DIY History | Transcribe | Nile Kinnick Collection | Nile Kinnick correspondence, March-October 1943

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Nile Kinnick correspondence, March-October 1943

1943-04-05: Page 02

Poughkeepsie it closed down to about 1500' with poor visibility. Providing the weather at your destination doesn't get below 50 normal instrument conditions in a two place plane wouldn't be too bad - or rather skillful cooperation should produce a safe landing. Handling a fighter under such conditions, however, is quite another story. As a general rule, regardless of good or bad weather, we use our radio facilities to check our dead reckoning and as a matter of practice to meet a more difficult situation. This trip was particularly easy. The Providence, Hartford, and Poughkeepsie ranges all overlap, and we passed from one to the other by simply changing frequencies. The magic of radio provides invisible but well marked highways across the sky. The future of this marvelous technology is fascinatingly unlimited. After lunch at the Army officer's club Bill and I began a thorough inspection of the repaired planes before taking them up for a test hop. We made careful inquiry concerning the type of success of the crash landing, the nature of the damage and just exactly what had been done for remedy. The opinion of the chief aviation machinists mate and the officer supervising the repair held that the propellers were the only serious damage  and that the stoppage had not been sudden enough to hurt the prop shaft or crankshaft. Of course portions of the under engine cowling and wheel fairing were bent, but not badly enough to prevent flight. No structural damage was reported, yet we quite properly made our own inspection.

Saving...

Poughkeepsie it closed down to about 1500' with poor visibility. Providing the weather at your destination doesn't get below 50 normal instrument conditions in a two place plane wouldn't be too bad - or rather skillful cooperation should produce a safe landing. Handling a fighter under such conditions, however, is quite another story. As a general rule, regardless of good or bad weather, we use our radio facilities to check our dead reckoning and as a matter of practice to meet a more difficult situation. This trip was particularly easy. The Providence, Hartford, and Poughkeepsie ranges all overlap, and we passed from one to the other by simply changing frequencies. The magic of radio provides invisible but well marked highways across the sky. The future of this marvelous technology is fascinatingly unlimited. After lunch at the Army officer's club Bill and I began a thorough inspection of the repaired planes before taking them up for a test hop. We made careful inquiry concerning the type of success of the crash landing, the nature of the damage and just exactly what had been done for remedy. The opinion of the chief aviation machinists mate and the officer supervising the repair held that the propellers were the only serious damage and that the stoppage had not been sudden enough to hurt the prop shaft or crankshaft. Of course portions of the under engine cowling and wheel fairing were bent, but not badly enough to prevent flight. No structural damage was reported, yet we quite properly made our own inspection.