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Why not. They have them on cars.Great post Bill. Whatever can go wrong eventually will go wrong, I think the US and UK involvement in so many flights led to the formation of civilian airline safety procedures. In the above case "how about a gas tank cap that cant be left on the ground?
At the time that was our concern. Hind sight suggests that chance of fire was unlikely since the fumes evaporated out in the open.Good thing it didn't catch fire!
That is then and now, I remember all the cars and motorcycles I owned in the seventies and eighties just had a screw cap, but if they catch fire they don't fall out of the sky.Why not. They have them on cars.
To abort was a disappointment. So much time was spent preparing for the flight and to end up with no mission credit was hard to take. The one mission we had to abort was after we were in enemy territory 15 minutes. No mission credit because we did not drop the payload on an assigned target. I did not talk to others who had a similar experience but I am certain they had much the same feelings. Our individual goal was to fly often and go home early. With a little luck this could be done in a two month period. After being assigned lead crew bombardier status, I didn't fly as often. I used to plead for mission assignment so I could go home a young man.I've been slowly going through the mission histories that I downloaded and noticed on a lot of missions, 1-4 aircraft aborted the mission for various reasons. Did you ever talk to these crews after the missions? I can imagine there must have been regret and feeling of letting the side down
because they still get forgotten, and the gas cap flaps around in the wind and causes plenty of damage to the wing, before the chain breaks and the cap is lost forever.That is then and now, I remember all the cars and motorcycles I owned in the seventies and eighties just had a screw cap, but if they catch fire they don't fall out of the sky.
In UK locking caps were not a safety issue, they appeared very quickly in the late 1970s due to the oil crisis, people started stealing petrol from parked cars and bikes.because they still get forgotten, and the gas cap flaps around in the wind and causes plenty of damage to the wing, before the chain breaks and the cap is lost forever.
Not that I have first-hand experience of this or anything....
We had the same problem over here.In UK locking caps were not a safety issue, they appeared very quickly in the late 1970s due to the oil crisis, people started stealing petrol from parked cars and bikes.
I am sure you are correct.because they still get forgotten, and the gas cap flaps around in the wind and causes plenty of damage to the wing, before the chain breaks and the cap is lost forever.
Not that I have first-hand experience of this or anything....
We still do...We had the same problem over here.
Why did you fly fewer missions as a lead? I would imagine that wise thing to do would be to put your best assets in the air against the enemy.
To abort was a disappointment. So much time was spent preparing for the flight and to end up with no mission credit was hard to take. The one mission we had to abort was after we were in enemy territory 15 minutes. No mission credit because we did not drop the payload on an assigned target. I did not talk to others who had a similar experience but I am certain they had much the same feelings. Our individual goal was to fly often and go home early. With a little luck this could be done in a two month period. After being assigned lead crew bombardier status, I didn't fly as often. I used to plead for mission assignment so I could go home a young man.
Why did you fly fewer missions as a lead? I would imagine that wise thing to do would be to put your best assets in the air against the enemy.
So there was no preset number of hours or missions? More like if the CO thought you now capable of doing the job?The lead assignment came only after completing a number of missions to gain experience. The Squadron Bombardier selected the time.
That is correct. Also, as a lead would finish his tour the vacancy would be filled.So there was no preset number of hours or missions? More like if the CO thought you now capable of doing the job?