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If your dad should still be alive you should ask him how he managed to get his P51 shot directly above a friendly airfield. I have a hunch, there's a story behi

If your dad should still be alive you should ask him how he managed to get his P51 shot directly above a friendly airfield. I have a hunch, there's a story behind that.

tsomctl 6y ago
By swallowing a valve, he means one of the valves that lets air into the cylinder, or exhaust out, snapped off. So you no longer have that cylinder working, plus you have the valve rattling around against the piston that's still moving up and down. Not good.
WalterBright 6y ago
Swallowing a valve is a common engine failure for high performance engines. The valve breaks off at the stem and falls into the combustion chamber. The piston comes up, jams against the valve, and the engine basically comes apart. He was forced to land immediately. The story was more about the P-47. He was nearing the airfield (again!) when the valve broke loose. He was asked by the tower if he could do another lap of the airfield and give someone else priority in landing. The vibration wasn't so bad, so he said "sure". After landing, the chief mechanic called him over and chewed him out for doing the extra lap. The mechanic showed him the engine, which was just turning rubble. He was a B-17 navigator during WW2. On one mission, one of the four engines was hit by flak and stopped. The pilot talked to the crew, saying they had a choice. Three engines meant the B-17 couldn't keep up with the formation, and would get picked off by the trailing Me-109s, so they would preemptively bail out over Germany. Or, they could drive the 3 engines way past their rated power, and pray they kept turning for the many hours of the return flight. They risked crashing into the Channel. They chose the latter, the engines held, and they landed back at base (the engines were scrapped). I have my dad's "Lucky Bastard" certificate, he earned it :-) He passed away a few years ago, I doubt there are more than a handful of WW2 aviators left.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  P.S. you might wonder how he went from B-17 navigator to P-51 pilot. After WW2, he rejoined the AF in order to be a fighter pilot. Wound up flying quite a diverse collection of machines.
  - Waterluvian 6y ago
    If you don't mind me asking, did he eventually fly jets? Did he ever express an opinion on which he enjoyed more: jet or prop fighters?
    - WalterBright 6y ago
      "Charles D. Bright has flown the F-47, F-51, F-84, F-86, B-17, B-25, B-26, C-46, C-47, and T-33, and has been a member of fighter, fighter-bomber, fighter-interceptor, heavy bombardment, light bombardment, and troop carrier units. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force; in World War II he was a navigator in B-17s and in the Korean War he was a fighter-bomber pilot. He has also been an instructor pilot in fighter weaponry, and has taught aerospace studies." http://generalatomic.com/jetmakers/introduction.html http://generalatomic.com/jetmakers/introduction.html So, yes! He really liked the F-86 Sabre.
      - Toutouxc 6y ago
        Lucky man, flew both the P-51 and F-86, the most beautiful machines of their eras. The only thing left for him was to switch sides and fly the Su-27 :) (yep I know that one is a little younger)
        WalterBright 6y ago
        He had SABRJET as a vanity auto license plate for many years. You're right, my dad had a great life. When people would ask him "how are you?" he'd reply "shot at and missed!"
- downut 6y ago
  "They chose the latter, the engines held..." In the olden tymes, ordinary lusers were able to turn the machine's dial past 10..., knowing that their account might be terminated. Now all that's left is excel.
  - p_l 6y ago
    While the time of direct control over engines is over now in this FADEC era... The FADECs have a control panel, where universally there's a button for "screw the engines, give me power". Required for things like losing one of two engines immediately during takeoff, or having to do go-around on one.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  Another of his engine failure stories. He was tootling along in an F-86 over Arizona, and the engine failed. The tower ordered him to bail out (pilots are worth more than the jets). But being the math nerd he was, he calculated a parabolic trajectory that would just bring him to the runway. (Knowing the sink rate, winds, distance, altitude.) Dead stick touched down on the runway. Got chewed out for saving the airplane instead of his ass. He admitted to me decades later that he should have bailed out, but had never done so and was afraid of doing it.
- choeger 6y ago
  Thanks for the clarification. I must have misread that part.

