By: Stan Jordan
“This is Blue Jay 2 and I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit.”
“Blue Jay 2, how bad? Can you still fly? Do you have power?”
“Well, I guess it is my right leg below the knee. It is burning like hell. But it seems that my ship is okay. I’ve checked all my gauges and all seem okay. Whatever it is, it seems to have come through the right side of the plane into my shin bone and it is very hot. But it must be only my right leg as the left leg is alright. Gosh, I don’t know fellows my right leg in numb, that’s all I know.”
Dan said, “That is good news as we are still on course to get back to Aachen.”
“Let’s get out of here! Lt. Hornish, you stay right here with Joe and we will fall back and protect our rear. Joe, don’t make any changes, let’s think this out.”
“Well Dan, I don’t want to lose this plane. I don’t want to eject. I want to keep this ship.”
Dan said, “Okay, okay. We will do all we can to get you back home. First, can you use your right foot to operate the rudder?”
“No, I can’t, but it don’t burn anymore. I don’t seem to even have any feeling in my right foot at all. But all else works and we are still on course for home.”
Dan said, “The least change in altitude, speed or any movement is better for us. As I understand Joe cannot move his rudder to the right, but all else is okay. If we can just hold this course for a couple hundred miles we can line up for the air strip at Aachen. Thank goodness there is no wind at all, we don’t have to worry about wind drift.”
“Joe, are you alright? Don’t go to sleep or pass out! Are you okay? Talk to me!”
Joe replied, “It would be easier to go to sleep than to stay awake, but I will make it.”
Dan said, “We have already covered about 100 miles and, by golly, we are going to make it home.” We tore through the blue sky still at 350 per, Joe in the lead and us behind and darn nervous. Joe is staying right on course very well with not much deviations of any kinds.
The Rhine Valley down below looks so quiet and peaceful and we are sitting on eggshells. We can’t afford to have Joe’s plane drift any at all to his left because we can’t get him back on course again.
Dan said, “Let’s try it this way. Joe, see if you can put us on a down angle of five percent. Now no sudden moves. Yes, good, that is about right. Now, slowly reduce our speed to about 200 mph. Yes, good, we are still straight and true on course. Now, I am going to call ahead. This is Blue Jay 1, this is Blue Jay 1, calling Aachen airbase tower.”
“Come in Blue Jay 1.”
“Tower, we are three P-51’s and our lead plane has been hit and we have a wounded pilot but he thinks he cannot move his ship from left to right at all. Now this is what I would like for you to do. First, notify Blue Jay. Then please set your rescue squad at the far north end of the main runway. It will take that whole mile for this plane to get stopped, if we ever get it down. He cannot use his brakes because he can’t use his right leg. We are against his using his left brake because he would make a ground loop. We have come so far, I don’t want that to happen. Please keep this run way clear starting now. We are about 20 miles out and south of you and we are about 500 ft altitude. We are down to 150 mph. Thanks for everything, I am Blue Jay one, Out.”
“Joe, Joe, are you with me? Talk to me Joe.”
“Yes, I hear you Dan, but I am so tired, so tired.”
“Joe, now listen to me. Can you see the runway right in front of you? Okay, line up for the middle of that runway and slow down to 130. Slide your canopy back a little. Maybe that cool air will help you stay awake, full flaps now.”
“Okay Joe, drop down a little more, that is the runway. Okay, you are right at the end, please set your plane down Joe. You are doing fine. Just set it down.”
“Fine Joe, fine. Now Joe, cut your engine. No sudden moves. We have almost a mile to slow down. Please stay awake and save your plane. Lt. Hornish and I will go by and circle around and meet you later.
“Now if you can pull your canopy all the way back, and if you think you can, a little left brake. But very easy, no spins now. We are almost home. Oh, good boy just right. Let the ambulance come to you. Blue Jay 1 out.”
When Lt. Meyers got hit on the Worms, Germany raid we knew it was a bad wound in his leg. He told us over the radio that his right leg was numb and he couldn’t move it. We were about 300 miles away from our airfield Aachen, Germany. I am not a flyer and I know that in order for Lt. Meyers to fly his plane back to Aachen, he must use his right leg to move his plane from left to right and he couldn’t do that.
So, I called one of Antwerp’s commercial pilots, Dan Wetli. I caught him on his cell phone at the Fort Wayne, International waiting for a departure. I told him this whole story as much as I could because of the hush, hush business. I told him that we were on course to get back to Aachen. He told me that it is almost imperative that you use both legs in flying that plane.
He also told me, that if you have a good tight ship and you get it on the right course, maybe this ship will almost fly itself. If there is no wind or turbulence or sudden change, the plane might cruise right along. You just can’t make any big changes of any kind.
He said, “Maybe that will work and you can get that plane down and home.”
He also warned about using the brake when you are down. You can have a ground loop and mess up the whole landing.
I want to thank Dan Wetli for all his help. This part of the story turned out alright, but Lt. Meyers will lose that foot and will spend a lot of time in Walter Reed General Hospital, in Washington D.C. But that is another chapter.
See ya!
