My Father received his flight training in the Navy in 1941-2. He flew mostly Curtiss Wright SNC's (a model of the CW-22) and Grumman F3F's. The following story I was told is hard to believe, so I'm hoping that some of you pilots out there (I'm not one) can tell me if this kind of stuff really happened.
Here is the story:
While returning from a training run and preparing to land in an SNC, one of the landing gear on the wing would not go down. A second plane pulled alongside my Father's plane and with its wing, rolled and tried to knock the landing gear loose! While in mid-air! This did not solve the problem and he ended up crash landing the plane in the sand next to the runway a Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX. This was in April 1942.
I find this hard to believe, but hey, you never know.
Many thanks for any insights!
td
Here is the story:
While returning from a training run and preparing to land in an SNC, one of the landing gear on the wing would not go down. A second plane pulled alongside my Father's plane and with its wing, rolled and tried to knock the landing gear loose! While in mid-air! This did not solve the problem and he ended up crash landing the plane in the sand next to the runway a Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX. This was in April 1942.
I find this hard to believe, but hey, you never know.
Many thanks for any insights!
td