Dave Siciliano
Final Approach
A friend sent this along. Thought it was fun.
Dave
=====================================================
Good Morning Ralph,
Hopefully someone with a better memory will correct this, but here goes what
little I know.
Ike often went down to Georgia to play golf. I don't recall which airport
he was landing at when the incident occurred, however, the weather was
substantially below minima. The approach was executed, but they only spotted one
row of runway lights. Thinking the row they saw was the right hand row, the
approach was continued. Just before touchdown, it was realized that the lights
they saw were the left row and they were about to land in the grass
alongside the runway. A go around was initiated, but the Columbine did touch down
during the maneuver. No damage done. I don't remember whether a second
approach was executed at the same airport or whether they diverted to another field.
( I THINK they went somewhere else)
As I am sure you and all the rest of the list know, Ike was an avid light
plane pilot. When he was president of Columbia, he commuted from his farm at
Gettysburg to Teterboro in a Bonanza.
As I am sure you also remember, Truman had a nice DC-6B, the Independence,
as a presidential airplane. When Ike became president, he asked for a Connie
to be assigned.
Why did he want a Connie? Because he had been assigned a Constellation
during the war when he was Supreme Commander.
Now, if you were Supreme Commander of the entire Allied war machine and you
were also an avid aviator, wouldn't you take a turn at the controls of the
airplane assigned to you?
The Constellation was the airplane with which Ike was familiar. Ergo, the
Douglas was replaced with a Lockheed
Rumor has it that Ike regularly flew the Connie from the left seat. Rusty
Draper had been his pilot during the war and he was assigned to Ike for the
Columbine.
You got it! Rumor at the time was that Ike had been in the left seat of the
Columbine when it kissed the sod in Georgia!
The green card lost a lot of it's value following that!
PS Ike first soloed illegally in a Stearman that had been assigned to the
air attache of the US embassy in Manila.
Dave
=====================================================
Good Morning Ralph,
Hopefully someone with a better memory will correct this, but here goes what
little I know.
Ike often went down to Georgia to play golf. I don't recall which airport
he was landing at when the incident occurred, however, the weather was
substantially below minima. The approach was executed, but they only spotted one
row of runway lights. Thinking the row they saw was the right hand row, the
approach was continued. Just before touchdown, it was realized that the lights
they saw were the left row and they were about to land in the grass
alongside the runway. A go around was initiated, but the Columbine did touch down
during the maneuver. No damage done. I don't remember whether a second
approach was executed at the same airport or whether they diverted to another field.
( I THINK they went somewhere else)
As I am sure you and all the rest of the list know, Ike was an avid light
plane pilot. When he was president of Columbia, he commuted from his farm at
Gettysburg to Teterboro in a Bonanza.
As I am sure you also remember, Truman had a nice DC-6B, the Independence,
as a presidential airplane. When Ike became president, he asked for a Connie
to be assigned.
Why did he want a Connie? Because he had been assigned a Constellation
during the war when he was Supreme Commander.
Now, if you were Supreme Commander of the entire Allied war machine and you
were also an avid aviator, wouldn't you take a turn at the controls of the
airplane assigned to you?
The Constellation was the airplane with which Ike was familiar. Ergo, the
Douglas was replaced with a Lockheed
Rumor has it that Ike regularly flew the Connie from the left seat. Rusty
Draper had been his pilot during the war and he was assigned to Ike for the
Columbine.
You got it! Rumor at the time was that Ike had been in the left seat of the
Columbine when it kissed the sod in Georgia!
The green card lost a lot of it's value following that!
PS Ike first soloed illegally in a Stearman that had been assigned to the
air attache of the US embassy in Manila.
