Solving a Fuel Transfer Problem

Early F4F pilots had to manually pump fuel from their drop tanks while they were flying. But they had it easy compared to this guy:

Pressure Over the Atlantic

MIflyer said:

Early F4F pilots had to manually pump fuel from their drop tanks while they were flying. But they had it easy compared to this guy:

Pressure Over the Atlantic

Click to expand...

And F4F pilots had to manually crank their landing gear up and down.

P-39 Expert said:

And F4F pilots had to manually crank their landing gear up and down

Click to expand...

Yes, they did, using a hand cranked bicycle chain. See attached photo of an FM-1 gear.

Way back in the 1950s when I read every flying book the library had, there was a comment in one that you could tell an F4F pilot by the way he wore his wrist watch. He wore it on the edge of his wrist rather than in the inside or outside. Because, when he cranked the L/G the crystal would be scratched unless he wore it on the edge of his wrist near the base of the thumb. That was confirmed when I saw Jefferson DeBlanc on Dogfights as he described having a bullet shoot his watch off and saw him touch the edge of his wrist.