re: 75 Years Ago Today - Doolittle Raider's Hit Tokyo

Jcorye1 Sounds like your grandfather did a great job on those engines!
----

Plans called for Doolittle’s squadron to take off about 300 miles from Japan, but when spotted the American ships were still 700 miles offshore. After a brief discussion with naval commanders, Doolittle got the okay to proceed anyway. The klaxon sounded immediately, and the captain of the U.S.S. Hornet gave the order: “Army pilots, man your planes!"


The ship was rolling and pitching wildly as Doolittle became the first to attempt takeoff. The carrier’s flight officer was timing the rise and fall of the vessel’s bow to give the plane the benefit of the rising deck. “It was like riding a see-saw,” Doolittle said.


On signal, he revved his engines until his crew feared he’d burn them up, then lumbered down the deck. “We wondered what the wind would do to him,” said pilot Ted Lawson, who was four planes back in Ruptured Duck. “Everyone knew if he couldn’t, we couldn’t.”

Just as the carrier lifted up on a swell, Doolittle became airborne with only yards to spare. “He hung his ship almost straight up on its props,” Lawson said, so everyone could see the entire top of the plane, “then he leveled out.”


All 16 planes made it into the sky, but not before a navy crewman slipped on the soaking deck and thrust his arm into the whirring propeller of the last plane to take off.








LINK /