Page 1 of 5 Subj: Date: From: To: HERB'S NEWS 5/13/2016 10:45:24 A.M. Central Daylight Time dabelow@comcast.net dabelow@comcast.net HERB S NEWS OH, NO IT S FRIDAY THE 13TH Here s some dates for your calendar. Captain Greg Walsh flew West a few weeks ago. A memorial service will be held in West Dundee, IL. Saturday, May 21st. at 10 AM St. Catherine Catholic Church 845 W. Main Street West Dundee, Illinois ******************************************* Pilots and Friends, Next Pilot Luncheon in CARY, NC at the Hibachi China Buffet May 25, 2016. Please mark this day on your calendar and come see your Ole Friends and fellow pilots. More information to follow. Capt. George W McKellar RDU Area Coordinator *********************************************** This is absolutely amazing!! Each time the incoming Olympic country outdoes the last..wow, what an Olympic flame! Take a look at this site showing the Olympic flame and waterfall for Rio. http://jimspages.com/the-rio-welcome-sign-2016-olympics.htm ************************************************************************ Distinguished Flying Cross awarded for shooting down an American Plane. Another bit of WW2 history that's mostly unknown... The Story of Bad Angel : Pima Air and Space Museum On the Saturday following Thanksgiving 2013, Ms. Karen, my 94-year-old father, Bill Gressinger, and I were visiting Pima Air and Space Museum. We were in Hanger #4 to view the beautifully restored B-29, when I happened to take notice of a P-51 Mustang near the big bomber. It s name Bad Angel.
Page 2 of 5 P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel" in Hanger #4 at Pima Air and Space Museum. I was admiring its aerodynamic lines and recalled enough history to know that until the Mustangs came into service, the skies over the Pacific Ocean were dominated by Japanese Zeros. Then something very strange caught my eye. Proudly displayed on the fuselage of Bad Angel were the markings of the pilot s kills: seven Nazis; one Italian; one Japanese AND ONE AMERICAN. Huh? Bad Angel shot down an American airplane? Kill marks on "Bad Angel". Was it a terrible mistake? Couldn t be. If it had been an unfortunate misjudgment, certainly the pilot would not have displayed the American flag. I knew there had to be a good story here. Fortunately for us, one of the Museum s many fine docents was on hand to tell it. Read Less ********************** In 1942, the United States needed pilots for its war planes lots of war planes; lots of pilots. Lt. Louis Curdes was one. When he was 22 years old, he graduated flight training school and was shipped off to the Mediterranean to fight Nazis in the air over Southern Europe. Lt. Louis Curdes. He arrived at his 82nd Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron in April 1943 and was assigned a P-38 Lightning. Ten days later he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. A few weeks later, he downed two more German Bf -109 s. In less than a month of combat, Louis was an Ace. During the next three months, Louis shot down an Italian Mc.202 fighter and two more Messerschmitts before his luck ran out. A German fighter shot down his plane on August 27, 1943over Salerno, Italy. Captured by the Italians, he was sent to a POW camp near Rome. No doubt this is where he thought he would spend the remaining years of the war. It wasn t to be. A few days later, the Italians surrendered. Louis and a few other pilots escaped before the Nazis could take control of the camp. One might think that such harrowing experiences would have taken the fight out of Louis, yet he volunteered for another combat tour. This time, Uncle Sam sent him to the Philippines where he flew P-51 Mustangs. Soon after arriving in the Pacific Theater, Louis downed a Mitsubishi reconnaissance plane near Formosa. Now he was one of only three Americans to have kills against all three Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Page 3 of 5 Pilot Lt. Louis Curdes in his P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel". Up until this point, young Lt. Curdes combat career had been stellar. His story was about to take a twist so bizarre that it seems like the fictional creation of a Hollywood screenwriter. While attacking the Japanese-held island of Batan, one of Louis wingmen was shot down. The pilot ditched in the ocean. Circling overhead, Louis could see that his wingman had survived, so he stayed in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot. It wasn t long before he noticed another, larger airplane, wheels down, preparing to land at the Japanese-held airfield on Batan. He moved in to investigate. Much to his surprise the approaching plane was a Douglas C-47 transport with American markings. He tried to make radio contact, but without success. He maneuvered his Mustang in front of the big transport several times trying to wave it off. The C-47 kept to its landing target. Lt. Curdes read the daily newspaper accounts of the war, including the viciousness of the Japanese soldiers toward their captives. He knew that whoever was in that American C-47 would be, upon landing, either dead or wish they were. But what could he do? Audaciously, he lined up his P-51 directly behind the transport, carefully sighted one of his.50 caliber machine guns and knocked out one of its two engines. Still the C-47 continued on toward the Batan airfield. Curdes shifted his aim slightly and knocked out the remaining engine, leaving the baffled pilot no choice but to ditch in the ocean One of "Bad Angel's".50 caliber machine guns built into it wings. The big plane came down in one piece about 50 yards from his bobbing wingman. At this point, nightfall and low fuel forced Louis to return to base. The next morning, Louis flew cover for a rescuing PBY that picked up the downed Mustang pilot and 12 passengers and crew, including two female nurses, from the C-47. All survived..50 caliber ammo for P-51 Mustangs. For shooting down an unarmed American transport plane, Lt. Louis Curdes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Thereafter, on the fuselage of his P-51 Bad Angel, he proudly displayed the symbols of his kills: seven German, one Italian, one Japanese and one American flag. *************************************************************************************************** Food City is a Southern grocery store chain with headquarters in Bristol, Tennessee. This is their one-minute commercial. Not a word spoken and none is needed. Very few
Page 4 of 5 commercials deserve to go viral. This one does. https://www.youtube.com/embed/uoabty_ze00?rel=0 ******************************************************************************* ONLY A NAVIGATOR WOULD THINK OF SUCH THINGS The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought the master, Captain John Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo's position was latitude 0 degrees x 31 minutes north and longitude 179 degrees x 30 minutes west. The date was 31 December 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton broke in, "we're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line". Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime. He called his navigators to the bridge to check and double check the ships position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed. The calm weather and clear night worked in his favor. At midnight the "Warrimoo" lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many. The forward part of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere and the middle of summer. The stern was in the Northern Hemisphere and in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899. Forward it was 1 January 1900. This ship was therefore not only in two different days, two different months, two different seasons and two different years but in two different centuries, all at the same time. ******************************************************************************* To all my lovely F/A s none of this is for you. There's a blonde woman on a plane to Detroit, sitting in economy class, Right after takeoff, she sees an empty seat in first class and moves there. An attendant sees her and says, "Excuse me, ma'am, but your ticket is for economy class, not first. You can't stay here." The blonde replied, "I can and I will." The attendant tells the copilot, who comes and talks to the woman. "Ma'am, we really can't have you staying in this seat, your ticket is for economy." "You can't make me move." she replies. The copilot tells the captain, who tries to talk her out of the seat but it still doesn't work. A man who's heard what had been going on tells the attendant to let him have a go at getting the woman out of the seat because he was married to a blonde and he knew how to deal with blonds. After a quick chat with her, she gets up and moves back to her original economy class seat. The shocked attendant asked him how he did it. The man replies, "I told her first class wasn't going to Detroit." ********************************************************************************* O.K. That s enough for Friday the 13 th. See you next week. Take care.
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