Posted:
By: Clyde Larry Mings
On: 07/19/2007
|
Members of the 401st used the strip at RAF Woodbridge. That landing area was so huge you could land several aircraft before cleaning it off- just pick a clear spot and prang it in- even if your hydraulics , brakes, flaps, or engine(s) were kaput.
As to using them flares during fog- I dont think that would burn off much fog. About 1947 I was on a B-29 crew that picked up General Earl Partridge at Andrews and flew him on a tour of western bases, including Boeing at Renton.We went to a demo at Arcata(?) California and they were experimenting with lining the landing area with a perimeter ditch laced with gasoline and then torching it. The resulting temporary inferno literaly "burned away the fog" for awhile. I dont think the procedure was adopted since it was dangerous and not practical for multiple aircraft needing to land. A trivia note: The 307th B-29s deployed to Furstenfeldbruck , Germany and on the way back over the Alps we lost one engine. The base had snow and fog, but they placed high intensity flares at approach, middle, and end of the runway . We had another engine catch fire on final and had one shot at landing. The flare at the far end of the runway gave out and the pilot only saw two bright spots in the fog and thought they marked the ends. We didnt even slow down as we went skidding off into the boondocks and the B-29 nose gear gave way and it stood on its nose.Quite a night in the snow, fog, and confusion. Flares were not the ideal answer.
|