Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

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Ten o'clock of a December morning at Ladd Field, Alaska. There may he a midnight sun in summer, hut winter is a long, dark season, 26 they found this likely looking valley which seemed to offer an cvcnuc of escape. Then they crashed. Despite all the hazards of the trip, one man made it in a Piper Cub. In December, 1942, Capt. Malcolm Pruitt looked over his insurance records and took off from Great Falls in a Cub that had a range of only three hours. lIe knew that he could not make the 242 mile jump from Edmonton to the flight strip at Grand Prairie without adding extra hours to his flying time, So he went into a hard-varc store and purchased a funnel. Then he scraped up 22 one-gallon gasoline cans and cut a hole in the gas tank whicl: extends into the Piper cockpit. I lc kept one eye on his course and one cye on the gas, EITry time the gas snpply dropped, he heaved another gallon into the tank. After flying ont of Edmonton for four hours and fifteen minutes, he was still nowhere ncar his first stop, The outside tcmpcr.rturc \\as a smart 20 degrees bel 0\1' zero, and Pruitt had no heater. I Ie fiuallv went down into nine inches of snow in the middle of a 'fanner's field, I Ic figmed that he could telephone for help-but the farmer had no phone. \\'heu he got out to his plane, he fonnd that the motor had fr ozcu. Pruitt had alrcaclv had too m.mv troubles to let that bother him, lie fonnd a'\\ashtnb, built' a fire in it, and shoved the tub under the motor, he:lting it np sutlicicutlv for the take-off, After an hour of night filing with out iuvtr umcnts, he landed again at a little railroad t owu in the Peace River couutrv. Fm.illv, he got into Grand Prairie and eventu.illv delivered his plane to Fort St. John, 790 miles from Crcat hIlls, Cetting through in those days W:IS often a matter of luck. Some of the most experienced pilots in the Air Forces went clown more than 1\1'0 years ago-and thcv .md their a irpl.mcs haven't been found yet, Because of the lack of radio rangC', it was impossible to not ifv the b.ixc as to the approximate crash position. A wrecked plane was nothing more than a fly speck against a background of snow and icc that extended for thous.mcls of miles, There were no roads, no people, no shelter, and l'Cry little chance of finding food, It was the kind of territory that CITIl Renfrew of the Rovul Canadian l\lounted has never vixitcd. :r-.lam' crewmen \\'1'10 crushed were found frozen to death, There hale been except ions: Lt. Leon Crane got hack after 84 davs in the wilderness. On the other hand, a crew bailed out ,~ithin sight of an airfield-and their plunc is still und iscovcrccl. The man with one of the most unusual rescue stories is Capt, Thomas Dichiara. IIc was coming buck from Fairhanks as a passenger in a C-OO, The plane went into a spin and Dichiara bailed out. \\'hile lie Ivas floating down into that frozen barren count rv, the pilot righted the ship and flew on, Dichiara was vcrv much alone. I Ic had no idea where 'he was, so he just picked a direction and headed off. In 30 minutes, he came across the only railroad track in that part of the world. Fif tccn minutes later, a train which runs only once a week came along and picked him up. Toclnv. conditions in that area have been changed, Where there were oulv four radio ranges, nO\I' there is a range station cvcrv l'il) to 200 miles. With one exception, all legs arc interlocking, Instead of hundreds of miles without a possible landing site, there arc now 13 regnbr landing fields and cight flight strips, a hundred miles apart. The Alcan Iligh\\'av provides a perfect checkpoint with a station eyery 40 miles, An Arctic Rescue Svstcm has been organizcd which has cflcctivclv combatted one of the most serious of all problems faced along the :t\'orthll'est Routc-the question of the mental hazard faced by airmen who knew that in case of AIR FORCE
trouble their ch.mcc. of survival and rescue would he C\ceedlllgh' xlnu . ,\ Lldio nct work i, mu iu t.uurcl .mcl till' ,LIt iou-, hal c .urtru l t :h,lglll'l1 fOI the spccitic jJmpo,c of lrclping III the «..uch .mcl dWpplllg 'UppIIC', ,\ -ur, il:d kit 1r:1' lx cu pcrtcctccl couiplctc dmln to filillg p:lns, 'lI«:n: I, a ~,tall(ling rcw.ud of '-,II)ll ,\":ritlng a 1\\' trapper wh o l nru ixhcs inf orur.rtiou IDlrltlllg ill tlu: le'SCIIC of gwulldcd .unucu. Bnt the IIICU wlr» II eTC gi'cn the joh of ,ctting up a rescue ~y,telll IILTC bccd with a plohlelll th.it orchn.uv rc-cuc mct h od s could not ovcrcoiuc. en'II' IllTC forecd clowr, ill locat ious illacccS\ihlc l'ICIl to a m.u: dloppcd 1)\, p.rrurliu!c. Pl.iuc« cr.rckcd lip in the m i.Idlc of IrUI ilv IIOoc1l'l! forc,b or on the top of iu ou u t.u n pnks, It II;IS of tell nl'CCs\:I[\' to land a rescue p.utv m ilc-, :III':!\' Irou: I!u: -t rirkcu .unucu. Bilt the re,urers could not c.nrv t hc Irun ,led, .md equipment Ilcceleel for the C\ilelwtioll I\'mk. TIlc problem kid 110 .mxwcr until 1,1. David Irwin CIIIIC up witl: tltc ielca of \ISlIIg parapups, Licutcu.uit Irwin Iivccl ill the :\'orth cou ntrv for vc.rrs before the war. I1c xuid that he cOIIlel train hi, dogs sofhat thcv could be puruchutcd out of an .iirpl.mc. 'I'hcu the ,lcd, could be dropped to thc rescue party .uu! the dogs Iritehcd up . .\ te,t flight II:IS nlaele .u«l Licutcu.m t Irwiu urcn-lv pu-hcd the dogs out of a C--+!. The chutes opened :1111
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~J 1 AIR FOftCES * OCTOBER 1944
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Rendezvous Who Is He? Dear Editor:
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[us: ,dlat is tIle AAI'I'DC~ It is
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oads and bridges and military imtal
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Here's how controllers direct the p
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sengcr and courier service in areas