If your dad should still be alive you should ask him how he managed to get his P51 shot directly above a friendly airfield. I have a hunch, there's a story behind that.

tsomctl 6y ago

By swallowing a valve, he means one of the valves that lets air into the cylinder, or exhaust out, snapped off. So you no longer have that cylinder working, plus you have the valve rattling around against the piston that's still moving up and down. Not good.

WalterBright 6y ago

Swallowing a valve is a common engine failure for high performance engines. The valve breaks off at the stem and falls into the combustion chamber. The piston comes up, jams against the valve, and the engine basically comes apart. He was forced to land immediately. The story was more about the P-47. He was nearing the airfield (again!) when the valve broke loose. He was asked by the tower if he could do another lap of the airfield and give someone else priority in landing. The vibration wasn't so bad, so he said "sure". After landing, the chief mechanic called him over and chewed him out for doing the extra lap. The mechanic showed him the engine, which was just turning rubble. He was a B-17 navigator during WW2. On one mission, one of the four engines was hit by flak and stopped. The pilot talked to the crew, saying they had a choice. Three engines meant the B-17 couldn't keep up with the formation, and would get picked off by the trailing Me-109s, so they would preemptively bail out over Germany. Or, they could drive the 3 engines way past their rated power, and pray they kept turning for the many hours of the return flight. They risked crashing into the Channel. They chose the latter, the engines held, and they landed back at base (the engines were scrapped). I have my dad's "Lucky Bastard" certificate, he earned it :-) He passed away a few years ago, I doubt there are more than a handful of WW2 aviators left.

WalterBright 6y ago
P.S. you might wonder how he went from B-17 navigator to P-51 pilot. After WW2, he rejoined the AF in order to be a fighter pilot. Wound up flying quite a diverse collection of machines.
- Waterluvian 6y ago
  If you don't mind me asking, did he eventually fly jets? Did he ever express an opinion on which he enjoyed more: jet or prop fighters?
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    "Charles D. Bright has flown the F-47, F-51, F-84, F-86, B-17, B-25, B-26, C-46, C-47, and T-33, and has been a member of fighter, fighter-bomber, fighter-interceptor, heavy bombardment, light bombardment, and troop carrier units. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force; in World War II he was a navigator in B-17s and in the Korean War he was a fighter-bomber pilot. He has also been an instructor pilot in fighter weaponry, and has taught aerospace studies." http://generalatomic.com/jetmakers/introduction.html http://generalatomic.com/jetmakers/introduction.html So, yes! He really liked the F-86 Sabre.
    - Toutouxc 6y ago
      Lucky man, flew both the P-51 and F-86, the most beautiful machines of their eras. The only thing left for him was to switch sides and fly the Su-27 :) (yep I know that one is a little younger)
      - WalterBright 6y ago
        He had SABRJET as a vanity auto license plate for many years. You're right, my dad had a great life. When people would ask him "how are you?" he'd reply "shot at and missed!"
downut 6y ago
"They chose the latter, the engines held..." In the olden tymes, ordinary lusers were able to turn the machine's dial past 10..., knowing that their account might be terminated. Now all that's left is excel.
- p_l 6y ago
  While the time of direct control over engines is over now in this FADEC era... The FADECs have a control panel, where universally there's a button for "screw the engines, give me power". Required for things like losing one of two engines immediately during takeoff, or having to do go-around on one.
WalterBright 6y ago
Another of his engine failure stories. He was tootling along in an F-86 over Arizona, and the engine failed. The tower ordered him to bail out (pilots are worth more than the jets). But being the math nerd he was, he calculated a parabolic trajectory that would just bring him to the runway. (Knowing the sink rate, winds, distance, altitude.) Dead stick touched down on the runway. Got chewed out for saving the airplane instead of his ass. He admitted to me decades later that he should have bailed out, but had never done so and was afraid of doing it.
choeger 6y ago
Thanks for the clarification. I must have misread that part.