Transcribe
Translate
Nile Kinnick correspondence, March-October 1943
1943-04-05: Page 01
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
Monday April 5, 1943 Dear Folks, Not so long ago a couple of Navy fighters - not from our squadron - were crash landed near Newburgh, N.Y. Lost in the fog and low on gas the pilots made a belly landing in a farmer's field, that is to say, they brought their craft in wheels up to avoid the possibility of nosing over. The feat was neatly accomplished - no injuries to personnel and apart from bent propellers the planes suffered only minor damage. Men from the carrier aircraft service unit (CASU) located here at Quonset hauled the plane into an Army field at Newburgh and made the necessary repairs. Then CASU having no pilots qualified in an F4F4 asked for two fliers from VF-16 to ferry them back. Bill Reiter and I were designated. Lt. Comd'r Sherrill, skipper of Casu, flew us over in the GB-2, which in Navy code means a personnel transport made by Beechcraft. You will find a picture of it among the Beechcraft advertising photographs on page 206 of the Feb. issue of Flying. It is a five place, single engine, bi-plane - a neat little job, just right for the family after the war? We left Quonset about 10:30 AM, flew west to Hartford, on to Pougkeepsie, then dropped into Stewart field at Newburgh about 11:30 AM. It was contact all the way, though halfway between Hartford and
Saving...
prev
next
Monday April 5, 1943 Dear Folks, Not so long ago a couple of Navy fighters - not from our squadron - were crash landed near Newburgh, N.Y. Lost in the fog and low on gas the pilots made a belly landing in a farmer's field, that is to say, they brought their craft in wheels up to avoid the possibility of nosing over. The feat was neatly accomplished - no injuries to personnel and apart from bent propellers the planes suffered only minor damage. Men from the carrier aircraft service unit (CASU) located here at Quonset hauled the plane into an Army field at Newburgh and made the necessary repairs. Then CASU having no pilots qualified in an F4F4 asked for two fliers from VF-16 to ferry them back. Bill Reiter and I were designated. Lt. Comd'r Sherrill, skipper of Casu, flew us over in the GB-2, which in Navy code means a personnel transport made by Beechcraft. You will find a picture of it among the Beechcraft advertising photographs on page 206 of the Feb. issue of Flying. It is a five place, single engine, bi-plane - a neat little job, just right for the family after the war? We left Quonset about 10:30 AM, flew west to Hartford, on to Pougkeepsie, then dropped into Stewart field at Newburgh about 11:30 AM. It was contact all the way, though halfway between Hartford and
Nile Kinnick Collection
sidebar
