| TRAINING EXPERIENCE FOR SINGLE-SEAT P-40 Allan Scott, who told us about his experiences as a WWII flight instructor, had a sober training experience in a P-40. He points out that it was a big step from the tandem-seat 600-horsepower AT-6 to the 1200-horsepower, three-bladed prop P-40. He had just finished his advanced training in May of 1943. At that time pursuit pilots were needed for low-light raids over Germany, so he and his roommate were told to take the manuals for the P-40 and to study them overnight. After familiarizing themselves with the material they would be flying the airplanes in the morning! With eight hours in the AT-6 Scott and his roommate, Savage, showed up for their assigned training. They took turns sitting in a P-40 cockpit, blindfolded. They were asked to identify certain switches, etc., and “after several errors, we were set to go!” His roommate was assigned P-40 number 12 and was told to go fly it for an hour and a half. When he came back, it would be re-fueled and then Scott was to take it up for an hour and a half. “About 9:15, when my roommate hadn’t returned, I asked whether there was another ship I should fly. They asked me why. When I said number 12 hadn’t come back yet, they asked me if I knew Mr. Savage. When I said yes, he’s my roommate, they said not any more. He just dug a hole 17 feet deep in a clay bank. I requested returning to my barracks, but they said no, go take number 18 and go fly for an hour and a half. Well, I flew that airplane straight and level for that hour and a half. My roommate had gotten in trouble because he flew aerobatics in that P-40. That can be a vicious airplane with its long nose and three-bladed prop. You’d have to keep both feet on the rudder getting off the ground because of the torque!” Scott had a P-40 adventure right in the United States, never needing to be sent overseas to find excitement! While stationed at Craig Field in Selma, Alabama, he was instructed to take the train out to Sacramento, California, where a P-40 had been restored (with as many parts as were available). It had been brought back after flying in China with the Flying Tigers, and was to be given a place of honor mounted as a trophy on a pedestal at Craig. His train trip took five days; the cross country plane trip back took almost as long because there were all sorts of mechanical problems with the P-40. A B model, Scott said it was hard to start. In fact when he landed in Phoenix at Luke Field on one of his fuel stops, graduation ceremonies were in progress. The plane, painted up with the famous Flying Tigers logo and shark teeth, drew a lot of attention. The graduation attendees flocked to see the plane, with Scott standing on the wing. The colonel making the speech told him to move on, but when he tried to do so the plane wouldn’t start! Unfortunately, after Scott limped the famous warrior all the way back to Craig Field, it never made it to its pedestal. When he finally made it back to his home base, Scott’s major at Craig said “he wanted to be able to tell his grandkids that he’d flown a P-40 so he took it up. Something went wrong and he bailed out and the plane was lost.” What a crushing blow that must have been after Scott had nursed it all the way back across the country! After several conversations with Allan Scott it’s evident that he feels he has had, as he says, “a great life.” A life so good, in fact, that he says he may actually write a book about it some day. I hope he does…he has some very interesting tales to tell. |
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| WINGS 'N THINGS by Judie Betz Ocala Star-Banner May 7, 2003 |