Airdrop

Flight Journal, Dec 2000

A chapter closed

It was with profound interest that I read John Dinou's article "Ahrweiler Massacre" in your August 2000 issue. My husband is a pilot and had relayed the news of my planned journey back to Germany with my mother to one of his copilots. The copilot, in turn, left a photocopy of your article in my husband's mailbox. During the trip, my mother and I visited the crash site of my father's plane near Wittlich. He was the pilot of that B-26 Marauder from which Wendell Fetters jumped; Wendell was mentioned in the article. We learned of the care given to my father's body by the mayor of the village of Schladt near the bombing site. This Burgermeister brought him to the village cemetery for temporary burial until the American soldiers returned to retrieve the dead after the War. Many other questions were answered by the forest rangers and historians with whom we met. Fifty-six years of questions and concerns were answered and put to rest.

We visited the crash site and actually found pieces of the Plexiglas cockpit mentioned in the article. How I thank God for young men who have taken an historical interest in tracking down such details! Thank you for publishing a piece of history so important to America and so close to home for us. [email]

Marcia Haynes Mack Poulsbo, WA

We are glad that this article helped to close an unanswered chapter in your life. By the way, John Dinou-the "young man" you refer to-was actually a B-26 pilot during WW II. RP

Hunchback of P-40?

I bought a picture (via Ebay) of a strange aircraft being built. I have tried to have it identified by posting it to an aviation newsgroup. While all agree it is an interesting item, no one can identify it. It was suggested Flight journal might be able to identify it or want to use it as a "Stump the Reader" feature. Any information would be greatly appreciated. [email]

Randy Stiefer cit@onr.com

Note of thanks

We of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome would like to express our gratitude to the Emery Freight service and all who were involved with helping them get our planes to the past Sun 'N' Fun. A good time was had by all.

Gene DeMarco ORA

USAF F-Bs

I always enjoy your publication that I receive as a Museum of Flight contributor. As a former Marine aviator, I wondered about the photo caption on page 75 of the August 2000 issue. What Air Force units flew F-8s? How many wished they did? [email]

Ashby Shoop Boeing F-22 Weapons System A&I

We were just checking to see if our audience was paying attention, and you're right, the USAF didn't have F-8s. BD

Happy camper

1 just received my first subscription issue of Flight Journal (October 2000), and, unfortunately, I have already read it from cover to cover. It's unfortunate because now I have to wait another two months for the next issue. Each article is written in superb detail. I never knew about Bob Hall-what an incredible life story! And to think that I racked up 10 times more hours than he logged! I would trade some of my time for a few in the iron that he flew!

The story by Capt. Eric Brown is also incredible. In the Pfalz article, the mention of Frank Tallman brought back memories. I had the fortunate experience of flying with Frank; I had a couple of Stearmans that he seemed to always need for various photo shoots, so I got to be a film pilot. Why he didn't spend the few bucks and buy some for his business still amazes me. Actually, most of the time, someone like Mike Dewey, Odell Burton or Art Scholl got to do the glamour stuff, albeit in my airplanes. (Mike did the flying in my 450hp Stearman when Dar Robinson made the first jump from one airplane to another). But one small technical error is on page 65 on which the death of Tallman is reported to be February 18, 1966. I have the front page of the Orange County Register dated Monday April 17, 1978, which reports his death. Catching the error and retrieving my copy of the paper made the reading of Flight Journal even more enjoyable.

As a final note, I am absolutely amazed at Peter Bowers' encyclopedia of knowledge and photographs of avianon history. Many years from now he will be held up as the writer of the bible of aviation history. [email]

Bob Cannon Portland, OR

Thanks for the kind words and setting the record straight. RP

Lockheed 12A

I'm an old Lockheed hand and read the 12A stories with special interest. "Rappin"' with Kent and Sandy is always a pleasure. Pete Bowers is a friend, too, and one or two of those pictures look kind of familiar. Anyway, I would like to offer a few supplemental observations.

Early in the L 12A's preliminary design stage, it was envisioned that the airplane would be motivated by a pair of Menasco Super Buccaneers in the 350- to 400hp range. In fact, Lockheed bought a controlling interest in the Menasco Co., which was trying to upgrade the Super Buccaneer for commercial applications. It had therefore been mainly used for racing-with its output boosted to 500hp-but it would not hold up under continuous hard use. The Super Buccaneer, which was a supercharged inverted six, would have made a lovely installation.