Rank has its privileges

Air Classics, Oct 1999 by Brown, Ben L

I was a ferry pilot in the Ferrying Division of the Air Transport Command, USAAF. I was only a captain, but I had gained a great deal of flying experience by checking out and flying all types of aircraft that were being used during World War Two. I was classified a 5P ferry pilot, which meant I could pick up and deliver any type of aircraft.

On this particular day, I was ferrying a new P-51 D Mustang that I had just picked up from the North American factory at Grand Prairie, Texas. My delivery orders stated the plane was to be delivered to Newark, New Jersey, After landing, the aircraft would be taken to a loading dock and placed on a ship bound for England. Newark was a huge staging area for aircraft going to Europe at that time and the airport was usually loaded with P-38s, P-51s. and P-47s.

At the time of the pickup at the factory, a close friend of mine came with me to fly another Mustang. However, as luck would be with me, the plane my friend was assigned to fly developed a coolant leak on takeoff and he belly landed the 51 in a field. He was not hurt and I continued on alone. My flight plan stated I would land at Cherry Point to refuel then fly on into Newark the following day. After passing Atlanta, I was cruising along at 250 mph, enjoying the scenery, when I suddenly noticed a shadow moving across inside the cockpit. I glanced to the left, saw nothing, turning to the right I was really surprised to see a big blue Navy Corsair sitting on the right wing and flying really close formation. I tried to make contact with the Corsair by radio, but with hand signals soon figured out his radio was not operating. I soon realized the pilot seemed to be lost as well. I signaled for him to follow. As we came within range of Cherry Point, I radioed the tower and told them I had a Corsair in tow with an inop radio. The tower said to continue our landing approach and try to convey to the Corsair pilot that he would be second to land. He got the message. As I made the final radio call, the tower said it was not a Navy Corsair but a Marine example.

After landing, the tower had us follow a jeep to the parking area. The Corsair pilot parked next to me and after we shook hands I found out he was a USMC ferry pilot by the name of Steve Kocinski. We both needed some lunch and proceeded to the officers' club. By the middle of the afternoon my plane was refueled and the Corsair repaired, While chatting with Steve, I found out that we were both in our early 20s, liked playing around in the sky, and were anxious to see what each other's plane would do in a dogfight before we went our separate ways.

At some point in our enthusiasm to chase each other around the sky, either I or maybe Steve made a great suggestion. It was crazy - but we thought it was a wonderful idea. We could give each other a cockpit check of our airplanes - and then fly them! We both felt it would be the only time in our lives that we could pull this off and get away with it. We gave each other checkouts, got in the cockpits, looked around, fired up, and called the tower. We told them we would be in the area for an hour doing a test flight. With our flight suits, caps, and sunglasses, they could certainly not tell who we were.

Frankly, I have to admit I was a bit shaky since any accident or flight problem would mean we were discovered and that could lead to trouble - like a court-martial! I was also a bit nervous about whether Steve could handle the Mustang's torque on takeoff. I had gone over this point with him as well as telling him to make a full stall, three-point landing. I felt at ease in the Corsair since it was similar to the big old P-47.

We got our clearances and made separate takeoffs, climbing out and reaching the altitude we had agreed upon. I enjoyed flying the Corsair and found it to be quite easy to fly. After flying a loose formation and cutting up the sky pretty good with slow rolls and a loop, we headed back to base. We taxied back to the same place on the ramp, parked, and then congratulated each other on flying the airplanes.

By this time, it was too late to continue our ferry trips so we decided to stay overnight at the base. With parachutes slung over our shoulders, we started to walk back towards operations to find where the visiting officers' quarters were located. We didn't walk too far when we were confronted by, of all people, a three-stripe Navy officer. He was a full commander equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the USAAF.

The commander was all Navy and he was at least ten years older than us-very intimidating to say the least. I was really shaking in my boots. He proceeded to chew us both out, stating he had watched our whole operation. He also stated that this was a serious breach of conduct and our military careers would probably be badly damaged. He said if we had an accident of some sort, then both of us would be equally guilty. We would probably be disgraced back home as well as discharged. By this time, my legs were damn near rubber and I was scared to death.