AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012 - 12

LETTERS

FROM OUR OCTOBER 2012 ISSUE

Secret Mission
Author and AOPA ePublications Managing Editor Alyssa J. Miller had the opportunity to meet four of the five surviving Doolittle Raiders.
I thoroughly enjoyed the article on the Tokyo Raiders (“Secret Mission”). It reminds me of the incredible acts of courage taken by many in many different theaters during World War II, and author Alyssa J. Miller did these four men proud in her article. I have never flown anything as big as a B–25, and can’t even imagine such a short-field takeoff in one of those, loaded with fuel and bombs. Despite the unpleasantness of war, I always have had an interest in World War II, and can recall the many stories that my father would tell us over the dinner table. Keep up the great magazine articles and support of GA.
Bruce Knight, AOPA 4235043 Boulder, Colorado

Back to full strength
I read with great interest the saga of the T–34s (“P&E: Ownership”). I’m glad to see the T–34 owners’ groups have finally conceded that there was a problem; not their original position after the crashes in Georgia and Texas. In the Texas cases, I knew both pilots and had flown with one of them. I know Tim Roehl as well and I believe what that man said in the aftermath of the crashes—the causes of the crashes and what the solutions needed to be. In fact, I was the first to write about the problem for Aviation Maintenance Magazine and you would not believe the hate mail I got from T–34 owners over that story. I stand by that story today. I won’t debate the pricing of the alternative means of compliance, but personally, as a very experienced pilot, I doubt I would ever go with the simplest and least expensive mod when it comes to aviation safety—especially when my backside is strapped to the sheet metal. Had I known about the problems beforehand, I would have never flown with the Houston group because I am convinced that the defects that killed four men existed at the time I flew and only by the grace of God am I alive to write this. My compliments to you for a very well-written article with my hopes the T–34s fly safely and accident-free evermore.
Bob Howie, AOPA 5731177 Houston, Texas

Tokyo Raiders honored during seventieth anniversary
B Y A LY S S A J. M I L L E R PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT SEALE AND MIKE FIZER

IN LOOSE FORMATION, 20 NORTH AMERICAN B 25 MITCHELLS ﬂy a low pass over the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Four men dressed in matching navy blue blazers with yellow crests grin widely as the bombers rumble overhead in clear skies, light winds, and mild temperatures. It was a far di erent setting 70 years earlier when those same men, along with 76 others, faced deteriorating weather conditions while ﬂying 16 B–25Bs from the USS Hornet in the Paciﬁc Ocean to bomb Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, the Tokyo Raiders launched early because the carrier had been spotted by the enemy. They didn’t know if they would have enough fuel to land safely in China. After bombing their targets in Japan, they neared China in the dark in rain and reduced visibility. One crew landed in the Soviet Union; the others bailed out over China or ditched o the Chinese coast. Three Raiders were executed by the Japanese, one died in prison, and four remained prisoners of war; two other Raiders died after their aircraft were ditched. The rest survived with

VIEW THE

VIDEO

60 | AOPA PILOT October 2012

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 61

“The reunion...the B-25 tribute was to draw the focus of the world on the Raiders, the Chinese who assisted them, and the USS Hornet crew. Your article did a great job keeping focus on the history of the raid and the surviving Raiders. Thank you for an outstanding job.”
Larry D. Kelley, AOPA 769465 Mardela Springs, Maryland

You really did a great service to the five surviving Doolittle Raiders and to the mission itself in composing the “Secret Mission” article. In May 2006 The History Channel picked our B–25, Heavenly Body, to assist in filming a feature on the B–25 Mitchell. The History Channel showed each crewmember’s station and duties and so for the co-pilot they brought Dick Cole from his home in Comfort, Texas, for the filming. I put Dick in the right seat and as we departed Runway 16R from Van Nuys I turned over the controls to the thenjust-90-year-old Cole. Dick said he hadn’t flow a “Twenty-five” since WWII but you couldn’t tell that from the way he was right at home in that seat. Our heading out of Van Nuys for
12 | AOPA PILOT December 2012

the area we picked to do some filming was 270 degrees. As we approached the Pacific coastline, I asked Dick if that was the same heading the Raiders took after launching from the Hornet to bomb Japan and he said, “sure was.” I said that if we kept on that heading we could reach Hawaii, and he immediately tapped the fuel gauges and said, “Nope, not enough fuel.” Dick Cole is a remarkable man and I feel very fortunate to be able to say, “Doolittle and I had the same co-pilot.”

New Orleans with my wife, we were on a VFR flight in our Lake Amphibian with flight following and talking to Mobile Approach. It was a quiet evening and she asked if she could handle the radio. Everything was going well and she seemed to be enjoying her duties. A Cessna 172 was coming in the opposite direction and the controller warned both of us of traffic at 12 o’clock. I told her to say “We’re looking.” The other aircraft responded with “no joy,” which caused her to have a puzzled look on her face. George Hulett, Before I could explain the term, AOPA 454599 Woodland Hills, California the other aircraft said “Tallyho.” And before I could react she Steppin’ in it keyed the mic and responded, I enjoyed Rod Machado’s take “What did you call me?” David Walter, on “steppin’ in it” (“License to AOPA 1101421 Learn”). While flying home from Orange Beach, Alabama

http://www.aopa.org/pilot

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2012