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GET WISE Here are a few of the easi
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Airborne soldiers. shown here durin
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Smoke in background is fruin [up.ui
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It has pronounced step characterist
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TIIC{"II""IIIi; ;lItidc j, till' I/
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OCTOBER,1944 The first thing the a\
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YOUR ENEMY All ;Iirer;!ft fllillg o
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->",i" .""tJnil'et hj/'- By Col. Do
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28 011 BOll~aiIldk is quicklv unloa
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the plane landed, a jccp would driv
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THE PHiliPPINES DISTANCES SHOWN IN
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The economic system of the Philippi
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The AAF's homing pigeons are recogn
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Our aviation engineers had to fight
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---- technique • -- - --- . RUNWA
Page 44 and 45: High Intensity Controlled Lighting
Page 46 and 47: Attached to a flyer's ear, the Oxim
Page 48 and 49: Automatic Pilot Trainer-A new train
Page 50 and 51: 3 5 7 Surprised by the friendliness
Page 52 and 53: TIM ELY A D V ICE FRO M THE A I R I
Page 54 and 55: R.6 I:>:CJ: the AAF S helicopter, t
Page 56 and 57: SS I. You on the left, Buddy, appea
Page 58 and 59: ever .nrivc at a fir',t ~Iid stut i
Page 60 and 61: p:rinted on the outvi.lc wrt l: ,ih
Page 62 and 63: tanks and truck-borne infantry and
Page 64 and 65: FIGHTER CONTROL (Colltilltled from
Page 68 and 69: Property of tDe Library ARMY INDtJS
Page 70 and 71: For the Record I)e:lr h!Jtlll Rende
Page 72 and 73: he Allie's into German-held of the
Page 74 and 75: H Combat may make you Lazy By Maj.
Page 76 and 77: ..... -; ... The results of two yea
Page 78 and 79: Production charts show the disaster
Page 80 and 81: all key points of the factory's 3-+
Page 82 and 83: HE Fortresses T wings to the took o
Page 84 and 85: ';:'4"'~' .~~~c ~)'~ ~J ~~~ ~" . "
Page 86 and 87: 'l'h is was a YClr ago, but these a
Page 88 and 89: Pulling in His Ne-:I:. Reeelit de,c
Page 90 and 91: When a radio operator makes a mista
Page 92 and 93: Lifeline to the US,S R BY HERBERT R
Page 96 and 97: THE MAN WITH THE PRIVATE BREEZE By
Page 98 and 99: THE AIR WAR IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFI
Page 100 and 101: STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL E
Page 102 and 103: It 11c:l!,illg l.ot h sidc
Page 104 and 105: , , ,CO:-iTI:-iUI:D ]'\o\\', pacbgi
Page 106 and 107: technique ••• CO]\;Tl:"UED Ne
Page 108 and 109: INSTRUMENT PANEL (Continued from Pa
Page 110 and 111: LIFELINE TO THE US S R ( Cout iuucc
Page 112 and 113: F\lr:RCF'\~CY FOUrp\lr:,\'T luvpcct
Page 114 and 115: 50 COMBAT MAY MAKE YOU LAZY (Contin
Page 116 and 117: EN of the AAF-including the hundred
Page 118 and 119: .I In. ]~rhO:S-':cl the'mll-it:IIT
Page 120 and 121: August 7. Patton kept moving his he
Page 122 and 123: l'Iiavigation Training En Masse. Th
Page 124 and 125: "WE arc not going to bubble over wi
Page 126 and 127: A wood block support; injured legs
Page 128 and 129: Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraf
Page 130: ~ ~,C"= =~=.~7~~ ---,- .... _._. __
Page 134 and 135: HOW ,SHARP ARE YOU? A 'hoto Test of
Page 136 and 137: .. ' Back to the Philippines PART I
Page 138 and 139: Tacloban strip \\";IS not sC'ITicca
Page 140 and 141: All Tile Illftl, \\ ,(("d If iii, ,
Page 142 and 143: :lIe fbttle of Hrit.un. IC\i" intru
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Underground. ,'~ group of worried m
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volunteers between the agcs of II .
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I f By Capt. Greer Williams Air SlI
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Flaming debris (If njllI, ])1]]1:ll
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ground fire the pilot should look f
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two weeks: Cincinnati. one week: Pi
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At 5.000 fed. the pilot opened the
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cardboard bombs on their choice of
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turn to Traffic Scction, Crcnicr Fi
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Oil refineries arc gooel targets, T
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Tile air campaign to choke off fuel
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fallen into Allied hands, thus maki
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Hamburg i lPolilz IMagdeburg 1 I r
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He's the guy who holds the life of
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46 V4ba\'s vnong V4itbtbis pictUfe1
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j ._3 Thirteen days after the 13th
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THE ABC OF D-DAY When an invasion i
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By all AIR F( )RCl-: ()\"t'rsc;/s S
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The fighters called for help and th
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A jeep, laden with leftover explosi
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THE ABC OF D-DAY t Cont inu.xl [r o
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By Capt. E. E. Churchill co, isu. A
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- ~ --'fftJMlGa ~II.I - , • - '--
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We're more than 2,300,000 individua
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