escorting IJN strike aircraft during attacks on Guadalcanal. I would add both to this list, not restricted by nation or aircraft type.
Just pre and during the war. (Truculent Turtle's epic flight doesn't qualify due to it occurring outside the time frame.)